Writing and Editing Experience:

I published my first short story in 2012 with a small company called, at that time, Whiskey Creek Press. I published a novel with them in 2014. During this time period, I was also a paid beta reader for an editing company called Quiethouse Copyediting. I spent weeks on each author's work: leaving notes in the manuscript and additional notes in a separate form, as well as ongoing email correspondences with each author. In 2015 I put out my first self-published book under a pen name. This experience taught me so much about the publishing industry and I was lucky to have the help and support of other indie authors to guide me on my journey as I continued to self-publish.

 

Later, an author friend and I decided that we wanted our books published our way. In 2018, we opened Hollow Hills, LLC. We published themed annual anthologies, books from other authors, and our own books. We were in charge of developmental editing, content editing, and line editing. We walked authors through their entire manuscript to ready it for publication. I made new contacts with artists for cover art and formatted books for sales sites. Then, we refocused the company to concentrate on editing before we closed our doors in 2023.

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Developmental/Content Editing

$55/10k Words

I have over ten years of experience assisting authors with the fine details of their manuscripts, including rewrites. Now I am an editor for self-publishers and indie authors. 

Developmental or content editing includes the analysis of the story’s plot, structure, world building, characters, pace, and dialogue. This does not include grammatical or spelling errors or any issues with sentence structure.

Marie's approach to editing:

My job is to help each author realize their own potential. I will not only point out weak areas of your story, but areas where you succeed in capturing my imagination. I'm not here to tear you down, but to give you the nudge you may need to tell your story the best way possible. I want to help you find your voice and improve your manuscript for publication. My notes are thorough, considerate, and professional. Though I am well read in many fiction genres, I will only accept fantasy romance and its many subgenres.  Though there may be a few exceptions, I generally will not offer edits for a genre I am not well read in, since I would be unable to give satisfactory notes to the author.

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What To Expect:

I will happily provide a sample edit of the first ten pages of your work upon request. This will help determine if we are the right fit for each other. If we wish to proceed, I will provide a non-disclosure contract as well as a contract with details regarding payment, the start date, and the completion date. I will expect a deposit prior to opening your work, with the rest to be paid in full upon completion. Deposit amount will vary depending on word count. The time period for feedback will depend on the length of the manuscript.

As far as my critique, I will leave notes in your manuscript (.docx file or Google docs) and offer a separate form analyzing the work as a whole. Open communication is important to me. I want authors to feel comfortable asking questions and keeping in contact with me regarding their work. I am more than happy to receive messages through email or Discord, or communicate with Discord calls. 

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I charge $55 USD per 10k words, with a minimum of $60. All payments are through Paypal. For more details about the editing process, please message me using the form below. I will be happy to answer any questions you may have.