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!
Calculating God
I tried to finish the book, I really did. However, there really wasn't any 'there' there. It reads as nothing other than the ramblings of a man who learned sound bites about science so that he could convince thoughtful persons to purchase a book that he then uses as a soapbox for obsessive ravings.I expected to find sound science to be the basis of the book, with some interesting theories on the possibilities of intelligent design. Some comparative paleontology, interesting theories on the development of life on other planets would have been quite welcome. Mostly I was looking for thoughtful reasoning of a scientific theory that included the possibility of an outside developmental force. What I found was the shouting of a man who apparently is so unsure of his own beliefs he has to scream loudly enough to drown out his own questions.
I am not opposed to the concept of intelligent design. The cosmos is, indeed, a wondrous thing. More wondrous, I believe, than even the most highly educated and thoughtful of us are psychologically capable of fully comprehending. The majority of human beings are, as a group, incapable of grasping the concept of a universe in which we are not the centre of attention. It was not all that long ago that humans were imprisoning or murdering anyone who had the audacity to suggest that the Earth wasn't the centre of the universe. The concept that there might actually be other planets that held intelligent life would have required burning at the stake or ripping apart by horses. Not only the person in question, but all their friends and family in all likelihood. The briefest study of the evening news would seem to indicate that there are numerous folk who still believe this way. Everyone is entitled to their own beliefs, in my estimation, as long as they don't cause harm to others in the dispensation of those beliefs.
From the evidence of all too recent holy wars, the majority of the population still believe that a cosmos consisting of, as Carl Sagan would say, `billions and billions of stars', stars which could contain hundreds of thousands or more of planets capable of supporting life, still revolves around this beautiful little blue speck on a distant arm of a more distant, insignificant galaxy in the hinterlands of the universe.
The author had an opportunity in this book to write something thought provoking, solid, and forward looking. It is a shame that he fell so far short of the goal we thought he was reaching for, and fell into a morass of pseudo psychobabble wearing a mask meant to mimic scientific thought.