Frequently Asked Questions - FAQs

1.  How do I submit my work to you?
Everything goes through the Contact/Submit page of this website.
  • First, you fill out the first four lines of the Contact/Submit form, by which you tell me who you are and how I should contact you.
 
  • Then you tell me about your work:
  1. If it is well described by one of the "Prix Fixe" items (like "Poetry - up to 30 lines - $5.00"), check the appropriate box.
  2. If you want the lower service level of "Proofreading," check that box.
  3. You may need to submit the work--or a two- or three-page sample of it--for an estimate. Pick the appropriate box.
  4. Perhaps you have a question. There's a box for that, too.
 
  • In the free-form "Comment/Question" area, be sure to tell me about:
  1. Your audience/market (for example, scholarly publications, young adult novel, feature for a local newspaper);
  2. How large the whole work is (if you're only sending me a sample);
  3. Any deadlines or other constraints;
  4. Any software restrictions;
  5. Your (or your publisher's) preferred stylebook (e.g. Chicago or Associated Press);
  6. Any other features, like photos, charts, footnotes, etc.
 
  • Use the "Browse" button to find and attach your file (or the sample you have extracted from it).
 
  • Finally, click on "Submit." I will be back in touch with you within twenty-four hours!
2. What happens next? How will I receive an estimate?
Within twenty-four hours, I will contact you by email (or phone, if you have chosen that option).

If you checked one of the "Prix Fixe" boxes:
  • My first contact will acknowledge receipt of your submission and verify the appropriateness of the selected checkbox (for example, "I have received your 1,615-word work of prose entitled 'Jelly Beans,' which I agree to edit for $16.15.")
  • I will also tell you when I expect to finish. Once I am finished, I will email you an invoice for the agreed-upon amount.

If you submitted a work for an estimate:
  • My first contact will acknowledge receipt of your submission (for example, "I have received a three page extract from your novel entitled Jelly Beans").
  • My next contact (an email, approximately 24 hours later) will include:
    • the edited extract (to show you my editing style)
    • an estimated cost for editing the entire work ("...approximately 55,000 words, according to your information...")
    • the number of working days I expect this work to take, and
    • an invoice for a down payment of 50% of the estimated cost.

If you decide you want me to do the work, you pay the invoice. I'll bill you for the balance when I'm finished.

If you decide you do not want me to do the work, pay nothing (but let me know—we can still part as friends!) Any work that I did on the sample is yours.
3.  How do I pay for the services?
All payments are handled through PayPal. If you have your own PayPal account, you can pay the invoice that way. Otherwise, you can use your major credit card.
4.  How do you determine estimated costs and turnaround time?
My standard rate is $0.01 per word. If you wish my "Proofreading Only" service, the rate is $0.008 per word.
5.  Can you proofread or edit my website?
Sure. Put the link to your website in the "Comment/Question" box, specify the pages you want me to work on, and I'll give you an estimate.

Warning: Since the content of most websites is handled by software I might have no access to and protected by security measures I should have no access to, the correction process will be quite cumbersome. We should talk--give me your phone number on the Contact/Submit Form.
6.  What's the difference between proofreading and copyediting?
I offer two levels of service:

Proofreading used to be the last thing to happen to a manuscript before the presses started rolling, but nowadays it can happen at any time. You give me your text and I will make sure the words are spelled correctly, that the verbs agree with their subjects, and that your commas and periods are properly used. Simple, sweet--and indispensable!

Ask me for my copyediting service, and you'll still get the proofreading, but I'll do so much more. I'll catch the second usage of a particular adjective in a single paragraph--and suggest an alternative. I'll point out that your argument would be stronger if you rearranged paragraphs three and four. If you specify the Associated Press Stylebook, I'll lose that "Oxford" comma and remind you to use numerals instead of words for numbers 10 and larger.

What I will not do is rewrite your work. My goal as a copyeditor is to make your writing as effective as possible, not to make it sound like me. That is why I encourage the "Track Changes" approach, which allows me to explain my reasons for a suggested change in a marginal note, while you retain the right to decline my suggestions, one by one. After all, you are the author!
7.  What are the standard stylebook and format choices?
Stylebooks:
  • The Chicago Manual of Style, 17th Edition (my default*)
  • The Associated Press Stylebook, 2015 edition

Other guideline resources:
  • The Elements of Style (Strunk & White)
  • A Manual for Writers (Turabian)

Dictionaries of choice:
  • New Oxford American Dictionary, 3rd Edition
  • Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 11th Edition (my default first reference*)
  • Webster's New World College Dictionary, 5th Edition
8.  What word processing program should I use?
Any word processing program can be used for writing. Microsoft Word has an excellent "Track Changes" feature that enables me, the editor, to suggest corrections and make comments to you, the author. You can then accept or reject each change as you please.

Google Docs (it's free!) has similar features.

If you don't have access to Microsoft Word or Google Docs, please let me know your software, so that I can do my best to accommodate your needs.
9.  What is "Track Changes" mode?
Check out the demonstration of "Track Changes"
on the EXAMPLES page of this website!

With "Track Changes," you can switch between views of your amended work to see:
  • Your original version
  • Your version with my suggested revisions and annotations clearly highlighted
  • My suggestions incorporated

All this before you make a single permanent change! When you are ready, you accept or reject each suggested revision in sequence!

If you would like me to walk you through the features of "Track Changes" mode after I have edited your work, please ask. We could have a very helpful phone call!
10.  What if I don't agree to some or all of the changes?
With "Track Changes," it's up to you: Accept or reject each suggested revision in sequence. Accept all, or accept some. Yea to this one, nay to that one.

It's your decision!
11.  How do i get my writing published?
How to Get a Book Published

Getting published requires talent, persistence, and luck.

If your dream is to get a book published, you’ll need to how the industry works and what the publishing process looks like.

​
12.  What is the difference between active & passive voice?
ACTIVE VOICE:  She slammed on the brakes.
PASSIVE VOICE:  The brakes were slammed on by her.

Active voice is used for most non-scientific writing. Using active voice for the majority of your sentences makes your meaning clear and keeps the sentences from becoming too complicated or wordy. Even in scientific writing, too much use of passive voice can cloud the meaning of your sentences.

Click here for more explanation.
13.  Do you have any writing tips?
I have three favorite tips which are described on my home page:
  • Lose the murk! Make the writing clear. Sometimes you simply must make use of a second pair of eyes.
  • Cut the flab! Lean writing communicates. Here are some tough guidelines:
  1. Never use an adjective if a noun will do.
  2. Never use a phrase if an adjective will do.
  3. Never use a clause if a phrase will do.
  4. Never use a sentence if a clause will do.
  5. Never use a compound sentence if a compound predicate will do.
  • KEEP THE VOICE! Make your mark; you have something to say in your own words. Make sure your editor remembers who the author is!

Tips from the Experts

Picture
From George Orwell
One can often be in doubt about the effect of a word or a phrase, and one needs rules that one can rely on when instinct fails. I think the following rules will cover most cases:
  1. Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.
  2. Never use a long word where a short one will do.
  3. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
  4. Never use the passive where you can use the active.
  5. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
  6. Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.
From Orwell's essay "Politics and the English Language"

Publishing  Your Writing

Check out Writer's Digest 
It is an American magazine aimed at beginning and established writers. It contains interviews, market listings, calls for manuscripts, and how-to articles.

Writer's Digest is owned by F+W Media, which publishes the annual edition of Writer's Market, a guide containing a list of paying markets — magazines, publishing houses, and contests — as well as an index and tips for beginning writers. The magazine is published eight times a year.

Writer's Digest also sponsors 
​several in-house contests annually, including the Writer's Digest International Self-Published Book Awards and their Annual Writing Competition for short stories.