For a Personal Estimate:
- Your first 10 pages,
- a short nonfiction summary or novel synopsis, and
- your objective for the book.
- If a novel, tell me briefly: the protagonist's motivation and what TV show it is most like (so I can sense the style and tone).
Also answer the following questions:
- Total word count
- First book? First professional edit?
- Writing experience in the genre
- Verb tense
- Turnaround time (flexible)? I am always working on a project. There is usually a time delay. I work on one major project at a time, and give each my full attention.
- Please confirm that you have read the task descriptions and client testimonials, so that you realize that all work is usually heavier than the author anticipated.
- Your budget expectation in order to best address your needs.
Award-Winning Clients
Services
OVERVIEW
Every project is edited for clarity and connection to the readers so that they are fully motivated and engaged.
Strengths are organization, reading flow, point of view, verb tense, active voice, and a positive tone that resonates with the readers.
To illuminate your message and theme (whether nonfiction, memoir, or fiction), the writing doctor trims and tightens excess wordiness, repetition, redundancy, circular writing, run-on sentences (e.g., rambling, tangents, overly effusive or verbose).
In addition to punctuation and comma use, work includes:
- Pacing - Paragraphing, active sentence structures, scene/topic space breaks, chapter breaks, dialogue speaker breaks, and point-of-view breaks.
- Sequencing - Ideas, chapters, scenes, events (pulling together the dominant theme, and tightening concept).
- Verb tense - Generally best is past tense (which is the most common and familiar to readers).
- Point of view (perspective) – Consistent (so not jump back and forth).
- Adjectives and adverbs – Apt and precise use (so not overdone or excess).
- Tone - Edited to positive, constructive (so not assault the reader, not angry or dogmatic).
- Active voice - Active verbs and sentence structures (rather than passive, which does not fire emotional connection with the readers).
- For novels: Character development, point of view, and voice. Dramatic narration and action scenes. Dialogue that is crisp, succinct, and relevant, so that it reveals clues, plot points, and/or character. How not to frontload backstory and character descriptions but, instead, to sprinkle throughout as needed.
Hourly rates are industry standards. The better the writing, the faster the work. First books receive heavy-content editing. Many need developmental work (more than one draft), such as severely disorganized or poor writing.
TESTIMONIAL
Award-Winning Client Ocean Palmer
"All stories have a beginning, a middle, an end, conflict, story arcs, and resolution(s). How well you blend these things together will determine how good your story is.
"Writing is easy. Writing well is hard. Everyone has an editor or editors. Hemingway had two. Michener three. You will never—and I mean NEVER—sell a book that hasn’t been professionally edited. No one will even look at it. Nor should they.
"The editor is a ... necessary investment. Editing is not an expense. Paper is an expense. Ink is an expense. Postage is an expense. Editors are MANDATORY. Charol is a good one. She will, in all probability, dissect your work to the point it hurts your feelings. That’s good. That’s what you pay for....
"Remember: You are competing against professionals. People who write every day and have for years; people with agents, editors, and a command of the language and mastery of the art and craft of storytelling. No one will give you a dime for anything less than that level of work. I have seen a lot of people thinking they are good enough to compete on their own.... No one is that good. JK Rowling has a team of editors.
"I work with Charol because I trust her and we work well together. My work is better because she insists on my very best and settles for nothing less. I don’t hire an editor to like me; I hire one to rip my work to smithereens. I hire one to help me make my writing stronger.
"In the end, there’s no guarantee anyone but you will ever care about your book. But if you believe in it and care enough to pay the price—emotionally and financially—don’t cheat yourself or your readers. Use every possible resource to tell that story the best it can possibly be told; pursue the project with dogged conviction. Remember: All great stories start with a blank screen and an idea. What it becomes is up to you."
All Teachers receive substantial Discount, for any work, in appreciation of your valuable service. Email me
Copyright 2010 The Writing Doctor: Ghostwriters. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright 2010 The Writing Doctor: Ghostwriters. All Rights Reserved.
Full-time experience includes:
Over 500 business projects edited or written in 25 industries, specializing in general topics.
Over 435 research papers and dissertations light edited in APA or Turabian style (and according to the school's guidelines).
Over 100 books line and content edited (nonfiction, business, memoirs, novels).
Plus 29 books developed, expanded, and reconstructed from the author's draft.
- Line editing for professional published authors and experienced writers in the genre.
- Heavy-content editing on all first books (which is book development by the draft).
- Manuscript evaluations and critiques.
- Copywriter book descriptions and author bios for book covers and website promotions.
- Ghostwriter in nonfiction and memoirs.
Numerous clients have won awards for books edited. See their testimonials at the website, in addition to extensive descriptions on the various kinds of work done.
Before emailing a request for a personal estimate, read the task descriptions to understand that the work will be substantial. Then email this information: type of project, word count, current format, if PC, preferred turnaround time and if flexible, title, topic, tone, audience, one short paragraph summary, writing experience in the genre and topic, and your budget expectation.
