So, I Read This Book Today . . .
Editing Fees and Guidelines
As my editing jobs have become more numerous, I have updated my Editing Fees and Guidelines. My editing and proofreading includes checking for grammar, sentence structure, misspellings, and pointing out plot inconsistencies, etc. At this time, my base charge is $0.008/word, with a minimum of $50, payable via PayPal. Editing jobs I am currently working on, received before May 1, 2014, will continue to be edited at the old rate.
If your manuscript is less than 5,000 words please let me know and we can work out pricing. I prefer to set up appointments for your manuscript, but please, send your manuscripts to me as early as possible. I can often work them in sooner than they are scheduled, but advance notice is much easier.
I use Microsoft Word 2013. I use the Track Changes application while I edit and leave the decision as to whether or not to accept those changes to you. I also tend to leave extensive notes outlining the reason for specific changes, noting uneven or awkward sentence or paragraph flow, or even if I noticed something that just doesn’t feel right.
Full editing is completed in one of two ways. The first choice is that I completely edit the book and provide you with a corrected copy, highlighting changes and corrections and making when appropriate extensive notes. Your second choice is full editing. I take the book in hand, do all corrections and changes and provide you with print ready copy. The charge for print ready copy is $0.010/word.
Please note: Books from authors who speak English as a second language, hence requiring a great deal more correction for grammar, or books with extensive re-write may be significantly more. You may send me your book for pricing if you feel there may be extensive work needed on the book. Pricing available upon request.
After I have edited a manuscript, I will send it back to you. Once you have made changes, you can always send it back to me for a second pass at no charge. Please note: If second-pass changes are truly extensive, I will reserve the right to bill a second payment for the second pass. I want to be fair to you, but I also want to be fair to myself. Just as writing is difficult, though rewarding, editing a book in a manner that will make you proud of your final product is a lot of work.
For available books on which I have worked, please see my “i-edited” shelf on Goodreads. You may contact any of the authors with whom I’ve worked for a reference. I am also very willing to provide you a sample of my work to see if we are a comfortable fit. I can be easily contacted through Goodreads or by e-mail at soireadthisbooktoday@centurylink.net
I look forward to working with you!
Funky Southern Gothic
Disease, insanity, and death were the angels that attended my cradle, and since then have followed me throughout my life. - Edvard Munch
Psychopaths know the technical difference between right and wrong - which is one of the reasons their insanity pleas in criminal cases so rarely succeed; they just fail to act on that knowledge. - Jeffrey Kluger
Life is filled with goodbyes, Eve, a million goodbyes, and it hurts every time. - Mozelle Batiste Delacroix
Back in August of 2013 I picked up a copy of To Murder A Saint. Honestly, what caught my eye about it was the cover - the oaks dripping Spanish Moss, and the poignant angel, who you know is weeping the loss of what can only be a child within the tiny crypt. I knew it had to be set in the South, where else? And it was, in the bayous of Louisiana, a place the author, Nicole Loughan, had been drawn to after her brother moved to New Orleans after Katrina.
Honestly, I wasn't all that kind in my first review, pointing out how the 'journalistic' feel of the book was rather off-putting, though the story did have good bones. Honestly, I am spoiled to tell the truth. The south runs through my blood, and I lean heavily toward the slow cadence of James Lee Burke, hot southern nights, and the heartrending cadence of blues guitar blowing in over the water when reading anything set in the south.
Nicole was a dear, and we talked quite a few times after my review. I read her second book, and in my second review I wrote, "Nicole, being the sweetheart she is, took my in input like a true lady." Her second book cover shares the same eloquent vision as her first, drawing you in and giving you full notice that what you will read between its pages is both heartbreaking and uplifting. Her second entry into the field of Southern Gothic writing far outstripped her first entry into the field in terms of language and characterization, leading me to the sure knowledge that her craft would only continue to grow.
Now, with her third entry into the Saints' series, Nicole had fulfilled her promise. Oddly, she does it with the same tight, scholarly style that she offered in the first book, as well as the second. But this third novel pulls in a Southern warmth that pulled me into the story and caressed me with the warm winds and sometimes-sour, sometimes-sweet redolence of the bayou, keeping me turning pages at a frantic rate as I continued to follow the Fanchon's journey through the terror which continues to stalk her.
After losing her best friend to a sadistic serial killer, then her adoptive family to madness and death, à la the best of William Faulkner, Fanchon's life is still a nightmare. Killers stalk her, she has been accused of murder, and the man she had thought was her boyfriend, the cop from New York, Banyan, may not be a boyfriend at all - in fact, he may be something a whole lot worse. Or is someone else the author of all of her troubles?
Betrayal and heartache, terror and hope, clairvoyants and sociopaths all come together into an explosive ending that fulfilled that promise I hoped for when first reading Nicole's works. This is the wrap-up of the series, though it does leave some tiny threads hanging which give access to another Fanchon story in the future, which I look forward to. For now, Nicole will be writing The Divine Hotel, a novel set in her home of Philadelphia. From her description:
One woman watches over the children of Philadelphia, until she gets the biggest assignment of her life, to go back in time to save the entire city. Philadelphia's epic landmark, the Divine Hotel, is the setting for this high-stakes mystery that brings one woman back to a time when the city was teetering on the brink of greatness and gives her a chance to tip it one way or the other.
You can learn more about Nicole and her books at her website and you can purchase her books at Amazon or your favorite retailer. I received a copy of each of Nicole's books in return for realistic reviews. All thoughts are my own.
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