I offer two different services, depending on whether you need an editor or a proofreader:
Carol's Corrections
What I do is copy editing. I stay alert to where the story just flows for me, and where it trips me up, and I discern what caused the interruption. In addition, I fix:
Occasionally it'll happen that as I get into a manuscript, I'll realize it's not yet ready for copy editing and I'll stop and let you know the problems I'm finding. At that point you have the choice of polishing it further yourself before I edit it, or asking me for a quote to do a more substantial edit.
Carol's Catches -- $40 up to 60K words, $50 for 60K - 100K words, $60 over 100K words, plus $1 per correction
Has someone else already professionally edited your book? This is a final proofread; it is meant to catch the little things that popped up as initial corrections were implemented or were accidentally missed. It is not meant to substitute for actual editing. Ideally, I'll get through this process and have very little to show you--that's a good thing! If I'm already finding lots of issues before I get to the end of the first chapter, however, I'll let you know and you can either apply the prepaid fee to the Carol's Corrections fee, and I'll continue in that mode, or you can politely say no thank you, and make other arrangements for the final polish of your book. Please realize that, while I work hard to catch every mistake, I'll never be perfect. To ensure your book is as free from errors as possible, I always suggest you have a proofreader after I've edited it, and I never proofread a book I've edited myself.
Sample edit--I'll be happy to edit 5-10 pages of your manuscript for free so we can determine if we're going to work well together.
Fees are paid 50% up front, before work is commenced, and 50% upon completion of work. Payment is accepted by check, money order or PayPal.
Carol's Corrections
What I do is copy editing. I stay alert to where the story just flows for me, and where it trips me up, and I discern what caused the interruption. In addition, I fix:
- Grammar and punctuation mistakes
- Sentence structure: dangling prepositions, misplaced modifiers, and so on
- Misspelling (many mistakes are not caught by Word, such as "then" vs. "than")
- Typos ("begin" vs. "being" is one common example)
- Appropriate word usage ("fewer" vs. "less" and "anxious" vs. "eager" are two common mistakes, but I also look for words that seem to have the wrong mood for the setting)
- Plot details that disagree with each other
Occasionally it'll happen that as I get into a manuscript, I'll realize it's not yet ready for copy editing and I'll stop and let you know the problems I'm finding. At that point you have the choice of polishing it further yourself before I edit it, or asking me for a quote to do a more substantial edit.
Carol's Catches -- $40 up to 60K words, $50 for 60K - 100K words, $60 over 100K words, plus $1 per correction
Has someone else already professionally edited your book? This is a final proofread; it is meant to catch the little things that popped up as initial corrections were implemented or were accidentally missed. It is not meant to substitute for actual editing. Ideally, I'll get through this process and have very little to show you--that's a good thing! If I'm already finding lots of issues before I get to the end of the first chapter, however, I'll let you know and you can either apply the prepaid fee to the Carol's Corrections fee, and I'll continue in that mode, or you can politely say no thank you, and make other arrangements for the final polish of your book. Please realize that, while I work hard to catch every mistake, I'll never be perfect. To ensure your book is as free from errors as possible, I always suggest you have a proofreader after I've edited it, and I never proofread a book I've edited myself.
Sample edit--I'll be happy to edit 5-10 pages of your manuscript for free so we can determine if we're going to work well together.
Fees are paid 50% up front, before work is commenced, and 50% upon completion of work. Payment is accepted by check, money order or PayPal.