Freelance Editor Judy Myers

JUDY MYERS

I love to read, I love to write, and I love to edit. What don’t I love? Errors. Whether mistakes occur in my own manuscript or someone else’s, they are my sworn enemy.

When courting readers, it’s our goal to coax them deep into a story-trance. Every misuse of punctuation, every jarring word choice, every typo or misspelling (especially the ones that turn our perfect word choice into another word entirely, like turning lover into loser) undercuts our efforts, jarring readers back to harsh reality. Good editing helps prevent that.

Author-Me

As an author, I won RWA’s Golden Heart award for best unpublished short contemporary romance in 1987. That book was bought by Harlequin Temptation and was a RITA finalist in 1989. I’ve been published in YA, short and long contemporary romance, and erotica. Currently, my agent is marketing a middle grade historical and an adult historical romance of mine, as well as the first book in a co-written science fiction/fantasy series.

Editor-Me

As an editor, I’ve been a freelancer since 2005, helping to polish projects by unpublished and published authors that ranged from contemporary romance to fantasy to historical fiction. I offer two levels of editing, which can be chosen individually or as a combined package.

• Developmental Editing: In this edit, I read your manuscript and provide detailed feedback on plot, pacing, continuity, and character development. I tell you whether the story ‘works’ and, if not, how to strengthen it. This edit doesn’t address the mechanics of your manuscript. It focuses purely on the story you’ve chosen to tell.
  
  
•  Proofreading/Line Editing/Copy Editing: This is the nuts-and-bolts edit. I look for (and correct) spelling, punctuation, and grammar errors, misuse of words, overuse of specific words or phrases, typos, and format errors. I use Track Changes, which shows you every correction, deletion, and addition I’ve made, along with margin notes. This edit doesn’t address story elements. Its job is to make your manuscript technically clean and correct.

My rates are based on your project’s word count. (A page-count charge could leave you paying full price for a page that only contains a few lines. That’s why I prefer a word-count charge.)

• Developmental Edit Only:            $0.02/word
• Proof/Line/Copy Edit Only:         $0.015/word
• Combined Package Price:             $0.03/word

Where To Find Me

My business email address is: jmyersbook@gmail.com

Because I limit the number of editing projects I undertake, I don’t maintain a dedicated editing website. On the creative side, however, my co-writer and I recently completed the website for our sf/f novel, REFUGE. If you’re curious to see what we came up with, feel free to explore it at jjblacklocke.com  

I’d love your feedback! ~Judy Myers