This is an economized, high-level assessment of your manuscript. It is designed to help you decide how close your aspirations are to the reality of your creative work.

An evaluation typically includes general impressions of your manuscript’s contents (often plot, characters, setting, and the like), and touches on how that content harmonizes with elements such as theme, style, and intended audience. It also includes insights regarding a few early-stage concerns, for instance the appeal your subject matter may hold for readers, its coherence, and its pacing.

You receive:

• The manuscript evaluation, a letter which contains the information described above.

• A lightly-annotated manuscript. Notes will illustrate the points covered in the evaluation.

"Is this the service I need?"

It is ideal to take advantage of a manuscript evaluation after you have completed one or two drafts, and perhaps after you’ve incorporated feedback from a beta reader or two (although that is not required).

To look at this another way, if you are asking basic questions like “Will this connect with my audience?” or “Is my plot compelling and my theme sound?”, then a manuscript evaluation could be right for you.

This is a middle-of-the-journey action. Here you get an in-depth (and also big picture) evaluation of your work-in-progress. Sample areas of focus include plot and themes, character development, point of view, tone and language, pacing, and structure. Nearly every developmental edit also reflects more intensely upon your goals and message in light of your potential audience. A core objective is to identify specific opportunities for improvement or enhancement in your creative trek of expression and connection.

You receive:

• An overview document which provides a summary analysis of your manuscript, may discuss how well it executes the basics of the form you’re working in, and analyzes the manuscript in light of areas of concern you identify. This document will contain editorial suggestions regarding various manuscript elements to inspire and challenge you in your next round of revisions.

• An annotated manuscript, in which key sections of text are usually accompanied by observations, suggestions, questions, and sample revisions which refer back to points made in the overview.

"Is this the service I need?"

A developmental edit is a great option if you have completed at least two or three draft revisions of your work. It’s also great for you if you’ve received and incorporated some beta reader feedback. Now, you are looking for thorough, specific, expert insights into the substance and shape of your manuscript.

This is a detailed inspection of your work, page by page. Areas of scrutiny include spelling, grammar, formatting, and factual accuracy. Consistency in point of view, language, and characterization receive attention as well. Limited line edits may show up in a copy edit, depending on the nature of the work agreement.

NOTE that since this is mainly a technical job, the mission of giving you greater insight into yourself is less likely to come into play – but we can still look for opportunities!

You receive:

• A revised and/or marked-up manuscript (again, the ratio of comments to direct edits depends on your manuscript and our work agreement). Annotations may explain the logic behind key edits, suggest actions you may take, or may in rare cases provide prompts for your further reflection (at this stage reflection is ideally mostly over with, but there is always room for discovery).

"Is this what I need?"

A copy edit is one of the last steps in your editorial journey. By this point, your plot, themes, character arcs, desired tone, etc. are already more or less in place. What you are after with a copy edit is minimizing the chances that your readers will stumble over inconsistencies and errors.

If you want assistance writing copy for your website, blog, social media accounts, newsletter, or the like, let's talk.

I have many years of experience writing formally and informally, for public and private consumption, in corporate, non-profit, and personal channels.

This service is offered to people who need to communicate and want a hand finding the right words.

(NOTE that this is not a ghostwriting service.)