I’m glad you’re here and curious about what I have to offer in the way of author services, specifically, developmental editing, story and series concept development, and ghost writing.
What I don’t offer is copy editing or line editing. I’ll mark typos or grammatical errors as I find and recognize them, but that is not my wheelhouse. Story is and that’s where I focus.
If you’d like more information, contact me at alisonkentedits @ gmail.com (no spaces). I’ll do a complimentary read through of 10 pages (2500 words) to give you an idea of how I work and what I can offer.
Your sample will also give me an opportunity to see where you are in your writing career and whether or not I’m the best person to help you on your journey. If we fit and decide to go forward, no work will be done until a short contract outlining both parties responsibilities is signed. A down payment of 50% of the total fee is due upon signing with the balance due upon completion of the project per contract terms.
For dev edits, I charge $0.010 a word for a first pass and $0.005 a word for an optional second round review. In addition, I offer story concept and series consultation as well as ghost writing services. Email me at alisonedits @ gmail.com if you’d like to discuss a project.
All communication is completely confidential.
Though I’m not an editor by trade, I’ve worked in the publishing industry for almost three decades as an author, a website designer, and co-host of a promotional author community. I’ve also served local and national writing organizations in various capacities.
I sold my first book in 1993 (my second to complete) six days after submission, and have been helping other authors, who have in turn helped me, ever since. I’ve done so in one-on-one situations, some so long ago we used printed pages and snail mail, but mostly while belonging to two amazing critique groups.
Most of my writing is in contemporary romance, romantic suspense, and larger-scope stories with romantic elements, but I’ve also written a western historical romance novella, a police procedural, and a YA post-apocalyptic series. And I read—and have critiqued—in all genres.
I’ve always considered myself a left-brained writer rather than a true storyteller. If asked what one of my books is about, I stumble. My husband, on the other hand, was a storyteller at heart, and I was the one who made sense out of his ramblings. I have a vivid memory of sitting on the couch in my office while he sat at my desk and read through one of his scenes I’d edited. He got up, walked over to me, leaned down to kiss me, and said, “You are good.”
I’ve had others say the same, but without the kiss. 🙂
Because I work more logically than organically (though there is a lot of natural story growth that happens as I write) I like having all my ducks in a row before I begin a project. And most of these are the elements of developmental editing: characterization, pacing, motivating and motivated incidents, etc. But I also love drilling down to the sentence level to make sure every word pulls its weight. If this sounds like what you’re looking for, drop me a note! Let’s see what we can do!