Hi. I'm Melinda. I can help you debug your book.
Wait, what?
In software engineering, debugging is the process of stepping through your code line by line to identify problems. What's causing an incorrect result, an error, or a crash? How can you fix it? It may be a simple change, or it may require a substantial rearchitecture.
This is what I do for novel and story manuscripts. I will step through your book chapter by chapter, section by section, paragraph by paragraph, line by line, to identify problems and suggest solutions. I can help you identify plot holes, strengthen your characters, fix your pacing, and avoid logical flaws. I will help you debug your book and make it the best book it can be.
services
I offer developmental editing of sci-fi and fantasy novels and short stories.
Developmental editing, also sometimes called structural or substantive editing, is big-picture editing. It focuses on character development, plot, structure, world building, pacing, scene dynamics, etc. This type of editing is intended to strengthen and finesse the story and is typically the first phase of editing. You can expect to do substantial revision after receiving feedback from a developmental editor.
There are other types of editing, which I do not do. Line editing focuses on the use of language at the sentence and paragraph level. This type of editing can benefit authors who struggle with prose. Copyediting focuses on grammar, punctuation, and consistency with a particular code of style. You shouldn't do copyediting until you're finished with major revisions.
For an effective edit, the author, manuscript, and editor need to be a good fit for each other. I focus on sci-fi and fantasy because this is what I like to read, so I bring to the table substantial genre expertise and an inherent enthusiasm for this type of story. Intergalactic political intrigue? Aliens? FTL drives? Bring it on! Magic? Dragons? Oh yeah! (But, I don't do vampires, werewolves, or zombies, and I don't do horror or anything whose purpose is to scare. That isn't to say that stories with these things can't be great stories; it's just that I'm not a good fit for them.) I also highly favor character-driven stories that really get into the heads of the characters, so if you don't want to be told to add more interior monologue and heighten your characters' personal conflict, we're probably not a great fit.
deliverables
When I do a developmental edit of your manuscript, this is what you can expect:
- A copy of your manuscript with thorough and comprehensive comments in the margins
- A detailed editorial letter with a summary of your manuscript's strengths and weaknesses and suggestions for revisions
- For a novel, a book map, which is a spreadsheet breaking down the structure of your manuscript scene by scene. I will not provide a book map for short stories or novel chapters unless specifically requested.
- Optionally, a video call to discuss my edits after you've had a chance to absorb them
- Optionally (and within reason), follow-up brainstorming chats if you just need to bounce ideas off someone during your revisions
My feedback will include a lot of questions. Why? My questions are intended to alert you, the author, to potential problems and opportunities for improvement. They're meant to get you thinking and spark ideas.
promises
- I promise to respect your manuscript. No matter what state it's in, my goal is to help you realize your intentions. My criticism will be constructive, polite, encouraging, respectful, and realistic. My job is not to judge, but to help.
- I promise thoroughness and attention to detail. By the time we're done, I will know this manuscript nearly as well as you do.
- I promise to honor my commitments to you. I will finish my edits and deliver them to you in a timely manner.
- I promise confidentiality. Your manuscript is yours and yours alone until you're ready to release it into the wild.
testimonials
contact me
I currently edit on a volunteer basis and do not accept solicitations directly from authors unless I've previously edited your work or you're a personal friend. I lurk on critters.org offering pro bono edits whenever something comes along that seems like a good fit.
But, you can still contact me just to say hi or ask a question.
Have I edited some of your work? Did you have a good experience? Leave a testimonial!
about me
I've been volunteer editing and critiquing weekly on critters.org since 2020, and I completed the Editorial Arts Academy's Developmental Editing for Fiction course in early 2022. I have edited eight novels and over 75 short stories and novel excerpts.
I've been a voracious reader since childhood, and pro bono editing is my way of giving back to the community of authors whose wonderful creations I enjoy. I want to pay it forward and help the next generation of great authors hone their skills.
That said, editing is a highly skilled profession, and professional editors absolutely deserve to get paid. I don't want to undercut anybody's business or to undervalue their skills, which is why I don't solicit business. If you have the funds, please hire an editor and pay them what they're worth! But, I know that in reality many authors legitimately cannot afford to hire a developmental editor, and I hope I can serve some of these and help them kickstart their careers.
When I'm not reading and editing books, I am a software engineer who develops GIS software for mapping and spatial analysis. Although it may not seem like software engineering and fiction editing have much in common, they actually do! In my job as a software engineer, I focus on the details of the user workflow, figuring out how someone can accomplish a task from start to finish. Both software engineering and developmental editing require extreme attention to detail with a focus on how each individual component contributes to the whole. Both require me to look at structure and cause-and-effect logic.