Thursday 1 August 2024


Taking Bookings for 2025

My calendar is now open for bookings in early 2025. If you've developed your WIP to a stage where it will be ready for its professional edit, drop me a line and we can chat about your options. You can also avail of a free sample edit.

A sample edit allows the writer see if a particular editor’s approach suits their specific requirements. On the other hand, it gives the editor a chance to determine the writer’s level, how far the manuscript has been developed, and how much work needs to be done to bring it forward.

It’s important to understand that a sample edit is just a partial view of the editor’s service, with mine being a three-phase operation entailing a substantive line-edit, followed by a deep-focus copy-edit, and finished off with a comprehensive run-through that sees the work ready for its final rewrite and pre-release/submission prepping.

What the writer receives in the sample edit is a step inside the first phase, where undeveloped material is shaped and cleansed of all first-fix issues. The recommendation, of course, and one I always make, is for the writer to connect with at least half-a-dozen editors so they can build a fairly solid comparison between several professionals’ work methods and approaches.

If the writer likes my sample and wishes to commission me, we then have a chat about what lies ahead. I am always booked into the near-distant future, but time flies and it’s usually only a short hop before work begins. I expect half-payment up front, with the remainder due before the completed first edit is returned. What happens after that is up to the client. If they have the time to focus on the rewrite, I’ll suggest a soft deadline to work towards. If life means work is stretched out, it’s not a problem – I know how things are in that department and will always work within the client’s timetable. If it takes a few weeks, months, or even a year or more, I’m good with that. My priority is to develop the work-in-progress to its full potential, and having the writer fully on board ensures that will happen.

What do you have to do? Email two chapters, from different parts of your WIP, as a Word document to clearviewediting@gmail.com and I’ll provide a sample edit from one.

Client reviews: Clear-View Fiction Editing (writingfromtheoutsidein.blogspot.com) 

My website: Clearview Fiction Editing