Finishing a manuscript is no joke. Writing is an incredibly demanding and lonely process.

I know this from personal experience: the year I wrote my memoir was perhaps the most gruelling and challenging one of my life, and I’m only too familiar with the crippling self-doubt that most creatives – even bestselling authors – experience.

So I understand some of the complexity of your feelings about your manuscript. I know what it feels like to be stuck, to be lost, to find the strength and determination to keep going, again and again, and finally to triumph. I know how precious your manuscript is, how you’ve agonised over every word, every nuance, every comma. I understand your hopes and ambitions and fears. I’ve lived them all.

As well as being a writer myself, I’m also an editor with twenty years’ experience in the publishing industry. Through my time working in-house and as a freelancer in many roles – including publisher, managing editor, writer and overwriter, editor and proofreader – I’ve learnt just about everything there is to know about the book-making process. I can answer your questions and guide you through the exciting but wild world of publishing. And because I understand the tenderness of the relationship between an author and their precious manuscript, and how vulnerable it feels to offer up a private treasure for outside scrutiny, I will always find kind, respectful ways to make corrections, identify flaws and suggest changes.

Wherever you are in the writing process, I’d love to work with you to make your manuscript the very best it can possibly be.

I offer various services that you may find helpful at different stages of your writing journey. (Note that the rates quoted here are only a guideline. I'll give you a quotation once I've looked at your manuscript or page proofs and we've agreed on the nature and level of service required.)

Manuscript review

If you’ve done multiple drafts and believe that your manuscript is in the best possible shape that you can achieve, a manuscript appraisal is an excellent way of getting honest, objective feedback (well, as objective as it’s possible to be about something as subjective as a piece of writing!) from a professional editor to assist you in deciding what your next steps should be.

I read the manuscript and produce a report analysing its strengths and weaknesses in terms of its big-picture aspects, including elements such as structure, plot, characterisation, setting, pace and narrative viewpoint, as relevant. I also suggest ways of improving the manuscript, giving examples, but I don’t make any corrections or changes to the Word document.

This service includes an hour-long follow-up Zoom call during which we discuss my feedback and you ask me any questions you may have.

My evaluation will give you a clear path forward: you can then either do further developmental work yourself or work with me to do any overwriting or developmental adjustments required.

Rate: 14 cents (ZAR) per word, with a minimum fee of R5 450.

Developmental editing

This process is often done at a fairly early point in the drafting process with the aim of ensuring that the basics are firmly in place before you go back to work developing and polishing the manuscript, and eventually producing a final draft.

During this type of edit, frequently done as a follow-up to a manuscript review, I look at the big-picture aspects mentioned above, identifying problems and suggesting solutions or improvements. I engage directly with your manuscript, using comments and track changes to make and suggest changes.

I don’t address details such as spelling, grammar and punctuation at this stage, since those issues are the focus of a copy-edit, but I do highlight recurring problems and give you guidance so that you can correct them yourself in the manuscript and avoid repeating them in the future.

Rate: From 55 cents (ZAR) per word.

Overwriting

This service is for authors who have a great story but aren’t natural writers. I take a fairly rough manuscript and turn it into a polished text, while ensuring that the writer’s unique voice still comes through strongly.

Rate: From 75 cents (ZAR) per word.

Copy-editing

A copy-edit is a detailed, line-by-line edit during which I correct spelling, grammar and punctuation mistakes, ensuring that there are no errors or inconsistencies to distract readers or prevent them from becoming fully immersed in the story. During this process, I also make sure the manuscript is consistent in its treatment of issues such as language choice (UK or US English?), hyphenation, whether numbers are presented in the form of words or numerals, and a hundred and one other small details that most readers never even notice unless a book hasn't been edited well.

Once the copy-edit is complete, the manuscript is ready for the next stage: self-publishing or submission to a traditional publisher.

Rate: From 40 cents (ZAR) per word for light editing to 80 cents (ZAR) per word for heavy editing.

Proofreading

This is the final quality-control stage of a manuscript that has already been edited and typeset before publication.

Rate: From 20 cents (ZAR) per word.

Authors often aren’t sure which editing service is appropriate for the stage they’ve reached or would add the most value to their process. Make contact with me if you’d like more clarity about what your manuscript needs right now.

Although I edit some fiction, my main focus is on narrative non-fiction. I especially enjoy developing and editing memoirs and books about personal transformation as well as sexuality and relationships.

If you’d like to find out more about the kind of work I do and my approach to it, read this, this and this.

These are some of the projects I’ve worked on over the last few years.