I'm so glad you are here. Helping others is ingrained in my soul. The passion for helping others along with a strong desire to read all the books has led me to edit and more recently to offer publishing services. I have so many things I love such as education, psychology, and my family (not necessarily in that order).
Currently, I have six years experience as a multi-genre editor. Also, I recently added author mindset coaching and writing coaching to my services. Combining my experience in psychology with my love of editing allows me to help authors bring their work to fruition and offer them more value. I have developed an approach combining my experience as a reader since I was four, a positive affirmation maven, a life coach, and most importantly my education. I have earned both an MS in Psychology and a BA in Criminal Justice and Psychology. I have many years of experience in administrative positions and a strong understanding of APA style and formatting. These skills and abilities allow me to bring a wide range of knowledge to the table as your editor.
I am a multi-passionate person who enjoys helping others, and that has allowed me to become an editor of multiple genres while also offering publishing services to those who want to see their books come to fruition.
I practice love, kindness, and a little woo. I love to make friends and see them prosper. I offer to cheer you on for free! If you need a pick me up or a new affirmation, I will share one with you.
What the editing process looks like:
1st round of editing is a basic edit. The first half of the agreed price for edits must be paid (unless other arrangements are made) to begin edits. The basic includes:
Sentences longer than 35 words are marked in red text.
Needless Words: Turquoise Highlighted words are words that may not be necessary. This doesn't mean you HAVE to remove them; you just need to review and make a decision.
Telling vs. Showing: Green highlighted words are words that TELL your story rather than SHOW your story. Again, you don't have to remove or change… But look over the sentences around these markers and see if you are creating a vision for your reader to see in their mind's eye.
I use macros to run this round, and it is done very quickly. I then return the document to you and expect you to go through and remove the words you want/need removed and make any other changes you want to make before the next round of editing. This basic edit is intended only to make the manuscript ready for professional editing.
2nd round of editing is a line by line edit is completed in two stages — one from me and one from the author. This will cover some grammar/punctuation as I work on reader relationships and maintaining the author's voice. This part of the edit also includes identifying parts of the story or document that may need to be clarified due to confusion, the order of events, and character or story development (this I not always needed but is addressed if required). I also check for story flow and continuity. These are identified by acceptation/rejection and comment bubbles inside Microsoft Word or google docs.
However, if you have numerous edits, sometimes the continuity isn't addressed until the next round of edits due to possible changes needed in this round. *Note* if formatting is included in the package you choose, then some of that begins in this stage as well.
Once I complete this round of edits, I expect to be paid the final cost of the edits. This DOES NOT mean we are done working on the document, and this is not the FINAL version of your manuscript unless you choose it to be.
When I return this 2nd round, I expect the author to complete the acception/rejections and address the comment bubbles.
Remember, I do not ghostwrite. Therefore the author must complete the changes they want in the manuscript and return it to me. I will then move to the next round of edits.
3rd round of editing is checking the changes the author has made in the document and completing a proofread. If flow and continuity couldn't be addressed in the 2nd round, it will be completed here. Then we move to the next stage of editing— proofreading.
Proofreading is completed by the author once the 3rd round of edits is completed, and then either the author makes a printed paper copy of the manuscript to go over with a line by line read through and uses a red pen to not changes that need to be made. I can have a copy of any manuscript under 300 pages printed and mailed to the author for $30. It will be spiral-bound and be a professional print version of the manuscript. Once the author has completed the read-through and makes their notes (in red pen), the author will then (at their cost) mail the manuscript to me for me to enter the changes into their Masterfile.
At this point, I can email the file to the author or help with uploading to the publishing house of their choice (usually Amazon, Ingram Spark, or Lulu.
Proof Copies— Next, I require the author to purchase two proof copies—one for me and one for the author. I expect the author to go through their version, while I go through mine to verify that the manuscript doesn't need any minor changes either in punctuation or formatting. Once we have identified the changes either by the author mailing me their book or completing changes while on video chat, I enter them and then re-upload the document for the final time.
At this point, the book is considered ready for publishing and the launch party can be booked.
