Professional editing is a very important component of insuring the quality of your completed project. Though Word's spelling and grammar checks are helpful, they should not be relied on entirely. My goal is to strengthen your writing with suggestions to increase clarity and accuracy. I may also detect problems with organization, consistency, and over-writing that can often go unnoticed.
The text of your book manuscript should be created as a Word document, double-spaced using a 12-point font with 1-inch margins for ease in reading and editing. I use the “Track Changes” feature available under the Tools Menu in Word, which provides a means of making online changes to your manuscript that you may easily accept or reject. Often I will insert comments explaining why I am suggesting a particular change. All suggested changes are open to dialog with the writer. I will not attempt to change your unique “voice,” and you will always have the final say.
Your document should be completed to the best of your ability once it is submitted and should not be in a rough first-draft form. Following are some of the questions I will ask when editing your work: