Sentence-Level Editing
Hone Your Voice and Polish Your Prose
After revising and revising again, you have finally reached a place where you feel satisfied with your story’s big-picture elements. The major edits are done and the narrative feels complete.
Now it’s time to dig in to the technical and nitty-gritty. Does each sentence sound smooth? Does each clause have correct grammar and each idea come across clearly? Are all the commas in the right place and is the spelling consistent and correct? Will the reader know what you mean? It’s time to enlist the aid of a stylistic and copy editor.
How a Sentence-Level Edit Can Help
In a sentence-level edit, I can help you hone your unique writing voice and level up your self-editing skills. I can also help you prepare your manuscript for publication by editing each sentence word by word, comma by comma, ensuring that your vision shines through unimpeded by typos and grammatical errors.
In every step of the process, my approach is not to dictate but to teach. It always remains your choice whether to accept, reject, or tweak my revisions. With any major changes, I also endeavor to explain the issue at hand. That way, if you ever feel I’ve lost your voice, you can find another solution in your own words.
Genre Specializations
I’ve dedicated my skill development and editorial practice to these specific genres so that I can give you feedback specialized to your story and target readership. Of course, genres easily (and often) blur, so don’t be concerned if your story doesn’t fit neatly into any one category.
Fantasy & Speculative Fiction
Historical Fiction
Literary Fiction
Amelia’s work was a stunning display of editorial excellence.
From grammar and style considerations to historical fact-checking, internal continuity and readability insights to technical dialogue recommendations, her stylistic and copy edit was pure quality. Her work demonstrated three things to me: she’s a gifted editor, she has an indefatigable work ethic, and she has the ability and will to communicate her gift to others. Her skills are worth every penny, and she is getting my next assignment as soon as it’s ready!
Sentence-Level Editing Services
Stylistic Report
Hone Your Unique Voice & Self-Editing Skills- What I Carefully Analyze:
- Your manuscript’s first 10,000 words and a questionnaire that I’ll send you to fill out.
- If you add a Stylistic Report to another service, I will instead analyze and pull examples from the whole document you send me.
- What You Get:
- A 10-15 page report that teaches you how to recognize sentence-level issues in your writing and how to address them in your own voice.
- Once I start, this service takes one week to complete and includes two hours of my time for follow-up questions and discussion.
Full Stylistic & Copy Edit
Polish Your Prose & Prepare Your Book for Publication- What I Carefully Analyze:
- Your full manuscript and a questionnaire that I’ll send you to fill out.
- What You Get:
- A fully edited manuscript with in-text tracked changes and comments that address any issues in:
• Clarity, coherence, and flow;
• Grammar, spelling, and punctuation;
• Usage and editorial style;
• Internal consistency (e.g., a character’s eye colour);
• Basic factual correctness (e.g., the date of a major historical event);
• Standard manuscript formatting.
- & A complete style sheet that records your manuscript’s unique stylistic preferences. This style sheet will be particularly useful for your proofreader, should you hire one, and as a reference for any future books in the same series.
- The time it takes to complete a full stylistic and copy edit varies widely depending on the size and needs of the manuscript. Please contact me for a full quote and timeline customized to your manuscript’s needs.
While I work with authors from across the world, my invoices are in Canadian dollars.
A Stylistic Report Discount
You can add a Stylistic Report to any of my other services, including my story-level editing services, and receive a C$100 discount on the total price.
Answers to Common Questions
Should I edit the story or the sentences first?
The order of your edits is very important. Editing the story will change the sentences, but editing the sentences won’t change the story. That’s why it’s imperative that you edit the story first and the sentences second. This principle is helpful in your self-editing process and critical in the professional editing process.
Story-level editing often involves making major changes to the text. You may need to add, cut, or rewrite whole scenes to address story-level concerns. Editing sentences in scenes that may need structural work is risky because you could end up altering or deleting those sentences anyway. To use your editing budget most effectively, you need to make sure that your story is completely ready to go before you start sentence-level editing.
How do the different editing levels work?
All editing exists on a spectrum. On one end is the broad, story-level editing that looks at the big-picture elements, such as plot, pacing, character development, and themes. This big-picture editing is often called developmental or structural editing.
On the other end is specific, nit-picky sentence-level editing, which looks at technical concerns such as grammar, spelling, punctuation, and usage. This level of editing is called copy editing.
Between the broadest and narrowest levels of editing, another type of editing sits in the middle called stylistic or line editing. This type of edit examines the artistry of the language rather than the technical correctness of the sentences. It looks at any issues regarding clunky phrasing, the effectiveness of figurative language, dialogue realism, and language that is appropriate for the mood and tone of the scene.
Editors often combine stylistic editing into their story-level or sentence-level editing services. In my sentence-level editing services, I’ve combined stylistic and copy editing together. I also give authors the option to combine stylistic and developmental editing together as well. You can add a stylistic report to any of my story-level editing services and receive a C$150 discount on the total price.
To learn more about how the different editing levels work, you can check out my blog post The Four Levels of Fiction Editing.
When should I get a story-level edit?
The story is the reason why most readers read books. Ensuring your story is strong is a vital part of any writer’s journey. But does that mean all writers need professional story-level editing?
If you’re planning to traditionally publish, a story-level edit can be an excellent tool to help you prepare your manuscript for submission to agents and publishers. Traditional presses often don’t do story-level editing anymore. They get so many submissions that they can just pick the stories that are already in great shape.
What agents and publishers are looking for in a manuscript is a unique and deeply engaging story. A story-level edit can help you sharpen your story and put your best foot forward for submissions to agents and publishers.
If you’re planning to self-publish, you’re probably working with a set budget for the whole publishing process. Ideally, you’d be able to get both a story-level edit and a sentence-level edit, but that isn’t always possible. You’ll need to identify your editing budget and what level of editing would meet your manuscript’s most pressing needs.
When should I get a sentence-level edit?
Technical sentence-level editing is best suited as a final polish right before you have your manuscript formatted into the internal pages of the book. Traditional publishers will handle a technical copy edit themselves, and they aren’t looking for perfect grammar and punctuation in their submissions. They’re looking for a unique and deeply compelling story.
So, if you’re looking for an edit to help prepare your book for submission to agents and publishers, a copy edit may not be the best choice. A story-level edit is usually the best choice, though a stylistic edit can also be very helpful as well.
Of course, when you’re self-publishing, it’s a different story. If your goal is to publish your book to professional standards, a stylistic and copy edit is very important. Typos, a lack of clarity, and clunky phrasing will trip your reader up, take them out of your story, and damage their trust.
That being said, you need to make your editing choices based on your manuscript’s specific needs and your budget. If you know you have excellent sentence craft and punctuation skills but are concerned about narrative issues, a story-level edit may be a better choice to prepare your manuscript for self-publishing. It’s all about choosing what service will best meet your specific needs and budget.
Amelia Winters exhibited impressive competence and initiative in her stylistic and copy edit.
She has a keen eye both for detail and for overall flow and construction.
Who am I to edit your book?
I’ve spent years studying the theory and honing my skills. My training and expertise allow me to provide articulate guidance that’s not based on personal taste but on sound theory and professional standards.
My approach is not to dictate but to teach. I’m here to partner with you and give you the tools you need to strengthen your story and sentences while still holding true to your vision and unique voice.
I’m a writer too. I understand the emotional roller coaster that writing a book can take you on, and I’m here to encourage and support you on that journey.
Request a Sentence-Level Edit
I am so looking forward to reading your manuscript and seeing how I can serve you on your writing journey.