What Editorial Service Do I Need?

To ensure I can best meet your needs, I’ve outlined the various types of editorial service that I offer below, along with what you can expect from each.

To learn about the sociopolitical impetus behind my editing practice, read my essay ‘Death of the Editor’ (Overland, 2017).

​​Structural editing

Also known as ‘substantive’ or ‘developmental’ editing, this type of editing looks at the ‘macro’ elements of content and structure. It takes into account the why (purpose or intended message) and who (intended audience) of your manuscript/piece to assist you in strengthening its how (presentation/form) and what (content, context and elaboration).

Alongside direct interventions into the document—for instance, shuffling paragraphs or sentences around to improve cohesion, logic or flow—this stage will involve queries/suggestions that you’ll have to action yourself, as I won’t always have the necessary knowledge of your story or subject to do so on my own. (If you’d like me to look over how you’ve addressed these queries, I can do so for an additional charge + with extra time built in.)

​Line and copy editing

At this stage, editing is done at the sentence and word level to ensure your manuscript/piece says what it means and means what it says.

Here, I’ll assume that you’ve already locked in the big-picture elements normally addressed during structural editing, and instead home in on ‘micro’ elements such as syntax, phrasing and punchiness (line editing) as well as the correctness of grammar, punctuation and facts (copy editing).

​Proofreading

Traditionally, proofreading happens after a manuscript/piece has been laid out. Whether carried out using a red pen on print-outs or through annotations on a PDF, proofreading requires you or your graphic designer to manually take the changes into your layout or typesetting program. On top of checking the words themselves (as a safety net catching anything that was missed during earlier editing stages), I’ll keep a close eye on layout, aesthetic and formatting consistency, image quality, and other design elements.

That said, it’s also possible do proofreading before layout! I’m more than happy to be your final pair of eagle eyes so you can avoid any typos or faux pas.

Manuscript assessment

A manuscript assessment gives you a top-down answer to the question, Where to next? With this option, I’ll ask for a one-page synopsis (ideally with chapter summaries), a one-page author bio/CV and your completed manuscript. After I’ve read through everything, I’ll send you a report (of around 2000 words) with overarching feedback on one or more of the following points: argument/plot, intended message, intended audience, topicality, political currency, sensitivity, structure, pacing, perspective, voice/tone, style, grammar/vocabulary, suitability for publishing industry.

Please note: there will be no line-by-line annotations or direct editing of the manuscript itself, and a manuscript assessment does not guarantee publication or acceptance into a publisher’s list.

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Sensitivity or beta reading

Sensitivity and beta reads give you the peace of mind that a highly switched-on reader—armed with not just professional expertise but also relevant lived experience—has greenlit your manuscript/piece in terms of accuracy, respectfulness and impact. This is especially important if your work represents or discusses cultures/communities that you’re not part of—a sensitivity/beta reader can save you from generalisations and stereotypes that may cause harm or offence.

In my case, I can undertake sensitivity/beta reads of work dealing with the LGBTQIA+ community; the Philippines, Asia and the Asian diaspora; Spanish speakers and the Hispanic diaspora; migration, multiculturalism and multilingualism in Australia; and/or mental illness and the broader disability community. I can look over either the manuscript as a whole or only the passages you’ve previously identified as possibly contentious.

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Mentorship

A mentorship is a more dialogic approach to strengthening your work; it can be as structured or informal as you need. At heart, a mentor offers two things: (1) unequivocally being in your corner, giving you the support you need (whether it be a boost to your self-confidence, a sounding board or someone to philosophically spar with); and (2) expert advice, having gone through the literary or publishing inroads you’re currently facing.

As mentor, I generally suggest one of three options: conversation-based meetings, exhaustive comments/annotations in a Word document, or a mix of the two. Regardless of the the format, the mentorship will be guided by what you hope to get out of the exchange on both a professional and personal level.


Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any further queries. I look forward to working with you!