If you have a manuscript in hand, need help writing one, or want guidance on the writing and editing process, you are in the right place.
Ghostwriting
My heart beats for personal essay and memoir. If you have a story you want to tell but lack the ability or time to commit it to writing, I would be honored to partner with you and ghostwrite your memoir.
I’m fascinated by people. I love to (respectfully) snoop, make deep connections, and listen to people’s secrets. Not scandalous secrets (although those are welcome too), but the truths inside you that perhaps you haven’t yet been able to fully investigate or explain. I want to help you access those deepest parts that make you human and share them with an audience just as eager to learn about your story as I am.
I am a natural mimic and empath. I am able to reproduce and inhabit another’s voice, to learn and reflect their perspective and goals. I am open minded, nonjudgmental, and approach people and their narratives with compassion to seek understanding. I’ve had decades of experience cultivating emotionally intimate relationships. I will take care in receiving and telling your story.
What does this look like?
- We will meet to see if we are a good fit to establish the trust and vulnerability necessary in memoir.
- We will work together solidifying your vision and goals.
- I will get to know you through interviews and deep listening sessions.
- I will produce an outline of your story for your approval.
- I will get to writing your memoir in your voice.
You know when you have that kernel of wanting to share inside of you. I write memoir because I feel it myself – that need to share, that freedom in finding the words to describe your truth. It is powerful and necessary.
Developmental Editing
This is about the big picture. My developmental edit evaluates your full manuscript and identifies what’s working, what could be improved, and suggests changes to better reach your goals and connect with your audience. This edit is about analyzing your overall structure, tension voice, point of view, characterization, pacing, and intent to ensure that readers will be dialed into your unique frequency.
A developmental edit isn’t about grading your manuscript. It is about engaging with you, providing in-line notes, questions, suggestions, and an editorial letter to better align your next draft with your intentions. This is a conversation between us about how to best communicate your message so that your audience understands you, connects with you, and is transformed by you. A developmental edit is the first big step after a solid draft. After the developmental edit, expect to spend a good chunk of time reviewing suggested edits and reorganizing, rewriting, and writing new parts of your manuscript. Rates start at $.05 per word.
Line Editing
Line edits elevate your manuscript at the sentence level. This edit makes your prose shine. I bring a compassionate and critical eye to improve the mechanics and power of your sentences while maintaining your unique voice. I will identify and edit errors, patterns, and repetitions in your sentence structure, word choice, grammar, and punctuation that get in the way of your overall message. This edit will improve readability and enhance the readers’ enjoyment of your words page after page. A developmental edit will include select line edits, but comprehensive line edits usually come after making big, structural changes and rewrites from the developmental edit. Rates start at $.04 per word.
Copy Editing
Copy edits correct errors in grammar and language while also ensuring consistency, logic, and flow in your writing. This edit will comb through your sentences to make sure they are accurate and factual. During a copy edit, I adhere to your style guide of choice and scrutinize each word for correctness. My obsessive attention to detail, powers of observation, and unflinching memory produce a comprehensive, thorough edit. My copy edit includes light fact checking and is usually performed after a line edit, although they can be combined. I like to think of a line edit as more art (the creative power of language), and copy edit as more science (the rules of language). Rates start at $.04 per word.
Liz Cooper Creative LLC 