Fiction Line/Copyediting

As the storyteller, you have a pretty solid handle on your characters, plot, setting, dialogue, and all the many pieces that make up a well-told and well-paced romance or detective thriller.

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

You’ve picked apart every word choice, every sentence, every paragraph, and now you still want a set of more objective eyes to streamline your tale at the line level.

Being the storyteller, you know exactly what you’re trying to say, what emotion you’re trying to show, what theme you want readers to walk away from the novel with. Being the storyteller, though, also means you sometimes can’t see the forest for the trees.

You’ve turned into the after-action reporter trying to jot down from memory all the adventures your characters have been on for the past who knows how many months—or years.

Wouldn’t it be nice to have a more objective set of eyes?

Bringing me on as your fiction line/copyeditor gives you the chance to take a break from trying to perfect your manuscript’s language while also feeling confident that I won’t change your authorial voice. My priority is your target reader.

Photo by Gaman Alice on Unsplash

• Who’s your target reader for this particular book? How should that ideal reader profile influence or impact your descriptive word choices, character dialogue (internal or external), or sentence or paragraph structure?
• How familiar are your target readers with your book’s genre? Are you seeking to meet or subvert their expectations?
• What’s your current word count range? Will your ideal reader have the patience and focus to read every word without skimming or outright skipping sections?

I specialize in the following genres:

There are several components to combining line and copyediting, especially in fiction where the general rule is “Well, it depends.” With this service, your manuscript receives both:

So I’m prepared to dive in with your authorial voice at the forefront, you get a detailed stylesheet that includes:

• Authorial exceptions for spellings, character and place name treatments, and any other preferences you need to stay just as you’ve written them
• Vital plot events so you can track causality and continuity
• Mini profiles for protagonists, major side characters, and even minor/background characters
• Story locations
• Abbreviations that appear along with their definitions so you can decide whether you want to include them in the story

The stylesheet also includes standard book publishing rules based on Chicago Manual of Style that are appropriate to your specific manuscript. Finally, you come away with an extensive word list that follows Merriam-Webster Dictionary, Oxford English Dictionary, or yes, even A Very Sweary Dictionary.

Hey, I go where the resources lead me!

Reflecting On Your Story One Word At A Time!

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