WHY AN EDITOR?
The editing process is a partnership between editor and writer, intended to refine how you convey what you want the reader to know, to make the manuscript as engaging as it can be—to allow its excellence to shine. The editor often supports content development, and improves structure, word usage, grammar, and voice in your work.
Regardless of whether the work is delivering technical information about astrophysics, a story, an experience, a philosophy or a vision, the goal of each level of editing is to produce the most clear and compelling writing possible.
It’s important to choose the appropriate level of editorial assistance you require.
- Author coaching is a supportive editorial service offered to help the writer develop and complete a manuscript. If you’re feeling stuck, coaching provides guidance on how to keep moving forward with the writing, sometimes in the form of writing prompts.
- Developmental editing helps to organize a manuscript and build the work from an initial concept. The editing may begin before you start to write, and could include research and content recommendations. For a project further along, it may call for significant reworking of copy.
- Substantive editing (content editing) begins when the manuscript is nearly complete, and helps deepen the level of the content by assessing language, style, voice, point of view, and organization. During this phase the work is checked for any missing elements and various segments may be reordered as necessary.
- Copyediting is useful when a manuscript is complete and before it goes into the design stage. A style sheet may be compiled for the work, and each sentence is edited for grammar, spelling, punctuation, word usage, and sentence structure.
I offer a free two-hour consultation by phone or in person for serious prospective clients. Contact me by email at susan@editingtoexcellence.com or by phone at 505-699-9917 (cell). I live and work in Port Townsend, Washington.