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faq

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If there are any questions you have that I don’t cover below, get in contact and I’d be happy to help.

I’d be happy to! If you want a book edited, I can provide a sample edit of 1000–1500 words. Just let me have a suitable manuscript of that length – or let me have the full manuscript, and if you like the sample, I can continue working on it from there.

I have a strong preference for Word. It’s the format most writers use, and its track changes and comment functions are good for editing, allowing the original author to decide which edits to accept or reject. If you would prefer to work with some other format, I may be able to oblige.

When we’ve agreed on the pricing I will send you an invoice by email and you can then follow the link to pay using PayPal or a credit or debit card. I ask for 20% of the fee in advance and the rest after satisfactory completion.

Fiction allows significantly more leeway for choices than non-fiction, and all the official style guides are aimed mainly at non-fiction, so the primary “style guide” I use is the one provided by the author: an actual guide to preferences if one is provided, or – more likely – the one implicit in the work to be edited. If I find inconsistencies of style, or choices that seem clearly problematic, I either ask the author what they prefer, or else fall back on The New Oxford Style Manual for UK authors or The Chicago Style Guide for authors in the US and elsewhere.

I primarily edit novels. I’m happy to work with any genre. There may be some books I’m not suited to edit, for example, historical novels that require fact checking against period detail. The description on the services page should make clear whether I offer what you need. I know some editors specify subject matter they’re not willing to edit, usually relating to sex and violence. I don’t – anything that has been written with the aim of entertaining (and I can’t imagine why else an author would write something), is fine with me. If you have any specific concerns, let me know.

Partly because I made an abortive attempt to become a self-published author myself, and as a result I think I have a reasonable understanding of the situation and priorities of many self-published authors. I also like working one-to-one with an author rather than in a more formal setting; I know editors working with some traditional publishers don’t even have direct contact with authors, which strikes me as ridiculous!