What do Virginia Woolf, Torrey Peters, Djuna Barnes, Edmund White, Alice Walker, TJ Klune, Rita Mae Brown, Poppy Z. Brite, Audre Lourde, Alan Hollinghurst, Rivers Solomon and James Baldwin all have in common?
Right, they all used editors.
Do I need an editor?
All good writers use editors, and you are no exception. We are truly experiencing a worldwide Renaissance in high-quality LGBTQ+ writing. And that means the stakes of getting your work out there, published and read by our community are higher than ever. Quality as always remains king – or queen. You owe it to yourself to be the best writer you can possibly be. And that means choosing an editor who can help take your writing to its highest potential.
Who should I choose as an editor?
The relationship you have with your editor is key. You need someone who “gets” your story, understanding it from an LGBTQ+ perspective, an editor who can treat your literary baby with empathy, helping you give birth to it with love and respect.
So trust your instinct when choosing a professional editor to help you. Your relationship with this person should feel like a good fit. You need to trust your editor and know that they are on your side, helping you make your book as great as it can be. Feel free to ask me questions and read the testimonials from other authors I have helped.
My writing style is unique – how do I know you can help me?
As well as being an editor, I’m a queer writer who reads lots of LGBTQ+ fiction in all genres, by lesbian, gay, trans and queer authors. Not just the perennial greats, but also up-and-coming writers who are still struggling to get their work out there and find readers on the many digital platforms we now have available. So I have real empathy and a huge regard for the new ways that language is being used by our LGBTQ+ writers today. I will not restrict your use of language or cramp your style in any way. Quite the opposite. Let’s celebrate what makes us unique and diverse, including the ways we write. My mission is to help you find your true voice and grow into the brilliant writer you are meant to be.
Will you respect my work?
Any suggestions I make in your manuscript are merely that: suggestions. I treat your manuscript with the utmost respect, tracking all changes so that you have the option of accepting them or not. I include comments in the margin wherever appropriate, discussing the manuscript and offering notes on structure, narrative arc, voice, character or any other areas that need some tuning. Upon completion of the first editing round, I offer you an editor’s report, outlining the style decisions I have taken, as well as summarising all the notes and comments I have made, so that you have everything in one concise document.
How much editing do I need?
That depends. A manuscript published by a big company may have several editors of different kinds each editing the manuscript more than once, including developmental, line and copy-editing of the raw text, right up to proofreading once the book has been laid out.
An independent author can generally only afford one or perhaps two rounds of editing. I take that economic factor into account in my editing, trying to give you the absolute best value for money. I therefore combine developmental and copy-editing into one or two editing passes, using the first pass to deal with the bigger issues and the second pass to fine-tune the smaller stuff.
For more general info on fiction editing, check out LE, my literary editing page.
My writing is quite sexually explicit. Are you okay editing this?
You write for a specific audience, and LGBTQ+ readers are not normally shrinking violets when it comes to talking or reading about sex. Nowadays the rainbow community expects and demands writing that reflects our lives, in which sex often plays an important role. Good literature can contain hot, raunchy and explicit scenes while still remaining good literature. I am fine about editing even the steamiest scenes!
How much will this cost?
You are in control of your budget spend at all times. When you send me your material, I will prepare you an obligation-free quote and do my utmost to come in within that figure. You make the decision on whether your work will benefit from one or more rounds of editing. If you need to take a few weeks or months to do some reworking, it may be advisable to have a second pass further down the track.
For more general info on fiction editing, check out LE, my literary editing page.
