This is my full-service editing offering for authors who are curious what a professional review might reveal, whether they’re refining a solid draft or still shaping their ideas. It’s called versatile for a reason: I adapt to what your manuscript actually needs, from sentence-level cleanup to full structural support.

I usually start with mechanical and stylistic issues: things like grammar, punctuation, word choice, repeated terms, and occasional light rewrite. But if I hit a rough patch that our Test Drive didn't reveal, I shift gears—could be resolving contradictions, untangling faulty logic, breaking up dense blocks of text, suggesting sidebars, charts, or visual navigation aids, more significant rewrite, or even re-sequencing the storyline to create cohesion.

When I’m the only professional reviewer on the job, doing what’s right means doing what it takes.

Unlike editors who do a single pass and leave you to incorporate the changes, my approach is collaborative. Unless your manuscript is unusually clean and ready to go, you can expect some degree of back-and-forth flow that fits your pace and communication style.

And because I get more familiar with the manuscript as we go, I often circle back for a second pass, if needed—whether to rework a tricky section, follow up on a thread, or give a chapter another full read. That layered process is built into how I operate.

I specialize in self-published nonfiction, especially books that share frameworks, tools, insights, or stories to guide others. This includes thought leadership, self-help, how-to, business strategy, health and wellness, and instructional content of all kinds.

I also work with structured longform business documents, including reports, procedures, and training manuals—projects that demand precise consistency and logical flow. My skills are suited to technical writings as well (see “Can you help with technical material?”)

In addition, I have extensive experience editing cookbooks, recipes, and plant-based nutrition content.

Ask ten editors to break down the levels of editing, and you’ll get twelve answers. The terms vary wildly—and even the pros don’t agree. Here's how I use them:

Developmental editing (outline level): Big-picture feedback that helps shape a manuscript’s structure, content, flow, and purpose—usually before the first full draft is finished.

Substantive editing (paragraph level): Involves deep revision of a completed draft or section, with some level of sentence rewrite, to clarify meaning or improve engagement. It may also include various forms of reshaping or rethinking content. (For a deeper dive, see this expanded guide.)

Line editing (sentence level): Focused on rhythm, tone, and phrasing, without major structural shifts. Line editing enhances clarity and impact by tightening or smoothing sentences, adjusting pacing, and refining word choice, while preserving the author’s voice.

Copyediting (word level): Mechanical and rules-based polish at the sentence and word level. This includes grammar, punctuation, capitalization, hyphenation, syntax (word order), repetition, consistency, and much more. (Often, this is what people mean when they say “proofreading.”)

A professionally edited manuscript typically travels through all of these levels before it’s ready for the reader—but what your book needs most depends on your strengths as a writer.

Where do I fit in? 

I work with late-stage drafts, and in most cases, I’m the only editor the author hires. Typically, I begin with a hybrid line-copy edit. But if deeper substantive issues surface—such as unclear logic, flat paragraphs, or sections that just don’t land—I’ll roll up my sleeves and do what’s needed to bring clarity and cohesion.

We’ll start with my Editor Test Drive, so you can see how I work and I can get a sense of the scope and complexity of your project. Based on the sample you submit, I’ll provide a rough estimate of how many hours the full manuscript might take.

That estimate includes a built-in contingency for rough patches and unexpected revision needs, rereads or additional passes as necessary, and any margin discussion that helps move things forward. 

The total project timeline also depends on how representative your sample turns out to be, how promptly and completely you respond to my queries, and how much of the rework you take on versus leaving it in my hands.

I’ll keep you in the loop with proactive communication about how the work is unfolding, tracking my run rate and updating you as I complete each section.

A flat project rate based on page or word count can work well with one-pass, single-level editing that stays in its lane. But if your manuscript needs deeper work, I’ll make sure the loose ends get addressed thoroughly—at a rate commensurate with the scope and complexity involved.

Often, yes. As a former Silicon Valley technical editor, I’m skilled at scrutinizing complex material for logic, flow, and rigorous consistency. I specialize in final-stage review as a reader advocate for technical or scientific clarity and readability. You’re the expert; my job is to make sure your insights reach the reader without confusion. If I don’t understand something, chances are your audience won’t either—and I’ll help you fix that.

I’ve worked on business reports, training manuals, course materials, research summaries, and other documents with structured formats and specialized content. I don’t need to be a subject-matter expert to uncover elusive issues in logic or structure. At Hitachi Internetworking in the 1990s, I often unearthed issues that even the engineers missed. I bring that same attention to detail to your writing today.

That said, I’m not the best fit for dissertations or other citation-heavy academic writing. If you're a PhD preparing to submit to a journal, though, you might welcome this kind of line-by-line clarity check. If you’re unsure, I may ask for a brief description and a one-page sample. If I’m not the right person, I’ll say so—and, whenever possible, point you to someone who is.

My editing process is hands-on and human-first. I work directly with your text, using my own judgment—not a bot’s. If I’m grappling with a tricky rewording and it’s slowing things down, I may use an AI tool to generate a few phrasings. If I do, it’s never more than a sentence or short paragraph without your approval, and I always scrutinize the results, and revise as needed, before returning anything to you.

If you’ve used AI—whether to brainstorm, summarize, or polish—please let me know. That way I can keep an eye out for tone shifts or voice inconsistencies.

Like Amazon KDP, more and more publishing platforms now require authors to disclose AI-generated content. I don’t assess or verify AI usage in your draft, but here are some helpful resources if you want to learn more.

Helpful Links:

Amazon KDP: https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/G3V6TPBF7GKW6V7K 

Authors Guild: https://authorsguild.org/resource/ai-best-practices-for-authors/ 

WIRED: https://www.wired.com/story/amazon-flag-ai-generated-books/