write with confidence.
developmental editing
Do you have a big idea but keep getting lost in the weeds? Or maybe a series of thoughts but can’t figure out how they hang together? How about an outline but unsure how to organize and fill in the blanks?
Developmental editing can provide the support you need. This approach is designed to help you clarify and structure your manuscript while keeping your eye on your end goal: a well-organized, well-written, and thoughtfully engaged piece of writing.
copyediting and proofreading
Copyediting is a critical part of creating a clear, readable, and engaging manuscript. It requires meticulous attention to detail while keeping in mind your larger argument and structure.
Copyediting is often most useful once a manuscript has been fully drafted and is ready to be prepared for submission to a press or agent. In some cases, a manuscript might need a few rounds of copyediting.
Proofreading is also part of the “polishing” process for a manuscript. While copyediting is focused on content, sentence structure, and coherence, proofreading ensures your manuscript is free of typos, misspellings, inconsistencies, and other small mistakes that distract from all your excellent work.
indexing
Writing an index can be the most exhausting and trying aspect of book development. It usually happens in the very last stages before publication, when you might be more than ready to move on from one project to the next. They also usually have tight timelines and press-specific idiosyncrasies. Yet a good index can truly elevate the quality of a book.
A good index takes into account both your ideal reader as well as those who might be more unexpected. It highlights the aspects of your argument, sources, and methodology central to the larger project while anticipating the needs of a range of readers.
coaching
Sometimes developing and completing your manuscript needs some more intensive support. This might be due to a challenging teaching schedule, trouble navigating job shifts, managing personal responsibilities, or simply lacking some structure.
Coaching can be a valuable source of support in meeting these challenges. Head over here to read more!
“writing is perhaps the greatest of human inventions, binding together people, citizens of distant epochs, who never knew one another. books break the shackles of time—proof that humans can work magic.”
Carl Sagan, “The Persistence of Memory” (1980)