Editing

Scribes & Archers > Editing

Technical or Developmental Edits

I’m passionate about helping authors–especially those who seek to honor God through their work*–to polish their writing so that readers can focus on the story instead of on the words on the page. I seek to trim down on the amount of reviews saying, “This had great potential, but…” and help your story stand out as a quality piece of work. This may mean that I point you to another editor with more experience, but I hope that I’ll be able to help you in one way or another. :)

*This is the core of my passion, but it does not mean that I won’t edit your book just because you’re not a Christian author. I’m happy editing for anyone, so long as I don’t find anything objectionable with the content of the work itself.

I offer technical edits (proofreading and line-edits) for $2 per page. Estimated time to complete is 1-7 days for a short piece (anywhere up to about 10,000 words) and 4-6 weeks for a book-length work (15,000-150,000 words).

I offer developmental editing for the same price and the turnaround time is roughly the same for short pieces but may extend as long as 10 weeks for longer pieces. If you’d like both services, I charge $3 per page.

I will proofread fiction or non-fiction of any length, but I reserve the right to reject any project presented to me if I feel uncomfortable reading it or simply because I don’t have time. I’m most experienced in the fantasy, sci-fi, and dystopian/post-apocalyptic genres. I only do developmental edits on fiction.

I’ll edit your first chapter for free as a sample to determine if I’m the right editor for your novel or not. If you have a short story you’d like me to edit, I’ll do the first two pages for free. After the free sample, if you decide to continue with the full paid edit, I require a 50% up-front payment. Payment is made through PayPal.

I have experience editing short stories, as well as beta-reading multiple novels including Miranda Marie’s Echoes and Azalei’s Strategy and Melody Jackson’s Dragons’ Bane.

 

Testimonials

Violet Monroe
Ariel's dedication and sharp eye showed me how talented and knowledgeable she truly is when it comes to the business of writing. Not only was she incredibly thorough when pointing out grammar and punctuation mistakes, but she also helped with consistency, head-hopping, clarity, and the overall flow of my novel. She was very detailed when she offered suggestions on how to enhance my manuscript going forth. I feel confident in the things I need to fix, and I feel like I can go through with those suggestions with a fresh and clean manuscript.
I would strongly recommend her to any of my writer friends!
R.M. Archer Editing Services
2018-08-09T22:20:32+00:00
Ariel's dedication and sharp eye showed me how talented and knowledgeable she truly is when it comes to the business of writing. Not only was she incredibly thorough when pointing out grammar and punctuation mistakes, but she also helped with consistency, head-hopping, clarity, and the overall flow of my novel. She was very detailed when she offered suggestions on how to enhance my manuscript going forth. I feel confident in the things I need to fix, and I feel like I can go through with those suggestions with a fresh and clean manuscript. I would strongly recommend her to any of my writer friends!
FiveSecondsToFly
Ariel's editing skills are commendable; she's extremely thorough, and not only did she catch all the easy-to-miss typos, she offered suggestions to make the story all around stronger. She also gave valuable insight on sentence placement and structure, something I struggle with personally. She was finished in a timely manner, and I would definitely recommend her for any sort of project.
R.M. Archer Editing Services
2018-04-12T16:45:57+00:00
Ariel's editing skills are commendable; she's extremely thorough, and not only did she catch all the easy-to-miss typos, she offered suggestions to make the story all around stronger. She also gave valuable insight on sentence placement and structure, something I struggle with personally. She was finished in a timely manner, and I would definitely recommend her for any sort of project.
Keturah Lamb
I sent my novella, When Souls Breathe On, to Ariel receiving in return a document full of edits! First, I was super surprised at how fast I got them back. Second, I couldn't believe how many edits there were! Don't get me wrong - I loved it! It took me quite awhile to apply all her edits, but I loved the whole process... from choosing a name for my ship captain so he was no longer the Captain but Captain Dunbar, to basic grammar mistakes, to head hopping, to "does this make sense with what you previously said?" I feel like my story is so clean now! Thank you so much, Ariel!
R.M. Archer Editing Services
2018-06-12T15:40:38+00:00
I sent my novella, When Souls Breathe On, to Ariel receiving in return a document full of edits! First, I was super surprised at how fast I got them back. Second, I couldn't believe how many edits there were! Don't get me wrong - I loved it! It took me quite awhile to apply all her edits, but I loved the whole process... from choosing a name for my ship captain so he was no longer the Captain but Captain Dunbar, to basic grammar mistakes, to head hopping, to "does this make sense with what you previously said?" I feel like my story is so clean now! Thank you so much, Ariel!
Leila
Choosing Ariel as my editor was a fantastic decision! She helped my story flow smoothly, she fixed those pesky little grammar and punctuation mistakes that I missed, and she helped me to improve as both an author and an editor. Her advice isn’t confusing and too abstract - instead, she points out what needs fixing and helps you figure out how to best get your ideas on paper. She looks at the big picture and the small details in order to improve every aspect. I’m incredibly grateful for all the time and effort she put into in making my story the best it can possibly be.
R.M. Archer Editing Services
2018-06-19T16:12:20+00:00
Choosing Ariel as my editor was a fantastic decision! She helped my story flow smoothly, she fixed those pesky little grammar and punctuation mistakes that I missed, and she helped me to improve as both an author and an editor. Her advice isn’t confusing and too abstract - instead, she points out what needs fixing and helps you figure out how to best get your ideas on paper. She looks at the big picture and the small details in order to improve every aspect. I’m incredibly grateful for all the time and effort she put into in making my story the best it can possibly be.

 

Ready to Hire Me?

Awesome! Just fill out this form and I’ll get back to you within two days. If I accept your query I’ll ask for a Google Doc link to your story (not an attachment) with sharing settings on “suggesting.” This will allow me to make comments and suggest edits without editing the document directly so you have the final say (particularly on issues of rewording). If you attach a Word document I will convert it to a Google Doc unless specifically requested otherwise. (I make sure to give the author editing permissions after converting a document, and you can download a Google Doc as a Word document.)

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