Editing Services

Deciding to pay someone to edit your work or help you grow as a writer is a big step and a huge investment. Before you throw money at an editor, you want to make sure they're the right one for you, your work, your vision, and your goals.

My Experience

I have an MFA in fiction from Queens University of Charlotte. Along with my two years as a freelance editor, I've read and/or edited for venues such as Pithead Chapel (assistant nonfiction editor), Uncharted, Lupercalia Press, Best of the Net, Split Lip Press, and Clarion West. I also edited What I Thought of Ain't Funny, an anthology of short fiction based on the jokes of Mitch Hedberg with Malarkey Books. Through it all, I have worked with literary fiction from flash to novel length, speculative fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry.

My Philosophy

I'm highly intuitive when it comes to story and developmental editing. On the prose level, for line editing, I have a poet's love for and attention to language.

My goal with my editing is to work for my client and their project. I am less concerned with 100% adherence to convention or re-writing for marketability, than I am in helping a project become as itself as it can be, and helping an author use their individual strengths and weakness to learn and grow.

While I edit to make a living, I also want to do my part to make sure quality editing is accessible. I am open to working with sliding scale and payment plans.

I work with flash, short fiction, creative nonfiction, novellas and novels, as well as collections.

If you are interested in my services, just shoot me an email and let me know about your project and what you're looking for! I may have more questions to make sure I'm the right fit for you. And then before you send me your work, I'll send you a quote for the price and turnaround time.

Testimonials

"Caroljean is an amazing editor. Her thorough, thoughtful, and constructive feedback has been invaluable. I highly recommend her services."

- Tom Gadd

"I'm not certain my MFA experience helped me understand what I was doing wrong with my novel writing effort as much as Caroljean's critical eye did. Five stars all the way!"

- Behr Valentine

"At this point in my career every book I publish first goes to Caroljean. Her insights into structure, theme, character and voice have been invaluable. Her editorial approach is sensitive, honest, and entirely dedicated to solutions. She's a perfect fit for writers at any stage of their journey, from those just starting out to those, like myself, who’ve been doing it for decades."

- Kevin Hincker

Developmental Editing

$0.02 per word

The big picture edit.

I will carefully read your work, evaluating elements like character, dialogue, general prose effectiveness, plot, character arc, etc. and send you a comprehensive letter of at least two pages, evaluating the pieces strengths and weaknesses with suggestions for revision.

I will always ask if you have specific questions or areas of concern. I'm working for you here, so if you have a specific feedback you're looking for, or would like a specific type of feedback -- such as only positives or no holds barred, let me know!

Turnaround is typically a week, but is dependent on word count.

Line Editing

$0.03 per word

The nitty gritty edit.

Using either Word or Google Docs, I will focus my edit at the line level, leaving tons of notes throughout regarding things like sentence flow, metaphor appropriateness, word choice, dialogue. There may be some notes on big picture stuff too, such as pacing, but the feedback will be from in-text comments, rather than a feedback letter.

I will always let you hit me up with questions/ clarifications on these comments after you've had time to read and process them.

Turnaround is usually around two weeks, but will depend on word count.

The Whole Shebang

$0.04 per word

The everything edit.

This is a combination of developmental and line editing for those who want or need it all!

Turnaround depends on word count.

Book Length Editing

I can do developmental, line, or the whole shebang editing for basically as many words as you want to throw at me!

I've worked with story collections, essay collections, literary, and speculative fiction.

Let me know what you got and what you're looking for.

Collection Preparation

$25 per hour

Working on a flash fiction or CNF chapbook or full collection, but have no idea if all the pieces fit, or how to put them in order to create the effect you're looking for that will seal the vision, and make the whole thing hum?

This service includes suggesting the order of pieces as well as suggestions on how to improve the collection as a whole.

Coaching

$25 per hour

The "Whatever Else You Need" to help support your writing life and journey.

Includes services like:

Strength and weakness evaluation/ plan.
Helping to develop writing goals and a professional development plan.
Guidance and assistance in writing application materials for MFAs, workshops, residencies, etc.
Writing exercises and prompts tailored for you. Feedback included.

But, if there's any other coaching service or support that you need that isn't listed here, please reach out.