Your story is yours. My job is to help it shine.
Meet your editor:
Hi,
My name is Kayla!
I am an author and aspiring freelance editor with a passion for helping other authors bring their stories to life. While I am beginning my professional journey as an editor, I have spent time working with authors as an alpha reader, beta reader, and proofreader, helping them strengthen their stories and prepare their manuscripts for readers.
My editorial education has been a combination of independent study and formal training. I’ve studied books such as Save The Cat! Writes a Novel by Jessica Brody, Copy Editing & Proofreading for Dummies, Editing Fiction at Sentence Level by Louise Harnby, and Developmental editing by Scott Norton. I’ve also completed the Editing in Book Publishing course through ELVTR, taught by Julia Wallace, Executive Managing Editor/Copy Chief at Penguin Random House.
As an author myself, I understand how personal writing a book can be. You’re not just handing someone your words on a page; you’re trusting them with characters, worlds, and stories you’ve spent countless hours creating. That’s something I don’t take lightly.
My goal is to turn something I’ve been passionate about for years into a career where I can work alongside authors and help them create the strongest version of their story without losing the voice that made it theirs in the first place.
My Approach:
You’ve been the one spending countless hours building your world, finding your characters’ voices, and putting pieces of yourself onto the page. The last thing you want is to hand your work over to an editor and lose what makes this story uniquely yours.
My approach to editing is simple: I’m not here to rewrite your work in my voice. I’m here to make yours shine. I want to help enhance and strengthen what is already on the page, smooth out what isn’t quite working, and tighten up your storytelling while keeping your voice, tone, and heart in every word.
Whether your manuscript needs big-picture guidance or that final polish before publication, I’ll meet your story where it is and help you bring it closer to the book you envisioned.
Skills & Tools:
Editorial Skills:
Developmental Editing • Line Editing • Proofreading • Plot & Story Structure • Character Development • Pacing • Dialogue • Worldbuilding & Continuity • Romance Development & Chemistry • Author Voice Preservation
Tools & Resources:
Microsoft Word • Microsoft Excel • Track Changes & Comments • The Chicago Manual of Style, 18th Edition • Merriam-Webster
Find the right edit for your story!
Every manuscript needs something different. Whether you’re still working through the bones of your story or getting ready to hit publish, there’s an editing service designed to meet you and your manuscript where it is at.
Developmental Services:
This is your big-picture edit.
Developmental editing is where we look at your plot, structure, character development, motivations, pacing, conflict and stakes, worldbuilding, continuity, subplots, and romance development/chemistry if applicable.
You have that story and you put it to paper. Let’s make sure it flows how it needs to. I’ll help you identify what’s working, what might need to be strengthened, and where your story may not be delivering the impact you need.
This is a 6-8 week process where you will receive from me a manuscript evaluation (10 to 14 pages) of my thoughts detailing what I think you did great, what needs improvement, and how to move forward. This will also include a 30-minute to a one-hour follow up call where we can discuss what is stated in the evaluation. Price is $0.03 per word (introductory rate).
Line Editing:
This is where we make your story in your words hit.
Line editing focuses on how your story is being told at the sentence and paragraph level. I’ll work through your prose to strengthen flow, clarity, word choice, dialogue, sentence structure, and emotional impact while watching for repetition, awkward phrasing, unnecessary words, and places where the writing could be stronger. Most importantly, the goal isn’t to make your writing sound like mine but to help your voice come through more clearly.
This is a 4-6 week process where you can expect to get a line by line edit of your manuscript. Price is $0.04 per word (introductory rate).
Proofreading:
This is one last set of eyes before your book meets its readers!
Proofreading is the final polish after your manuscript has already been edited and formatted. At this stage, I’m looking for those pesky lingering errors: typos, missing or repeating words, punctuation mistakes, formatting inconsistencies, and other small issues that may have slipped through previous rounds of editing.
This is a 3-4 week process. Price is $0.02 per word (introductory rate).
Packages:
Editing packages are a work in progress! Let’s chat and see what we can come up with that meets your book where it is and helps get you where you want it to go!
Ready to Talk About Your Story?
Whether you know exactly what kind of edit your manuscript needs or you’re not quite sure where to start, I’d love to hear your story. Tell me a little about your manuscript, what you’re looking for, and where you are in your writing journey.
Fill out the form below, and lets see how I can help you bring your story closer to the book you envisioned.
Kayla Maree 