FAQS ABOUT MY SERVICES

• Are there any genres you don’t work with? I don’t do anything in the horror, erotica, or “steamy” romance genres. But I’d be happy to help you find someone who does.

• Do you offer curriculum development? No, but I can help you find someone who does.

• Do you offer design/layout/formatting? No, but I can help you find someone who specializes in your genre. (Yes, that affects formatting, believe it or not.)

• Do you offer ghostwriting? No, but I can help you find someone who does.

• Do you offer indexing? I might at some point, but I don’t at this time. I can help you find an indexer, though.

• Do you offer book marketing/promotion? I can direct you to some basic resources. If you need help beyond that, I’ll help you find someone.

• Do you offer permissions management? No. I can give you some basic advice on obtaining permissions and/or help you find someone who specializes in permissions.

• Do you offer project management? No, but I can help you find someone who does.

• Do you offer proofreading? No, but I can help you find someone who does. (Are you sensing a pattern here? 😉)

• Do you offer research/fact checking? Not as a separate service. If I come across something while editing that seems off, I’ll look into it. But if you need your entire manuscript fact-checked, I can help you find someone who specializes in that.

• Do you offer sensitivity reading? No, but I can help you find someone who does.

• Do you offer transcription services? No, but I can help you find someone who does.

• Do you offer translation services? I can help with a French word or two. If you need more than that, I can help you find a professional translator.

OTHER FAQS

• Will you do a free sample edit for me? No. Lawyers, doctors, and other professionals don’t give free samples of their work. Neither do I. A sample edit costs $100 USD for substantive editing or copyediting, and a manuscript evaluation (the equivalent of a sample edit for developmental editing) costs $600 USD.

• Do you offer any discounts? No. The only exception is for people who do a sample edit with me and then decide to do a full-manuscript edit with me. In that case, I’ll take the price of the sample edit ($100 USD) off the price of the full edit.

• Are you going to steal my work? Absolutely not! Not only is that unethical, but it’d also scare away other potential clients and ruin my business. Besides, I’m a writer too. I have no interest in passing your work off as my own.

• Will you sign a noncompetition agreement? No. By nature, an editor works with many different clients. My business can’t run if I sign noncompetition agreements.

• Can you give me daily/weekly updates on my project? No. If I agree to a deadline, I’ll do everything in my power to meet it. But I can’t do my best work with someone demanding constant updates, emailing me all the time, or otherwise breathing down my neck.

• I don’t check my email regularly. Can we communicate some other way? Because of the nature of this work, email is my primary method of communication with clients. I do my best to solve problems and answer questions on my own, so if I email you, that means I really need your input. If I’m going to meet our deadlines, I need your response(s) ASAP. Similarly, I check my email at least daily and answer client emails promptly.

• How dare you change X, Y, or Z in my manuscript? My job as an editor is to find the mistakes and weaknesses in a manuscript and fix them. I’ll explain any big changes I make, but if I had to spell out the reasons behind every edit, no project would ever get done. (And if you don’t want to alter your manuscript or are going to make a fuss about every change I make, what’s the point of working with an editor?)

• Are there any dealbreakers for our working relationship? Any rude, derogatory, suggestive, profane, and/or threatening behavior is completely unacceptable in any relationship, personal or professional. Such behavior will immediately and permanently disqualify a person as my client.