As a writer – and in terms of these services – my speciality lies in the realm of speculative fiction, but I am also open to literary fiction of all genres. I will add that I tend not to work on extreme horror.
I currently provide content edit, copy-edit and proofreading services. All services are payable via Paypal upon delivery.
Please contact me initially via the Contact page to discuss your project.
Content Edit. A full content edit checks your story for structure, readability, pacing, consistency and flow. My method of working at this level is a ‘suggestion-based’ approach which leads to discussion between myself and the author. This stage is very much a two-way conversation and is not dictatorial in any way.
Prices are based on a ‘first-pass’ only status.
Rate: 0.016/wd UK; 0.02/word USD
Copy-editing. This level of editing incorporates sentence structure, readability and grammar-level study of the work, as well as fact-checking (where necessary). This is also the stage where I apply the style* agreed upon with the author.
*I work to either Chicago Manual of Style rules (usually US-based publishing) or Oxford Hart’s Rules (UK-based).
If a copy-edit has been included in the request as well as content edit, the initial quote will be a guide only. If the developmental edit results in rewriting triggering a much greater wordage, then the copy-edit quote will be applied to the new wordcount. Similarly, if the word count decreases, the copy-edit price will also be reduced. We can agree on a ‘wordcount buffer’ where there will be no change in the prices agreed.
Rate: 0.016/wd UK; 0.02/word USD
Proofreading. This is the final stage which checks for missed typos, layout issues, Table of Contents, page numbering and the like. Proofreading should take place after formatting to incorporate layout issues otherwise these cannot be checked as part of that proofread.
Rate: 0.008/wd UK; 0.01/word USD
Some of the books I’ve edited, copy-edited or proofread (via Brigids Gate Press):
Additional Background:
Educated to degree level – BA(Hons) Humanities – First Class, my career path has meandered somewhat, with my last ‘normal’ job being a teaching assistant and librarian within a secondary school. During that time, my role developed into a literacy and speech, language, and communications (SLCN) specialist working with special needs teens.
Prior to that I was employed on a professional basis as a Project Manager and Senior Software Author for a technical publications company for several years. This involved writing and taking documents (such as user manuals, technical brochures and system software design documentation) through draft stages to camera-ready copy according to the customer’s own house style and specification requirements. Customers varied from the military to telecommunications to the film industry. These stages also including proofing and editing before being turned over to the quality assurance department.
Stephanie Ellis 