Editing Services & Story Coaching
Looking for an editor for your work of fiction, website, or school paper? You’ve come to the right place. I have a B.A. in English and have been a freelance editor for Books-A-Million’s BAM! Publishing DIY and a news editor for Samford University’s The Crimson student newspaper. I provide detailed, useful, and affordable editing for all types of writing.
Scroll down to see the services I offer, then email hello@chelseapenningtonauthor.com to get started!
RATES FOR FICTION MANUSCRIPTS
Story Coaching Call — $100 for a one-hour call
If you don’t have a manuscript ready for editing but would like guidance on how to get started, a chance to brainstorm through an issue you have, or just a general Q&A about anything writing-related, this is what you’re looking for!
First 10 pages critique — $75
The opening of your story is absolutely crucial to its success — will readers (including a potential agent) be hooked from page one, or is it put-down-able? I’ll read through your opening pages and give you both big picture and specific feedback on how to make sure the beginning of your book captures the reader’s attention, sets the right tone for the story you want to tell, and lays the groundwork for the rest of the book.
I will provide feedback in-line and in a written editorial letter. If you would also like to speak one-on-one about your pages, you can schedule a Story Coaching Call for just $75 in combination with this service.
What do I mean by a page?
I’m talking about a standard manuscript page. This means:
- 8.5″ x 11″ paper size
- Times New Roman font
- 12-point font size
- 1.5 spacing
- 1.25″ margins
- Paragraph indentation of 0.5″
Line Edit — .042 cents per word
A line edit comes after a big-picture developmental edit. I work through the details to help you with things like word choice, repetition, any consistency issues, and the overall flow of your book. This can come in the form of a smaller suggestion, like switching a few words, to bigger changes like adding a scene to better build tension before the climax.
Copy Edit — .025 cents per word
This is looking at the purely technical aspects of your manuscript. The story should already be solid, so I can come in and correct punctuation, typos, spelling, and other grammatical mistakes. The purpose of this edit is to remove any small errors that will distract a reader from the most important thing: your story!
Proofreading — .020 cents per word
This is the very last step before your book is ready to be published. A proofread typically happens after your manuscript is typeset. This means it’s in the font, size, and general format of what it will look like when it’s printed, and I go through and make sure there aren’t any lingering errors or details that have been changed in the process of preparing it.
How do I know which edit I need?
Just ask! If you’re interested in having me edit your work, whether you know exactly what you need or have no clue, we’ll start with you sending me 3 pages of your work. I’ll take a look at it, and let you know which edit I think you’re ready for, and we can go from there.
If you have something else you want edited that I don’t mention here, feel free to contact me and we can talk about prices and what I can offer you.
Writing Services
If you need someone to write for your blog, website, or other platform, I’d love to work with you! My rates vary depending on the specifics of what you need, so contact me and we can figure out what will work best for both of us.
You can view freelance writing I’ve done for the pet care company Bark + Boarding here and for the family-friendly science company The Hopper here.
Interested? Email me at hello@chelseapenningtonauthor.com
What other writers are saying
“Chelsea has served as editor on my last two books, Unintended Target and Unintended Witness. She is a complete professional and delivers an excellent product. In my experience, she reviews the project both with an eye for detail, as well as with an awareness of the broader scope of the material. She consistently finds basic errors, such as punctuation, spacing, grammar, etc., as well as highlighting style, continuity, and factual errors. Chelsea provides a complete, well-rounded editing service that leaves an author confident in the project being published. Her communication is timely and responsive, and she is determined to do her best to stick to a production schedule. I highly recommend her services.”
– D.L. Wood, award-winning author of Unintended Target and Unintended Witness
“I’d definitely recommend Chelsea to anyone in need of a professional editor to give their book a look-over and catch all the little errors, inconsistencies, and other issues that plague your novel even after you go through it fifteen times. She gave me a thorough critique of the first chapter of my latest novel, Beyond Her Calling, that caught quite a few things that neither me or my betas caught!”
– Kellyn Roth, author of The Chronicles of Alice and Ivy
“The editing that Chelsea did for me was great. She was thorough and explained what she thought I need to change! I hope to work with her more in the future.”
– A. Kaylee Harrison, blogger at Kaylee’s Kind Of Writes 2.0
