fiction/non-fiction children's books dust jacket development interviews and oral histories newsletters/brochures and print PR and marketing media copy computer IT technology entertainment historical industrial law enforcement

psychology real estate religious scientific screenplays teleseminars/webinars term papers theses websites the self-help fieldand much more, including the current escalation in eBooks

I give 100% commitment and personalized attention to all my clients, no matter whether an accomplished author or a first-time writer.  A proud accomplishment has been working with motivational speaker and life coach Vic Johnson (http://vicjohnson.com) to bring many of his personal and client eBooks to life.

 

"I want to thank you for your editing on 52 Mondays:  The One-Year Path to Outrageous Success & Lifelong Happiness.  It reached #14 overall during Amazon's promotion last week."

 

 

In today's busy world where attention spans have become much shorter, a writer needs to have their message resonate with the reader's logic and heartstrings profoundly, crisply, succinctly and quickly. 

 

EDITING

 

General light proofreading is correcting errors in English grammar, spelling, punctuation, capitalization, sentence fragments, website links, etc.  This is usually done if the author is more experienced and doesn't need a great deal of editing. 

 

Copyediting -- often for the less experienced individual -- is a concentrated, detailed review of the consistency, flow and accuracy of their writing.  Spellchecking catches only 20% of errors, if that (i.e., homonyms like to, too, two; there, their, there; pear, pare and pair are difficult to catch); professional copyediting catches everything else.

Please don't hesitate to ask for a recap of my editing process to give you a better idea of what to expect while working together.  For example...

• Text editing of documents for typos, grammar, repetitive or inaccurate words, run-on sentences or too many sentence fragments, inconsistent names and spellings, syntax, etc. against written or audio drafts. 
• Initially it's the writer's responsibility (or assistant or ghostwriter) to check all factual statements, and to make sure any scientific, degrees, mathematical, medical, literary or musical terms are used accurately and consistently throughout.  However, heavy copywriting assures those areas are thoroughly researched and reworked for clarity and conciseness.  As a certified researcher I'm more than willing to do an "archaeological fact dig" to assure all facts are correct and to prevent any plagiarism issues.  I double-check spellings of persons, places, titles, technology terminology, historical references if requested, and Plus red flag anything the writer may not have caught.
• Flow of paragraphs to make sure they follow each other logically, and transitionalize correctly.
• Consistent style and formatting, etc.
• Heavy copywriting tends to fall into the range of academic papers, technology, textbooks, medical/psychology terminology, etc.  The more difficult the text, the more difficult the editing.

 

Industry standard for a manuscript is 250 words per page (i.e., a 10,000 word count book equates to roughly 40 pages). Therefore, I'd prefer  seeing it first to determine how much work will need to be done -- since everyone's work is different -- and then I'll quote a rate based on the amount of work that needs to be done, legibility and difficulty of content. Rates are normally based on typed MS Word documents; however, I also work from handwritten notes.

 

PROCESS:

• I require a one-half down-payment to commence the project; then the final payment is due prior to returning the edited document.  Since almost all my clients are global, this is a mandatory requirement as I have no recourse if they choose not to pay (fortunately that has never happened).  I accept PayPal and checks (however, the work will not be released until the check clears).
• You'll email or mail the documents to be edited (preferably in the most current Word program.  Older programs tend to have embedded macros or templates that aren't compatible with newer systems.)
• You'll provide your contact information including mailing and email addresses, and phone number. 
• I'll provide a first draft edited document with tracking changes turned on so you can see corrections and my comments.  Plus a document with all changes accepted and tracking changes turned off so you can see the polished work.  (Editing is very subjective, so seeing all the mark-ups can be confusing and overwhelming.  I always recommend reading the all-accepted proof before looking at one with the changes.  Shame on any editor who doesn't provide both documents!)  We'll work together until you feel confident your work is ready to be published.  (Many editors charge for second, third and beyond editings, but further "tweakings" are included in my initial fee.)
• You'll provide a deadline which works much better for me than leaving it open-ended (unless you don't have a particular deadline; then I'll do my best to get it back to you as soon as possible).

Please don't hesitate to contact me with any questions. I look forward to bringing your work to life in a very polished presentation.

 

MARY JO STRESKY

The Write MoJo Literary & Research Services

Call me:  (307) 673-2552

Or email me: Click Here