Finishing the first draft of your story is a huge accomplishment. What’s the next step? I can help you polish those pages and prepare them for querying or publication.
After the first draft has been beta read, subsequent drafts are for editing and revisions. Your manuscript needs to be as polished as possible before querying or publishing.
But how do you know what kind of edits you need? There are four main types of edits, and they might be a lot different than what you realize. For example, many people think a proofread is a once-over to make sure everything sounds ok, but it’s something entirely different. Read on to find out what the differences are.
If you’ve already read the information below and know what you’d like to book, go directly to the booking form here.
Foxx Editorial maintains 5-star service and my clients’ comments here are testaments to my professional, knowledgeable, and actionable feedback. Every project is different, so it’s important to assess your needs in order for me to give you an accurate quote. I offer reasonable, industry-standard fees that are reflective of the excellent work I strive to provide, and I make every effort to give my clients thoughtful and helpful feedback. Reach out about what your needs are.
If you haven’t worked with me before and you’re interested in booking a full edit service, I am happy to provide a free sample edit of up to 2000 words for a novel-length project or 1000 words for a novella-length project. This will enable you to see what kind of feedback I offer, and it will also allow me to get a better understanding of the scope of work involved and ensure you’re booking the right kind of edits.
I can give you in-depth, professional feedback in four main areas of editing. Read about each one below to help you decide what stage your manuscript requires.
Types of Editing
Structural Editing is usually the first stage of editing you need to have done. It takes a look at the big picture and deals with things like plot holes, character arc, tension, natural dialogue, character voice (especially in dual or multi-POV novels), show vs. tell, good flow, a good hook and inciting incident, etc. This is going to be the largest component of the editing process. It’s a collaborative process and may include brainstorming sessions, back-and-forth communication, and a revision round.
Stylistic Editing is tightening up long-winded passages, eliminating redundancy and run-on sentences, ensuring a good flow of information, and generally making sure any confusing areas become clear and concise. It also ensures tone is being articulated correctly through language. A revision round is included.
Copy Editing is much more than just spelling, grammar, and punctuation. It’s also consistency (in words and in character actions, scene settings, etc.), word choice, sentence structure, and overall quality of the writing. This stage is less on the creative side and more rule-dependent. A revision round is included. Sometimes, depending on the quality of the line-level writing, stylistic and copy edits can be combined.
Proofreading is your final step after all revisions are complete, and it’s much more detailed than it sounds. This is where the polishing is done to catch any missed or newly-introduced errors in spelling, punctuation, consistency in capitalization and abbreviations, visuals, page numbers, headings and sub-headings, etc. It’s extremely important to do this after all big-picture revisions have been made and before it goes to print. This stage is typically a back-and-forth between the client and editor until all errors are resolved.
Investment
Being an author means running a small business, and investing in your manuscript is a smart business decision. You want to put your best out into the world so you can get the best return on your investment, and trust me when I say it takes a village to help you achieve success. Just like finding a superb book cover artist and doing marketing and promotion (ideally with a publicist), editing is essential. Having an outside, unbiased, professional perspective is key. Fees for full edits are based on a per-project basis, so it will depend on what kind of edits you need and what your word/page count is. Generally speaking, fees range between the industry standard of $.014-$.024 per word depending on the type of edits being booked. This includes administrative time to provide a detailed editorial letter outlining areas done well and areas that need improvement. Editorial letters give specific examples and suggestions and are in addition to the feedback notes and edits made in the document itself.
Style Sheets are available for an additional $150 USD. These are documents that show when a style decision is made to ensure consistency throughout the manuscript. If you hire a stylistic/line editor, for example, and then a proofreader, it’s important that the proofreader can see what style decisions were made to make the proofreading process smoother. General rules are followed according to a style guide (such as the Chicago Manual of Style) and/or the publishing house’s style guide, as well as the preferred dictionary, and anything that is not specified in either of those guides or in the specified dictionary must be decided upon in a logical manner by the editor, then consistently followed through in each round of edits. Areas include numbers and dates, spellings, use of proper nouns, the physical appearance of characters, timelines, etc. They take time and effort to build for each document I edit and are usually several pages long.
It is recommended to book your editing time as soon as possible (i.e. don’t wait until you’re finished and ready to hand it over) so that you can get the booking time you’d like. I’m typically booking full edits 2-3 months down the road.
Once you fill out the booking form, I will send you an invoice (via email) and a contract which outlines the service, timeline, payment terms, etc. A non-refundable 50% deposit is required to hold your booking time and before work can begin. The remaining 50% is due within 3 days of delivery of the first round of feedback. You are welcome to take as much time as you need for your revisions and then send them back to me, at which point I’ll give you a firm date of delivery for the revision round.
Genres
I typically read and edit Adult or YA in the following genres: domestic or psychological thrillers, domestic suspense, gothic fiction/horror, historical and historical fantasy, supernatural/paranormal, some book club fiction, and some rom coms. I’m great with dual or multiple POVs and dual timelines. Please note that epic/high fantasy and things like space operas and alien worlds are not typically genres I read heavily. Structurally, my areas of expertise are in the above-mentioned genres. Stylistic and copy edits can be booked in any genre (unless the story contains any of the Hard No elements listed below).
Hard No stories: extreme gore and ruthless violence from the beginning to the end of the story, explicit/repeated rape, erotica, highly religious stories, heavy politics, or stories where animals or children are harmed (intentionally) on the page.
If I haven’t listed your genre, please feel free to reach out about your story to discuss the genre and content if it falls into one of these three genres.
I particularly love twisty, jaw-dropping thrillers, haunted houses, ghosts, ancestry, time travel, witches, and anything to do w/ soulmates/soul connections, reincarnation, and past lives. I’m happy to provide edits on a wide range of word counts, but generally speaking, in those genres, novels are typically under 100,000 words (especially for debuts!).
Nonfiction: Although I typically focus on fiction projects, I am happy to provide copyedits and proofreading for nonfiction projects in areas such as memoirs and creative or narrative nonfiction. Fact-checking is not included. Please reach out if you have a nonfiction project so we can discuss details and decide if I’m a good fit for it.
NOTE: If you are booking a query package critique or a short/flash fiction critique, I am happy to accept any genre (except where there is the noted graphic content above). If you’re not sure if your genre would be a good fit, please don’t hesitate to reach out here to inquire about your project’s genre, word count, elements, and overall editing needs.
Book Your Edits
To book your edits with me, please fill out the form at the link here and click Submit. This gives me your contact information and some details about your project. When your form is received, I’ll send an invoice to the email address provided with the quoted amount and any details discussed as well as a timeline for your project based on your individual needs. A contract will be sent separately. Please ensure you read the terms and conditions before submitting the form. I use forms instead of website-direct bookings so I don’t get overwhelmed with bookings; this allows us to discuss the timeline based on your anticipated deadline and my availability. I’m typically booking 2-3 months away, so be sure to book your edits as soon as you can.
Repeat clients who book through my website receive 10% off future bookings! (Cannot be combined with other discounts.)
Please be advised that full edits, query packages, and assessments will be taken on a limited basis during the summer months.
Don’t hesitate to reach out if you have questions or would like to check availability before booking. Thank you for trusting me with your work!