August 31 is the six year anniversary of Ephemeral Digest. In that time I have been a book reviewer, Books Editor and a writer. My first job after six years of university was as head of documentation at a software company. I read through style manuals and wrote and organised help text and testing documents. 13 years on and I am still copyediting work on magazines, for charities and for corporate and personal clients.
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As a Books Editor I receive self-published books that I just can’t review or write about because they lack professional editing. I decided two months ago to offer editing services so that I wouldn’t have to be tempted to provide unsolicited criticism.
I have obviously not being offering my help loudly enough because I continue to receive manuscripts that I just can’t promote. I am therefore setting up a service to not only provide editing services but also a book surgery to help authors understand how to unlock their potential
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The biggest problems I have encountered are, in no particular order:
- Poor cover designs
- Mistakes in the text – whether spelling or grammar
- Holes in the plot
- Weak and inconsistent characters
- Incoherent and irrational structures
- Dialogue that isn’t believable and isn’t consistent
- Police and other services’ procedures that aren’t accurate
I can help fix all the above or find you someone who will.
At the end of each month I will present a Book Surgery that assesses one piece of written work and offers advice on what to do next. To apply, email joanna@ephemeraldigest.com with the subject Book Surgery. You can also fill out the form at the bottom of this page.
For a professional editing service, I offer the following:
Copyediting
I will check your text for spelling, grammar, understanding, and consistency.
Editing
Whether you are working on a fiction or a non-fiction manuscript, I can provide feedback on what will make your work even better. Before you send anything to a publisher why not have a professional pair of eyes check that everything is in order.
Use the following form to ask for the Book Surgery, sample edit or a quote. Typical cost is £100 for 20,000 words. Sample edits are free.
