I begin by reading your manuscript start to finish, noting my reactions, questions, and impressions in real time.

Then, I re-read the manuscript, summarizing each chapter and building a working outline. This outline allows me to assess the overall structure and plot progression. I use it to identify thematic elements, pacing issues, missing story beats, unnecessary subplots, incomplete character arcs, and other areas that need attention.

From there, I create a report, outlining strengths and weaknesses in the story and prose. I give specific suggestions for improvement and recommend targeted learning resources based on the areas where I see the most potential for growth.

Turnaround Time: 5,000 words per day; five days per week, Monday-Friday.

I analyze each scene with the goal of ensuring it pulls its own weight—that it’s essential to the story’s structure and momentum. Throughout the manuscript, I leave detailed notes highlighting areas that feel underdeveloped, such as missing description, unclear character motives, or absent action. I also flag passages that may benefit from trimming or relocation to improve pacing and narrative flow.

I consider each scene’s purpose and offer suggestions to strengthen dialogue, prose, tone, setting, pacing, conflict, tension, and stakes. I check for inconsistencies, illogical reasoning, and factual inaccuracies. I identify redundancies and note where key information may be missing or unclear.

Beyond the scene level, I examine broader elements such as character arcs, world-building, timeline continuity, narrative voice, tropes, and thematic development—evaluating how well these threads are carried throughout the entire novel.

Turnaround Time: 5,000 words per day; five days per week, Monday-Friday.

This is my favorite editing phase, and it ‘s all about refining the prose—focusing on semantics, tone, character and narrative voice, dialogue, description, action, readability, and reducing word count. Here, we shape your manuscript’s flow, polishing the stream of thought to make it more fluid and compelling.

I begin with broad searches to identify prose bloat: filler words, filter phrases, and weak verbs or descriptors. Trimming these often results in a significantly leaner manuscript while amplifying the strength and clarity of your voice.

Then I move paragraph by paragraph, sentence by sentence, evaluating each section for clarity of intent, emotional tone, descriptive richness, character motivation, conflict, relationship dynamics, and voice. I look for opportunities to balance these elements by adjusting syntax and refining semantics.

I remove redundancies, eliminate unnecessary words or phrases, and, where needed, restructure the order of ideas or events to ensure each scene flows smoothly and with purpose.

This type of editing is often the most uncomfortable for authors because they fear losing their unique voice. Let me suggest that your voice is not simply the instinctive way words fall out of your mouth or fingers, but is, rather, the combined result of your message, experience, perspective, creativity, and, yes, vocabulary, that is unique to you. A good editor will take the time to understand your vision for your story and will help you clear away the clutter, thus allowing your voice to resonate more clearly. Your voice will not be in the words that are cut, and the additions made will serve to highlight and magnify what you have created.

Turnaround Time: 5,000 words per day; five days per week, Monday-Friday.

To stay laser-focused on technical accuracy—and avoid getting swept up in the story—I proofread your manuscript aloud and backward, one sentence at a time. The time for rewriting and refining has passed. My sole objective is to catch lingering typos and grammatical errors while minimizing the risk of introducing new ones by making only essential changes.

No manuscript is ever 100% perfect—even the most seasoned, highly paid editors in the industry have an average error rate around 5%. That said, the final draft I return to you will be exceptionally clean and polished.

While it's always wise to bring in a second proofreader with fresh eyes, I aim to leave them with as little to catch as possible.

Turnaround Time: 5,000 words per day; five days per week, Monday-Friday.

This service can be added onto my editing package. It is not a stand-alone service.

I charge a flat fee of $50 for each book you want me to read other than the one I’m providing feedback on. I do not give feedback on any of these books. This is purely to provide context for the book I am working on and enable me to view the story through a wider lens.

Each book will extend the project’s deadline by one week.