With over ten years of experience working with emerging writers, I can help you develop your writing and your manuscript while giving you the confidence to pursue your writing and publishing goals.

I specialise in the speculative fiction genres – especially sci-fi and fantasy – and work primarily on Young Adult and Adult Fiction manuscripts.

Professional Beta Reading

Still in the beginning stages of your manuscript but feel like you need some professional insight? Maybe you’ve had friends read your manuscript but now you’re ready for some independent and honest feedback?

Professional beta reading services involve reading your manuscript with a set of questions in mind and then providing a report based on these answers - so you can identify common story elements or potential issues that you might want to take a look at before going any further in the editing and publishing process. The questions include: Are the characters believable, likeable or engaging? Does the story start in the right place? Is the ending satisfying? Am I confused at any point in the story? Are there any discrepancies or inconsistencies in time sequences, places, character details, or other details? Is it compelling? Does the dialogue sound natural? Is there too much exposition or description? etc.

Please note, beta reads do not include any markup on the manuscript and reports do not include editorial advice.

Rate: $2.50 per 1,000 words (minimum $150)

Manuscript Assessments

Also known as a manuscript appraisal or critique, a manuscript assessment is an opportunity to get a fresh set of us on your manuscript before submitting it to agents and publishers.

You’ll receive an in-depth report looking at the style, structure, pacing, plot, characters, and world-building in your manuscript. I examine both the strengths and weaknesses of your manuscript, providing feedback on where and how you might improve certain areas.

Rate: $100 per 10,000 words (minimum $500)

Structural Editing

Structural editing – sometimes also called developmental or global editing – is a deep-dive edit into your manuscript including an overall report looking at the strengths and weaknesses of the manuscript, followed by a chapter-by-chapter breakdown of what needs tweaking and how you might incorporate some of the overall feedback.

A structural edit is highly recommended if you intend to self-publish or if you haven’t workshopped your manuscript before.

Please note that my structural edits do not involve markup on the manuscript and will not include identifying or fixing grammar, spelling and typographic errors (this falls under the realm of copy editing).

Rate: $50 per hour (an 80,000-100,000 word manuscript usually takes me between 35-40 hours).

Copyediting

Copy editing is what most people think of when they think of editing. This stage of the edit focuses on spelling, grammar, punctuation, style and the overall clarity of the writing.

Copy edits may also help you adhere to certain publishing styles (such as Australian Government style, Chicago style, APA style etc) and are undertaken using the track changes function.

A copy edit is highly recommended if you intend to self-publish or if you struggle with issues of grammar, punctuation and style.

Rate: $50 per hour (an 80,000-100,000 word manuscript usually takes me between 35-40 hours).

Proofreading

Proofreading is the final part of the editing process and happens after a manuscript has been typeset. Proofreading not only looks for any errors the copy edit may have missed but also any errors that may have been introduced by the design stage, as well as identifying design issues that need fixing.

Proofreading usually happens on a PDF document and is often the only time when aspects of the book such as the cover, copyright page, and other end matter will be seen by an editor. A proofreader is also responsible for checking things like page numbers, margins, running heads, and contents pages, and ensuring the typeset document is legible.

A proofread is highly recommended if you intend to self-publish.

Rate: $50 per hour (assuming a manuscript has already been through the copy editing stage with a professional editor, fiction will usually take 11-15 pages per hour, and non-fiction will be 7-10 pages per hour).