EDITING SERVICES FOR AUTHORS
Professional editing services specialising in history, heritage and the arts
Show your readers you VALUE YOUR Writing
Not all writers understand the benefits of working with an editor, but we help make your writing the best it can be.
If you’ve written something you want to present it to the world in the best way possible. Whether you write fiction or non-fiction, you want your readers to have the best experience and fall in love with your writing.
A professional edit, proofread or assessment brings an extra layer of professionalism to your work.
Copyediting / line editing
sentence level editing
A copyedit looks at the writing itself rather than the overall story, which is dealt with in a developmental edit.
Working at sentence level, the edit covers spelling, punctuation and grammar, and can look at style and flow, which is often referred to as a line edit.
PROOFREADING
THE FINAL CHECK
The final stage, before your book gets printed. Here we make sure that no errors have been left in the text, but we change as little as possible. Usually a proofread is carried out on a PDF before being sent for publishing.
TRIAGE edit
WHEN THE BUDGET OR TIME IS TIGHT
This is a budget option for when ‘good enough’ is good enough. We’ll take your three top concerns and address them.
Designed to give you more confidence when things are tight.
Manuscript assessment (critique)
These are a cost effective way to address the areas that are traditionally covered in a developmental edit (or structural edit).
My manuscript critiques are basically a DIY developmental edit – by highlighting your strengths and weaknesses you’ll get an unbiased assessment that will allow you to go back to your writing and work on it with confidence.
Mini Manuscript assessment
An assessment of your first 10,000 words. If you’re not sure that your writing works, or that your first few chapters have potential, a mini assessment will guide you. Editing services for authors don’t always have to be carried out on a completed full-length project – this is the perfect, cost-effective way to gain professional feedback on your writing before you commit to a full developmental edit or copyedit. I’ll also look at your sentence-level writing to give you tips on your writing strengths and weaknesses.
Developmental Edit
This edit works at the big-picture, story level. Rather than look at the spelling, grammar and punctuation we will look at the overall story – does it work, are the characters three-dimensional, is there a sustained story arc or does your story have a saggy middle.
Developmental edits take time and dedication. We work together to develop your story.
As a writer, it can be difficult to expect that people like one’s work, but with this edit I feel confident that I can push onto the next stage of the process.
– REGINN
What people say …
“Sara Donaldson’s edit was thorough, professional, and illuminating. … Honestly, I couldn’t be happier.”
– Mysti Berry, technical writer and award-winning author
READY TO
CONNECT?
Not sure what you need? Don’t worry!
Talk to me and we can figure it out.
I’m a professionally trained, Advanced Professional Member of, and tutor for, the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP), I adhere to their code of practice. I also have a background in information management and genealogy, and a first-class degree in English Literature and Creative Writing.