COPY EDITING, PROOFREADING & GHOSTWRITING
Advancing Your Mission Through Story and Strategy
Whether you need extensive editing work or a quick proofread, Michelle Rayburn's years of learning the craft of writing will go to work for you. She will give you suggestions for ways you can strengthen your content and fix weak sentence structure. She'll track changes so you can approve changes.
Michelle areas of editing expertise:
- Chicago Manual of Style
- Christian Writer's Manual of Style
- Christian living books and self-help
- Memoir
- Christian ministry and leadership books
- Bible study and commentary
- Contemporary fiction (copy editing, not structure or plot)
Proofreading
· Typographical errors
· Grammar
· Punctuation
· Formatting consistency
Note: many authors ask for a proofread but really need a copy edit.
Copyediting/
Thorough Edit
· All of the proofreading tasks
· Tone
· Flow
· Dialogue
· Word choice
· Tense
· Point of view
· Sentence structure
· Clarity
Book Doctoring
- Substantive and some copyediting tasks
- Restructuring for transitions
- Organization of content
- Restructuring for presentation
- Assisting with footnotes
- Major formatting that goes beyond fixing something here and there
This is essentially helping an author clean up a manuscript and getting raw material into better shape for publishing.
Ghostwriting
Ghostwriting is quoted out on a per-case basis since every project is different. Please contact me to chat more about helping you with ghostwriting a book.
As a ghostwriter, I will spend time with you to interview you, gather content, and get a feel for your voice. Then I will write and edit to get your book ready for a publisher.
RATES:
I track actual hours used for every edit or proofread. If your manuscript is cleaner than expected and uses less of my time than I expected, I will offer a rebate in the form of a credit on your final invoice for the amount billed over the fair price. You will not pay more than what I provide in an estimate, but you could potentially pay less.
- Book editing is billed by the word
-
- Proofread - $0.01 to 0.019 per word
- Copyedit (most typical) - $0.02 to 0.035 per word, depending on the amount of editing needed, the number of references to check, the amount of formatting help needed, etc.
- Book doctoring - quoted by the project
- Smaller projects (articles, blogs) are billed by the hour with a $50 minimum per project.
We reserve the right to evaluate the content of materials before entering into an agreement for editing services. Content or subject matter that does not align with our mission and values will be kindly declined.
What Michelle's Clients Have Said
Detail-oriented… professional
A blessing to my business
Michelle is a great listener and amazingly knowledgeable on many, if not all, factors of social media, which is extremely helpful. Michelle is very easy to work with and willing to take on other projects you may need help with. Her professionalism is honorable! I have found Michelle a blessing to my business and I am grateful we are working together.
I definitely would hire Michelle again
Michelle did an amazing job, far exceeding the formatting. She caught areas of repetition and pointed them out to me so I could make the necessary changes…Michelle was very prompt and we exchanged manuscript edits until we were both satisfied with the end product. She is very familiar with industry standards and the technology needed to comply.
Fast turnaround time
Michelle did a fantastic job, not only on editing, but making suggestions on content, flow, etc. Even though she has a busy schedule, she was able to complete the edits in a short amount of time, while never making me feel as though she was rushed.
Goes the extra mile
“Michelle’s heart is what makes a difference – she cares about the reader, as well as the author. Projects have always been completed on schedule, and Michelle has gone the extra mile numerous times.”
What I always wanted…
You took my jumbled ideas and varied likes and came up with what I know I always wanted… How do you do that?
It’s a pleasure to work with Michelle
“I admire and appreciate the ability you have to work with clients of limited technical abilities. You have a knack for doing it without making the client feel dumb or embarrassed, and I really appreciate that. It’s such a pleasure to work with you.”