How does payment work?

Once we agree and sign a contract, I’ll send an invoice for a deposit of 50% of the project cost via PayPal. Once I complete and send you the edit, I will invoice you the remaining 50% and once payment is received we can schedule the final follow up discussion where you can ask your questions.

What forms of payment do you accept?

At the moment I only accept Paypal. 

Is the deposit refundable?

In short, no and yes. When we sign a contract I block of a section of my schedule that is dedicated to your project. If you cancel, I’m left with a big hole in my schedule and a loss of income. The no refund policy discourages this and helps to ensure you are ready for an edit before we sign the contract.

If it turns out that you aren’t ready, or life happens and you just don’t want a dev edit at that time, then you might be able to apply the deposit toward the project at a later date. For example you book and pay for an edit, then decide to do another round of edits that will take you four or five months, it is possible to apply the deposit to a future date that fits into my schedule once you are ready. There are limitations to this spelled out in the contract. The two largest are: 1)it has to be the same manuscript you originally booked (revisions are fine) and 2) this is offered at my discretion and not a standard policy.

If I cancel the project before we start work, then you’ll get the deposit refunded. If I cancel after work starts (not likely, like ever) then you will get all the work I have done on your manuscript until that point and a pro-rated refund based on the work done. If I’m more than halfway then I can’t refund the deposit, but there will be no charge for any work beyond halfway.

Will you edit a sci-fi romance or romantasy?

If your story is romance first and speculative fiction second, I’m not the editor for you. I don’t read much romance, and I definitely don’t write it. That means I’m not up on genre expectations and couldn’t offer you good advice. And yes, that means I won’t edit most alien romances. I’m not against aliens having romances, or romances in stories about aliens, it just isn’t my thing and I wouldn’t be much help to you.  NOTE: Romance as a subplot that naturally arises from the characters and plot are just fine and I’m happy to edit those stories.

Do you edit horror, thriller or other genres with speculative elements?

I only edit stories where the primary genre is science fiction or fantasy. Sub-genres or crossovers are fine, but if you can’t call it either one of those first then I’m not the editor for you.

How long does an edit take?

Most novel edits take 8 weeks. I’m a slow reader and I want to make sure every story gets the attention it deserves! That said, novels that come in significantly over 120k words will take an additional 4 weeks. Novellas less than 50k words can take less but that is on a case by case basis. You’ll know how long it will take before we sign the contract.

Can I refer someone to you?

Yes! In fact, I offer a 10% referral discount to authors who refer new clients to me.

How does the referral discount work?

When someone submits a sample edit using the form on my website, there is a question asking who referred them (if anyone). Tell your author friend to write your name there (if you use a pen name, be sure to make sure I know the names you’ll use). If we sign a contract for their work, you will get 10% off your next project. You can accumulate more than one referral discount, but only one can be applied to a project at a time. So if you send three authors my way and they all sign a contract, you have three 10% discounts available (NOT one, 30% discount).

I’m worried about you (or anyone) stealing my story. What guarantee do I have that you wont take my story or ideas?

Trust me when I say I already have so many story ideas that I couldn’t possibly write them all in my lifetime. I don’t need anyone else’s ideas! Also, ideas are not copyrighted nor copyrightable. Break your story down to its most basic components and you’ll see thousands of stories have used those ideas over the ages. There are no exceptions to this that I have ever found or seen anyone else find. What makes a story is how that idea is brought to life, all the uniqueness you give it with your style, worldbuilding, characters and setting—all of that will make it yours alone. Just think of all the examples of a heroes journey. So many stories follow that same pattern, yet most are unique in the telling of it.

I’m not saying people don’t steal stories, just that it is more something writers worry about that doesn’t actually happen often. Like getting hit by lightening. Do people get hit by lightening? Yes, they do. Do you need to be afraid of it every time you step outside? No. If you run outside in a thunderstorm carrying a metal stick? Yes, then you should worry. There are literary equivalents to this example, but the FAQ isn’t a place to get into it.

I also have deep respect for other creatives and will not discuss projects with others in any identifiable way or share your manuscript with anyone else, nor use it as my own (I’m offended at the idea of that).

Seriously though, if you are concerned or working on an IP that needs to be legally protected, I am perfectly willing to sign an NDA. However, creating that document and managing that process is up to you.