Editing

As an editor, my job is to help you polish your potential and clarify your creative life so that you can make the best decisions for your work. I believe this is a truly collaborative process in which I work alongside you and your vision, not against it—and the final decisions are always yours.

I bring my years of experience as an educator to all of my services—but I’m not cackling over your pages with a red pen, and I’m not going to lecture you. Even if our interactions end with a one-time edit, I aim to make you feel empowered with not only a better idea of how to revise your manuscript but how to apply any relevant feedback to future projects as well.

Let’s get started!

Manuscript Evaluation

A lighter edit, a manuscript eval is good for manuscripts that have gone through beta readers and rounds of self-editing and need a professional eye to get them to the next level.

^{What you’ll get:}

^{an editorial letter detailing what’s working, what needs work, and what to do next}
^{a 30 minute follow-up call (Zoom or phone) for questions, brainstorming, you name it!}

rates start at $0.005 per word

ex. $400 for an 80,000 word novel

Query Package Critique

Get your query letter, synopsis, and first 10 pages agent ready!

^{What you’ll get:}

^{extensive in-line comments on all materials}
^{an editorial letter detailing what’s working and what needs work}
^{a 30 minute follow-up call (Zoom or phone)}
^{a second pass to review revisions made}

flat rate of $75

*_{free with purchase of a full developmental edit}

Full Developmental Edit

As a natural big-picture thinker, a full dev edit is my jam. I analyze the elements that impact the story as a whole: character development/arcs, structure, plot, pacing, POV, genre expectations, theme, etc.

^{What you’ll get:}

^{extensive in-line comments}
^{an editorial letter detailing what’s working, what needs work, and what to do next}
^{a book map (a visual analysis of your manuscript’s structure)}
^{a 60 minute follow-up call (Zoom or phone)}
^{query package critique, if applicable}

rates start at $0.01 per word

ex. $800 for an 80,000 word novel

First 50 pages Critique

The first 50 pages of your novel carry a lot of weight! You must establish your protagonist and their problem, set the tone and setting, and, most importantly, make us want to read more.

If you’re getting partial or full requests but not getting offers of rep, the problem could be in your first act.

Get the eye of a full developmental edit for a fraction of the price—and if you decide you would like a dev edit, the purchase of a first 50 pages critique will be applied to the total cost (so you’re not double paying!)

^{What you’ll get:}

^{extensive in-line comments on your first 50 pages}
^{an editorial letter detailing what’s working and what needs work}
^{a 30 minute follow-up call (Zoom or phone)}

flat rate of $100*

*add-on critiques:
query letter: $15
synopsis: $25
both: $30

Carmen helped me immensely with developmental edits to my debut novel. She demonstrated critical, creative thinking, and has a keen eye for areas of improvement and expansion. Both her assessment and her in-text notes pushed me to think beyond what I had written, and see the bigger picture. After making edits per Carmen’s recommendations, I have so much more confidence in my novel. I highly recommend her for your editorial needs!
-Sarah D., women’s fiction author

Let’s get started!

_{if none of the consultation times work for you, contact me and we’ll work something out!}