By "basic editing," do you mean proofreading, or something else?Shann wrote:I'll take a portion of the MS and only do the basic editing. Then in the next section, I'll give an example of how it might flow better or how to tighten a piece up. If the piece needs a soft rewrite (in my opinion) I'll give an example of that as well. I often will include both raw and clean copies too so the author can get a better feel of how it reads with my suggestions. I'd say a good 90% of the time, after seeing the clean copy, the author wants to go with what I call a detailed edit or what you might call substantive. They still have the final say in everything, though.
Also, keep in mind that the majority of people I work with have little to no writing experience. Often they will share their testimonies and someone tells them you should write a book. But they don't have any experience writing nor belong to any writing groups like FW. It's mainly for someone going through what I call a vanity press. They just want to be published.
If I can find a sample of it and the person doesn't mind, I'll post it here to show you want I mean.
And do you do all of those different things (basic editing, tightening, soft re-write, raw copy, clean copy) for free?
It's not necessary to post an example; I was just curious. Thanks.