Rob The Pen

NOTE: In the process of moving ... will not be taking on new clients till the new year.  Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Have a manuscript or two that needs polishing?

A short story?  Novel?  A number of short and longer pieces waiting to be assembled into a nice collection?

Bring 'em on, and let's work together to get your writing into top submission-ready form.

Many editors and writing services break down what they provide, enabling the writer to only pay for what they need, i.e., proofreading, copy-editing, ghostwriting, line-editing, story-analysis, etc.

I, however, have needs too, and limitations.  Word choice, sentence structure, story concept, characterization and plot points, all work together to form a synergistic whole--A STORY!  I hate--hatehatehate--to keep my mouth shut when I see something that I'm convinced needs attention.

So, I line-edit, proofreading the text for mechanical errors, such as grammatical problems, typo's and incorrect, or unflattering formatting.  I also look to the story itself, its voice and style, theme and tone, its characters and plot, and the point-of-view(s) that it is being told in.  Finally, I check to see where all these elements are working together, strengthening each other, and where, if at all, this isn't happening.  These observations are noted, line-by-line, in the margins of the manuscript, and inserted in a easy-to-note fashion, within the text itself.

At times, a client may find that I make a note, ask a question, or some-such, only to find that a page or two (or twenty) later, I again, refer to that same question or note, demonstrating why the comment is pertinent, needs to be addressed, or if it has been satisfactorily answered.

One area of line-editing that I excel in, is making the distinction clear to the client, of the differences between facts and opinions.

Objective fact?  Well, if a per4son misspells a word, or has a typo, and I point it out (like that ugly number "4" on the line above) then THAT'S an objective fact.  Confused words such as: to, too, two, or quit, quiet, quite (yeah, I know, every editor and their mom, likes to quote those words, but hey, even I--with my own work--at times screw them up).

Subjective comments deal with those gray areas, such as  character naming, word choice, plot-holes and idiot plays, and other such factors.

It can be difficult to get a true critical analysis of a manuscript from one's non-writing, non-editing friends and family, and very difficult to edit one's own work, since our minds so easily fix the errors, which REMAIN visible on the page to all but the writer.

My goal isn't just to make sure that my client's work contains nothing BAD.  My goal is for the work to move from good to BEST.

Better yet, if I don't feel that a submitted work--for whatever reason--is something that I can help strengthen, then I won't waste the client's time or money.

So ... send in a 1- to 5-page sample of your writing, with no charge.  I'll take a look and determine whether or not the piece needs to be edited, and if so, if I'm the one to do it.  If I am, I'll return the material--clean.  If you're pleased, and I like what you're putting down, then work will progress.  Otherwise, if "we're" not a match, then it'll be a no-harm, no-foul situation.

What do I edit?  Science fiction and fantasy, horror, mystery and suspense stories--the areas that I like to write and read in.

short stories, novellas, novels

What will I do?

I will line-edit your manuscript for technical and craft-related problems ...  AND successes, noting areas that are great as well as those that need work.  I do this in the form of annotated notes in the margins of the ms., as well as within the text itself.  I will offer alternative word choices and alternative renderings, as well, where such may be an example of what might strengthen a piece.  Then I will return your work as either a hard-copy manuscript, or as an attached Word.doc.  Reasonable telephone and e-mail conferences are fine as well, before/during/and after the project is completed.

Send 1-5 pages to me for a "free" sample of my editing style and competence, as a Word.doc attachment, to: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Your 1- to 5-pages will be returned within 72-hours.

Then, if you're satisfied, send the complete Word.doc manuscript to me, for a 1- to 3-week time period.  Working time will vary depending on when I receive your manuscript and what place it takes in my work-pile.  A more definitive time frame will be given upon receipt of material.

Please make sure your manuscript has 1.5 inch margins, all the way around, and is in Times New Roman font with the appropriate information on the cover page.  If in doubt, don't worry about it, I'll format it.

Work will be returned in like fashion, as an e-mail attached Word.doc.

For a hard-copy return of your work, an extra dollar per page is charged to cover ink/paper/labor/packaging and shipping costs.