I like to think that the wide variety of books I have worked on has kept me nimble and curious. And to my surprise I have found that my training as an actor has served me better as an editor than it ever did in the acting world—not just in seeing through someone else’s eyes, speaking in someone else’s voice, but also in the understanding that every action, every word needs to be in service of a clear objective. My #1 belief as an editor has always been that it is not my job to bend a writer’s work to my or anyone else’s vision of what it should be. My job is to serve the writer’s vision by strengthening and clarifying the text.
There are a number of areas—like business, parenting, some kinds of self-help—that I leave to editors with more specialized skills and experience.
Manuscript Evaluation
If you have written a complete manuscript, I will read it closely and respond with a detailed editorial letter outlining what works, what doesn’t, what needs to be added, what needs taking out, and more. (In nonfiction narratives, particularly memoirs, the challenge can be what to leave out—just because it happened doesn’t mean it belongs in the book.) This process may or may not, by necessity or request, involve line-editing.
Book Proposals
If you have a nonfiction idea or partial manuscript, I can help you shape that into a proposal—including overview, detailed outline, and sample chapters—that will appeal to literary agents and publishers.
Developmental Editing
If you have a partial manuscript, or just a pile of writing that you think could become a book, I can help you find a path for making it into a marketable full-length work, or book proposal.
Line Editing
This is the sentence-by-sentence polishing of prose. I believe I have a lighter touch than some in this area. In my opinion, overly aggressive line editing can scrub away a writer’s voice and character. I can’t give a writer a voice, but I can make sure yours sounds as smart and vivid as possible. The amount of line editing needed varies from project to project.