Birch Island Books

Will you edit my writing?

Yes.

We have a few ground rules, a few procedures, and a simple fee schedule.

Ground rules?

• I’m sticking for now to speculative fiction, fantasy, science fiction, paranormal, crossover, or things which defy definition by genre but the bookstore people would put you on those shelves.  No nonfiction unless it’s technical or reference.  I love a good trigonometry table.

• No nonconsensual sex scenes, I can’t let that kind of energy into my life.  In a character’s past with brief mention is OK, but don’t push on that boundary.  I will simply return your work and money to you.

How does it work?

• We arrange a start date; just email me and we’ll figure out the schedule
• You upload your stuff to a Google document and share it with me.
• You send your payment to our paypal account.
• We treat your work with the utmost respect and attention.
• We comment directly on the Google document.
• If you’re checking in to the Google document as well, you might even be able to answer our questions or concerns while we’re in the process.

We?

I – Sparrow – am the primary editor.  Sometimes my wife lends a hand.  She’s fabulous – she’s my line editor.  If you go into Very Techie Realms, I’ll ask my resident Tech Support to run their eyes over it, too.

How about the fee schedule?

$1,000 US per Thing.

A Thing can be:

• Two Page Response Thing to a complete novel with plot holes, character comments, open questions, etc.
• Line Editing Thing – very detailed – for any 25,000 words.  That can be a couple of novelettes, one sticky section in the middle of a long work, epic poetry, anything.
• Obviously I’d be happy to line edit your 125,000 word novel, just buy five Things.
• If you have a novel ready for me, I suggest you buy a Two Page Response Thing, see if you like my work, then buy enough Line Editing Things to cover the whole novel or the portion that needs it most.  That way I already know the setting and characters in case you set me down on page 342.