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!
The Rose Red Reaper
“We fear violence less than our own feelings. Personal, private, solitary pain is more terrifying than what anyone else can inflict.” – Jim Morrison“Probably the toughest time in anyone's life is when you have to murder a loved one because they're the devil.” – Emo Philips
I love a really good mystery. A story that keeps me enthralled, wondering, guessing and staying awake into the wee small hours; “Just one more page, just one more page….”
The Rose Red Reaper meets all of these contingencies and more. The mystery itself is extremely well done. Too often I find myself figuring out the “Who dunnit’” shortly into the book. In this case, there was one small hint, well into a double-digit chapter that gives a clue – but it doesn’t give it away, and I actually didn’t start to get suspicious until well into the book. Score. A mystery that makes me think!
And think I did, not only about the story itself, but also about the characters. Loucks’ characters are some of the more interesting that I have come across in mystery novels recently. The lead characters are Lieutenant Commander Mason Cole, previously a Navy SEAL, and his brother Detective Devon Cole. Lt. Commander Cole joins his brother with the Chicago Serial Crimes Unit after the savage murder of Mason’s girlfriend. For a year, Mason obsesses over Jill’s death, desperately attempting to find any clue to her murderer. Sleepless and lost, he walks the streets at night, fleeing the nightmares that torment him. His only solace is his seat at a table in a little diner close to his home, where the coffee is always fresh, and the wait staff are a small group of women who are always kind, and always leave him in peace.
Now, the killer has struck again, and what slowly becomes obvious is that this isn’t just any serial killer. At first, there seems to be no connection between the deaths, no ties between the victims. However, as the number of grisly deaths climb, a picture slowly begins to form, an image of abuse, of torture and depravity of the worst sort, and of massive failures of a system that is purportedly designed to help the most helpless among us. A system that allows unspeakable horrors to be committed with impunity. As Mason, Devon and their small group of specialists begin to unravel the convoluted path into the mind of a killer, Mason grows closer to Dakota, the owner of the tiny diner where he feels so at home. A closeness that now places Dakota in the sights of a killer who has no mercy, and whose final goal is to destroy Mason’s life.
One of the things I like the most about the book is that none of the characters are “cookie cutter cardboard cutouts”. Their personalities are well developed and realistic, allowing you to actually come to know them as people. No one is written as an over-the-top super hero, nor are the women in the story either weaklings or superwomen – they are simply very real and likable characters. Dakota herself is blind, and yet she owns the diner and bakes the wonderful pastries, including cinnamon rolls that had my tummy rumbling whenever the characters moaned in ecstasy as they enjoyed them. Though she might be blind, she comes across as a person who truly enjoys her life and doesn’t see herself as being any different from anyone else, or as lacking or crippled in any way. I deeply admired her. Even the killer, for all his depravity, is in a way a sympathetic character. What he does is horrific, but at the end of the story one can’t help but feel a spark of sadness at what happened to drive him to the degree of hatred that he suffers – a hatred that has destroyed his soul beyond any hope of salvation.
All in all, I can highly recommend this book to any mystery lover. Well-written, well thought out, and absolutely captivating The Rose Red Reaper is a worthy addition to any aficionado’s bookshelf.