Services
Looking for direction with your work-in-progress? I’ll help you get on the right path with your manuscript. Coaching can include brainstorming, assistance with market research, help identifying your target audience, strengths and weaknesses assessment, teaching tips to improve your writing, and more.
INCLUDES:
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Critique of first fifty pages plus your outline or synopsis
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One-hour phone or video consultation
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Email support for one month
Coaching
PACKAGE: $500

Ongoing coaching beyond this package is available at a rate of $50/hour.
Jump To:
Content editing is your trail map. You’ve bushwhacked your way to the end of your rough draft, and now it’s time to look at the big view to make sure others can track with you. With a content edit, I help you clarify or reorganize your writing for development and structure, addressing issues with pacing, narrative arc, consistency, chronology, transitions, character development, beginnings, and endings.
INCLUDES:
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a follow-up meeting, up to an hour, to discuss your needs/goals, answer questions, and explain editorial suggestions
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A written editorial review letter detailing suggested changes
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Your edited manuscript with comments and tracked changes
SAMPLE:
Content Editing
RATE: $.03/word

Content Editorial
Review Letter
Copy editing makes your trail smooth so your readers don’t trip up. I help you trim those low branches and remove the sharp rocks by editing the grammar, spelling, syntax, and punctuation of your manuscript. I edit for clarity and consistency, while preserving your or your characters' unique “voice.” I also make style suggestions, note overused words or pet phrases, and check sources and cross-references.
INCLUDES:
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A customized style sheet and editorial overview letter highlighting common changes
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Your edited manuscript with comments and tracked changes
SAMPLE:
Copy Editing
RATE: $.02/word

Style Sheet
Congratulations! You’ve blazed quite a trail. Proofreading often has two rounds: one while the manuscript is still in Microsoft Word and a second pass after the manuscript has been typeset. I’ll help you set those last mile markers by checking for typos, incorrect word usage, formatting, proper capitalization, spacing errors, and numerical sequences (such as table of contents and chapter page agreement).
INCLUDES:
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Your proofread manuscript with corrections and queries
Proofreading
RATE: $.01/word

Have a Smaller Project?
In addition to book-length manuscripts, I also edit smaller projects for a flat fee. These all-in-one edits include critique and copy editing.
BLOGS/PR: $25
1,000 words max
ARTICLES/SHORT STORIES: $50
2,000 words max
WHITE PAPERS: $75
3,000 words max
Rates are based on standard freelance rates. Manuscripts that require heavy editing or expedited turnaround times are subject to an increased rate. Editing projects totaling $100 or less are payable in advance. Editing jobs $100 or more require a 50% deposit.

Susy Flory
New York Times bestselling author
Sarah Barnum is an editor I would recommend to anyone looking to write with more clarity, strength, and purpose. She has a knack for making a manuscript or article more readable and engaging (and marketable, too), and for helping to bring out the important messages and themes in the work. She's not only knowledgeable in making writing more clear and grammatical, she's also an extremely hard worker and very easy to work with. Anything Sarah works on is going to be a much better piece of writing.