A thorough edit aimed at getting your book from where it is to where it needs to be. In this collaboration I'd be looking to work with you on everything that needed improvement, assuming that you were open to broad structural changes as well as more close-level edits. I’d return to you a detailed editorial memo alongside a markup of your manuscript with comments directly in the work, and we’d follow that up with a consultation to talk it all over once you’d had a chance to digest it. I'm happy to be led by you in terms of what you want to work on - we could work on things as fundamental as craft or we can stick to the structure, but my aim would be to give the book as full an overhaul as needed.

For novels, I'd be looking at character consistency, audience emotional control, pacing, plotting and market suitability. In non-fiction I’d focus on argument and overarching structure, voice, accessibility, narrative flow and market suitability. In both I’d be keeing an eye out for anything else the book might need, really taking a full diagnostic approach.

You’ll receive a marked-up manuscript, an editorial letter, and a conversation of up to an hour to discuss your work.

I’ll read your work with a view to providing a lighter-touch overview of your manuscript or proposal, assessing all the same aspects covered by the developmental edit but assuming you’re not looking to have your book ripped to shreds and put back together again. A good option for writers happy with the overall structure of their work and confident in their writing skills who want a professional opinion.

You’ll receive a detailed editorial letter setting out where your work succeeds and where it can be improved. This service does not include a manuscript mark-up.

This service is for writers who are ready to start submitting to agents or have already started submitting to agents and want an industry opinion on their submission package. I’ve been taking submissions as an agent for over a decade. I know how hard it is to get an agent’s attention and I know the red flags that will have an agent closing your submission and moving onto the next. For fiction, I’ll read your synopsis and first three chapters or 10,000 words; for non-fiction I’ll read your proposal and sample material; and for both I’ll read your cover letter.

You’ll receive a marked-up submission package explaining my response as an agent as I worked my way through your material, as well as a letter setting out your package’s strength and weaknesses and my suggestions for improvement.

If you’re not ready or able to commit to a more intense level of service, I offer a budget service whereby I would read the first 5,000 words of your project, plus a synopsis and cover letter if they’re available, and schedule a half-hour follow-up call to discus your work without providing written feedback.

This is a line-by-line edit of your manuscript, chapters or proposal with a focus on readability, sentence structure, flow and grammar. You’ll want this rather than a developmental edit if you’re happy with the overall structure of your work but want to improve the reading experience and professionalism. I’d be paying attention to word choice and sentence flow, but also to dialogue consistency, character choices and voice. It’s an intensive tidy-up, a polish and a sense-check rolled into one.

You’ll receive a manuscript heavily marked-up with edits and suggestions, which can be followed up by an extra editorial conversation if you’d like to discuss the more structural content of your work.

By special arrangement only. Send me an email.