Manuscript Line Editing: Tips and Service for Writers

What is line editing, and how can it help my manuscript?

Line editing is a tool, like a wrench. A line editor is a manuscript plumber. I use the line editing tool to help your manuscript in these areas:

• Clarity:  Line editing can help with the tricky task of transferring what's in your head, into the reader's head, through your manuscript. Your own knowledge can actually be a block to clear expression! You know who's holding the gun in your novel. You know the size of the hero's office, the meaning of every acronym. Unconsciously, you may assume the reader knows those things, too, when you haven't made them clear.
• Smooth Writing for Easy Reading:  Line editing can eliminate clumsy narrative and clunky dialogue in your manuscript, so your writing sounds as if it fell accidentally into the most felicitous arrangement of words. Ideally, the reader will be unconscious of the page. Your words will stand out of the way and let the story through. I can smooth your writing, show you why one sentence works, and another doesn't.
• What about grammar and spelling, you ask?  Yes, of course, line editing includes proofreading. A spell checker won't tell you that you've mixed up "discrete" and "discreet." I can spot that.

Why should I pay for a line editing service?

Ideally, you won't pay for long. Line editing is a one-on-one educational tool. When you see the changes I make in your manuscript, and my reasons, and re-read your work with changes in place, you are training your mental ear. When you're proofreading your own manuscripts later, you'll catch problems you don't notice now.

What line editing is not

Manuscript line editing is not a salability assessment. I can proofread, copy edit, rephrase--but I won't tell you whether your manuscript will sell, because my crystal ball's in the shop.

Specialties

I specialize in genre novels, specifically mysteries, science fiction, and fantasy, for adults and children. Those are the kinds of writing my ear is especially tuned to, and I do a better job with them than with other types of fiction. I also edit nonfiction of a general nature, but I don't do technical, scientific, musical, or business administration jargon. And I'm an American, so I don't entirely trust my ear for non-U.S. diction.

Rates and Payment

(There's a page for this shown on the menu, but I like to have it on the home page as well.) I charge by the page. What's a page? A standard manuscript page is 250 words (for poetry, about 20 lines).

• $5.00 per page, up to 20 pages (5,000 words).
• $3.00 per page, if what you send me is over 20 pages, but under 100 pages (25,000 words).
• $2.50 per page (one cent per word, rounded off to the page) for manuscripts of 100 pages (25,000 words) and over.

If you print out your document in standard US format to send to a publisher, you'll have letter-size paper with one-inch margins, and your lines will be double-spaced. That means every line will have an extra, blank, line after it. (You don't do it yourself; you set your word processor to do it.) When you print a document that way, an average page is 250 words.

So, when I get your manuscript, I do a word count, and divide by 250. That's the number of pages.

A 2,000-word document is 8 pages, and costs $40.00 to edit. A 10,000 word document is 40 pages, and costs $120.00. 80,000 words make 400 pages, which cost $800.00 to edit. It's really pretty simple.

I take checks, money orders, and PayPal. Don't worry about the time it takes to mail a check; just let me know you mailed it. I don't wait for it to arrive to start working.

How does it work?

You e-mail the piece. I e-mail it back, with suggested changes, comments, and notes. (If you want me to print it out and snail-mail it back to you, I can do that, but it costs a lot more.)

Before you invest your hard-earned money, be sure to try a

FREE SAMPLE

It's important to me not to sell you Brie when you wanted Camembert, so I really want you to find out if you like what I do before you pay for it. You might even learn something!

Questions?

Or a manuscript you're thinking of sending? E-mail

            BKEdits@BKEdits.com

Or phone (216) 486-4879; I'll be happy to talk to you (for values of "happy" that include "nervous," "inarticulate," "forgetful," and "abrupt"). I really am happy to take phone calls, but I'm much clearer in e-mail.

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Someone Else's Thoughts

Here's one way of looking at a good balance between Show and Tell. Imagine a story as a beaded necklace. The actual bead is a scene with character interaction, dialogue, secrets, and killing. This is where you will want to 'Show.'

Now, the space between the beads (the string) is your characters going somewhere else to talk about killing more people. It is less important and therefore you give it to the narrator and he says -'They all took a plane to Ohio.' In seven short words, you got the entire cast to Ohio.

Now it's time for another 'Show' bead.

Skip Slocum

http://www.mywriterscircle.com/index.php/topic,41465.0.html

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