Line Edit
Is the prose good?
Starting at $0.03 per word. I quote the full price after I’ve seen the manuscript.
What I guarantee. And what I don’t.
What it is
A line edit is a thorough, line-by-line pass through your manuscript focused on style, clarity, and effectiveness. It sits between a developmental edit and a copy edit: a developmental edit works on the story, a line edit works on the prose, and a copy edit works on the mechanics.
When it’s right for you
I recommend a line edit after you’ve addressed beta reader feedback or a developmental edit, and you’re confident there are no major rewrites ahead of you—no plot or pacing problems, no character development left to solve, no deep structural changes.
If nobody has read the manuscript yet—if you’re the only person who has laid eyes on it—you’re not ready for a line edit. Start with a manuscript assessment or a developmental edit.
If English isn’t your first language, mention it when you get in touch. I’m glad to do the work; it does takes longer and produces more suggestions, so I’d rather build that into the quote than surprise you with it.
What you get
Marked-up manuscript
I use Microsoft Word Track Changes and Comments to mark up your manuscript extensively, working on story craft, writing style, and grammar. You stay in control of your vision and voice throughout: you accept or reject every change yourself.
The story craft I address includes inconsistencies in point of view or character voice, telling instead of showing, and weak or confusing scene openings. For style, I suggest ways to eliminate passive voice, choose stronger nouns and verbs, and cut redundancies. I offer rewrites for fragments and run-ons when those choices have gone from stylistic to confusing, and I suggest where to break apart or join paragraphs. And I fix errors like subject-verb agreement, pronoun-antecedent agreement, incorrect verb tense, and misused words.
If you write science fiction or fantasy, I also note inconsistencies in your second-world technology or magic system.
My comments explain the changes I’ve made, point you to resources for a particular craft problem, compliment the work, and track inconsistencies across the manuscript.
The number of revisions—insertions, deletions, and formatting—varies widely with the manuscript. Recent ones have come back with 2,400 to 7,400.
Style sheet
A consistency tool. If you have one, I update it; if you don’t, I build it. It’s an Excel workbook with tabs for your invented words, characters, proper nouns, locations, and any real words with more than one accepted spelling, so we use one throughout.
A style sheet is specific to your manuscript; style guides are specific to industries. I use the Chicago Manual of Style, 18th edition, and Merriam-Webster.com. For some manuscripts I’ll suggest another—a military style guide, say, to keep titles, ranks, and unit names consistent in military science fiction.
Turnaround
4–6 weeks. The full quote will include an expected delivery date.
Sample edit
I’m happy to do a free sample line edit of up to 1,500 words. I prefer to pull a passage from the middle of your novel rather than the opening; first chapters are usually the most rewritten and polished, so they show you the least.
A sample is the best way to see what my suggestions do to your voice. (They shouldn’t do anything to it. At all.)
How we start
Contact me for an estimate or a complimentary half-hour chat!