Kristen is more than an editor, though she is certainly that. You can rely on her keen eye and her ear for language, her commitment to the mot juste. An accomplished writer herself, she knows how to be a trustworthy companion to poets and storytellers, entering imaginatively into the work, respecting and supporting its integrity. Kristen’s skill and whole-hearted engagement with my novel, gave me the confidence to become my own publisher for the first time. I highly recommend her editorial work to independent writers and to those with traditional publishers.
--Elizabeth Cunningham, author of Over the Edge of the World and The Maeve Chronicles
Kristen has a precise way of stepping inside your story and without charging your tone or personal style, helps you make it the best it can be. Kristen is an excellent resource to have as part of your team.
—Remi Zorne, author of Scrapers
Kristen Holt-Browning is everything a writer needs in an editor—and more. She has an impeccable feel for language, a careful attention to detail, and the patience, grace, and kindness that makes working with her a pleasure.
—Ruth Danon, poet, author of Turn Up the Heat and Word Has It
Developmental Editing (Fiction & Poetry)
This is the heaviest level of editing. It includes concrete suggestions for strengthening the manuscript if & where needed, such as noting sections that might be moved elsewhere, or specific information that might be added, moved, or removed, along with suggestions for possible new material (ie, “consider deepening character x’s reaction at this moment. Can you show us how he feels in his choice of words, or his physical movements?”). It also includes revision & editing at the sentence level, with some light copyediting included (ie, although I am not editing specifically with an eye to grammar & punctuation, I will flag and fix those types of errors if I find them).
For poetry collections, a developmental edit is twofold: I read to ensure that the manuscript is ordered in a way that makes sense, while watching for potentially overused words or images. I also review each poem at the line level, noting where the language might be tightened, deepened, or refined, with suggestions offered.
-$75/hour at a review rate of 10 pgs./hour
Copyediting (Fiction)
This is a thorough review for consistency & correctness of grammar, spelling, punctuation & syntax, as well as consistency/clarity in details such as spelling of character names, character descriptions & lowercase/uppercase formatting. It also includes light developmental editing; I point out places where narrative flow or cohesion might be strengthened, or places where character development or motivation might be fleshed out, although I do not offer specific suggestions for how best to do so (ie, “consider moving this paragraph to the next page” or “maybe a bit more of a reaction here from this character to this news?”).
-$65/hour at a review rate of 15 pgs./hour
Manuscript Evaluation (Fiction & Poetry)
This is a “big-picture” review of a manuscript draft. Although I do not provide line-by-line comments within the manuscript, I do provide a 2- to 3-page written report detailing the manuscript’s strengths as well as areas for improvement, with concrete suggestions (i.e., how to clarify a character’s motivations; options for filling in missing plot points). This is more of a macro-level overview, giving you a sense of how the manuscript might be received by readers & how you might want to approach next steps.
For poetry collections, an evaluation focuses on the overall structure of the book as a whole (does the ordering of the poems make sense? is there an internal logic to the structure? what are the primary themes and how are they expressed? should the collection have sections?), rather than on line edits of individuals poems.
-$55/hour at a review rate of 20 pgs./hour