I have an industry-standard proofreading certificate from the Publishing Training Centre, UK, and my entire career has revolved around the written word.

I’ve worked as a professional freelance editor since 2015 and taught English as a Foreign Language for 15+ years, developing a strong understanding of grammar and syntax as a result. My PhD Studies on the historical novel taught me high-level analytical skills and how to write clearly, logically and unambiguously.

In addition, I'm an indie fantasy author with two highly rated, published books. I have a broad knowledge of the indie publishing landscape, and subscribe to professional reports on the indie book market. I also maintain regular with writers, editors and literary agents, so I'm aware of what is selling well in my genres of expertise - fantasy and romance.

For proofreading and copy-editing, I always provide a 500 word sample of my work. I use this also to prepare the quotation, which may vary depending on how much editing is required.

For the manuscript assessment and developmental editing services, I'll provide illustrative comments on the first page of your work.

A developmental editing service provides in-depth, big-picture feedback on your novel, helping you refine the story, strengthen characters, and improve overall structure. It ensures your novel is engaging, well paced, and emotionally impactful.

You could skip developmental editing if you get a manuscript assessment service and you feel there's enough feedback to help you get your story into publishable shape.

Many people use beta readers or critique partners to provide them with line-by-line feedback. This can work well, especially at the earlier stages, but bear in mind that the quality of feedback you get may vary a lot.

I don't advise using friends, as you'll rarely get truly honest feedback from them. It's best to find strangers who have no emotional investment in you or your writing.

If you're submitting to agents and planning to go the traditional route, you'll get input from multiple editors before publication, so you might not need to pay for a developmental edit at all.

If you're self-publishing, it's up to you to decide how much editorial input you want or can afford.

In short, choose developmental editing if you want the close guidance of an experienced professional to help you strengthen your story and give it the best possible chance to succeed.

But it is expensive and there are other ways to get line-by-line feedback if it's outside your means.

Both the manuscript assessment and developmental editing service involve the editor reading your entire work to provide feedback on all aspects of the story.

With manuscript assessment, you'll get a 3,000 word+ report that covers the strengths and areas for improvement, as well as advice on what to do to improve the piece.

With developmental editing, you get this report, but you also get line-by-line feedback, so it's much more intensive.

I offer a one-hour phone call after both the manuscript assessment service and developmental editing service. Not all providers will offer a call after the manuscript assessment, so do bear this in mind when selecting one.

A developmental editing service provides in-depth, big-picture feedback on your novel, helping you refine the story, strengthen characters, and improve overall structure. It ensures your novel is engaging, well paced, and emotionally impactful.

Copy-editing doesn't deal with story elements. It focuses solely on the technical aspects of writing, dealing with issues of clarity, consistency, grammar, flow, punctuation and style, among others.

Once you're happy with the story, you can opt for copy-editing if you're planning to self-publish your work. If you're submitting to agents, a copy-editing service isn't usually needed.