Frequently Asked Questions

I have experience working as a freelance developmental editor and as a student through UCLA extension's Editing and Publishing certificate program where I was able to work with published authors (books to be published traditionally in 2026). I have additional experience with local writing groups and on local plays. I enjoy epics, romance, fantasy, noir, mystery, military ancient and medieval, and general historical fiction.

Please ask me to do a sample read if you are hesitant.

Historical Fiction: accuracy reads, developmental editing, and Alpha and Beta reads at this time. I feel if I provide these services then a second set of eyes is needed for line editing or proof reading. I, like you the writer, will have become too close to your work.

Historical Accuracy  Reads

This service looks at your manuscript to ensure you are historically accurate. Are your dates correct, is your timeline accurate, are these the right items for the time, etc. Examples: food, clothing, housing and other architecture, religion, other material culture, ships, trade, military, etc. (Cost: $0.01-0.025 depending on the depth of the history).

How can I claim to know these things? My University of Minnesota classes in Ancient and Early Medieval Studies of Europe: archaeology, history, languages/literature (OE, ON, Latin). 

(For a full list of completed classes in this field, see College Classes & Hobbies link) 

Developmental Editing

Developmental editing looks at the organization and strength of the book. It is the overall Big Picture.  I look at pacing, characters and their arc, point of view, tense, plot, subplots, and dialogue; chapter flow, order, and consistency; do things need more clarification, are you meeting your genre's expected story beats, are your scenes adding to the story and moving it forward, do you have a hook and is there tension, and I will also point out any historical errors and give you references for those historical corrections. 

I provide a style/dev sheet with comments based on the above, and a one-on-one conference call for both intake and to discuss my comments if you need it. The Style/dev sheet's length and the cost of service is determined on what your work needs--based on a 10-20 page pre-edit. 

(If I feel you have a lot of issues with your story based on the pre-edit, I will suggest book coaching, also done by me, to help teach you how to write your story based on the above elements. This costs $75/hour and is often cheaper than a developmental edit.) 

Developmental Editing is a time intensive edit that does not look at punctuation or other mechanics that does not mean I will not make notes on common and often repeated errors in your work for you to watch out for in your work. (Cost is based on $0.03 - 0.04/word, $250 minimum.)

How I stay current for Developmental Editing: I am a member of EFA (Editorial Freelancers Association), Women In Publishing, HNSNA (Historical Novel Society/North America), Poets & Writers, Writer's Digest, and Publishers Weekly. 

Alpha Read

Is a less intense developmental read of your work. I read to see if your story is working from a developmental level by providing you general feedback especially hook, character arc, and story beats. I show you where your story is working and what areas need improvement. It is usually the type of information writers ask their family and friends to provide. The problem with  family and friends, they tend to be either overly critical or not critical enough. I will provide the right amount feedback and let you know if your history is working as well.

For this type of edit, I will set up a pre-read call to discuss what you are looking for and a follow-up call to go over comments if needed. (Cost $0.015/word)

Beta Reading

Beta Reading is a second reading and is  from the perspective of reader. This looks at pace, errors in character development and arc, missing plots and story beats. I will also point out any glaring historical inaccuracies like potatoes in pre-Columbus Europe, or when potatoes became common food for the people in each country prior to the 1800s. I will usually provide a sheet with page numbers (do not work on your story while I have it for this read) where paragraphs are rough, the story feels slow, etc. This is not a developmental edit or an alpha read.

This is the least intense of the reads and is only given as a consumer of the book. (Cost $0.008/word)