I think I can make your work better.
That’s the idea behind editing. You have a vision of a story. By the time you have it written you have no doubt chewed it up and spit it out a dozen times or more. You have reached into its innards and rummaged around for the nuggets of truth you want to convey. You know the story and the characters better than you know yourself. That is why you need an editor.
This knowledge of your characters and your world enables you to fill in the gaps of what is on the page. Your reader won’t have the same knowledge. They will see the gaps and it will be a problem. I can help find those gaps and help you fix them.
I will do my utmost to make my suggestions fit with the tone of your story and the nature of your characters. My job is not to change the story but to help you convey the story to the readers in the most effective, impactful manner possible.
Here are some testimonials from folks who think I have helped them make their work better.
Gregory showed a profound knowledge of the mechanics of storytelling and knows how to turn a good piece of writing into a great one. Any writer looking for an
editor with the chops to make his words sing should seek his services. You won’t be disappointed.
I am delighted with your edit of my story Christmas Presence. You offer excellent suggestions for improvement without in any way detracting from or changing the tone of the original. I found it very thorough and the speed of service second to none.
Nothing gives an author more confidence than finding an editor who not only understands the mechanics of the language, but who also acts as a creative partner. Gregory Lynn’s editing services go way beyond grammar and typo checking, diving into the heart of the story to help writers more clearly communicate their vision. This kind of targeted, gut-level evaluation is vital, rare, and definitely worth every penny for any author who is serious about finding success and growing in their craft.
William G. Jones
I am still fairly new at this and I think my rates should reflect that. I also think I should be clear about what I can do and can’t do.
I am offering to edit for content and a line edit. I will tell you if your phrasing sounds awkward or if I think a certain word would work better in that spot. I will tell you if something in your plot seems off. I will tell you if your characters are doing something that it doesn’t feel like they should do. I will tell you if your characters are bland and tasteless. In short, I will edit your work for plot, character, tone, setting, and general coherence.
For this service, I am asking $5 per 1000 words. A short story of seven thousand words would be $35. A novel of a hundred thousand words would be $500. For shorter works, I would appreciate payment up front. For longer works, a deposit will suffice.
If you wish to partake of my services, please e-mail me at gregory dot lynn at gmail dot com to tell me about the work you want edited including the approximate word count and genre. If you have a time frame in mind, please let me know. I will do things in the order in which payment is received and will be working around the other commitments in my life. This will likely mean that I am slower in the Summer than in the Winter and that typical American holidays will slow me down.
I will edit almost anything. The genres closest to my heart are fantasy and science fiction but I’ll also do mysteries, thrillers, and so forth. I’ll even do non fiction. In much of my previous office drone career, I edited business related non fiction and was, frankly, appalled at the quality of writing. I won’t do erotica, romance, or Christian fiction because I have precisely zero experience with those genres. The readers will have a baseline expectation that I do not possess and that would make my input less valuable. Also, one warning. If you have written a Sherlock Holmes story you should be advised that I have very precise standards in that regard. If you do not capture the somewhat conversational tone of the original stories I will call you on it and I will do it before the end of the first paragraph. If you send me something that has vampires in it they damn well better be badass.
Thank you for your interest and I hope to hear from you soon.
Not to sound bossy…you should charge more.
Too bad you don’t do romance–in particular romantic suspense. I like your voice.
Believe me, I would love to take everything. I just have no experience with romance so I wouldn’t know what the readers would expect. But if you’re willing to take a chance, I’m willing to learn…
I might take that chance when I’m finished with my next opus. I like having other eyes go over my work, bring a new perspective, and spot the inevitable fissures and flaws. And, as I said in my prior note, I like your voice.
Romance may–or may not–be tricky for you to edit. After all is written and done, it’s still about story and characterization–as is all fiction. (Although some of it might test your heat level tolerances. Always something to think about.
Well, I would certainly love to give it a try. The only reason I’m hesitant is because of my lack of experience with the genre. If I read something that is epic fantasy, I’m going to have a set of expectations that the writer can play around with. With Romance my expectations are pretty much heaving bosoms, bodice ripping, and eventually they end up together. I’m sure there’s more to it that I’m just not familiar with so if I edit something and I say something strikes me as being weird, it could be that you just did a major super double secret probation kind of thing where you set up the reader’s expectations only to smack them upside the head with a Mack Truck and I’m just not picking up on it because my expectations as a reader are different.
When I get this next book done–should be before the next ice age–maybe we’ll give your “reader expectation” sensitivities a test.
But a word of warning there are those of the, uh, romance persuasion who snarl and bite when the terms “heaving bosoms” or “bodice ripping” are said in the same breath as romance genre. We’ve come a long way… LOL
I assure you I meant no offense, it was just to illustrate the point.
And what’s wrong with heaving bosoms?
LOL Nothing at all wrong with “heaving bosoms” depending on whose they are and why they’re heaving. (And no offense taken–that usually means too much heavy mental lifting.