Services:

Book Editing
     Collaboration & Compensation
Memoirs
     Getting It Done
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Bio Statements
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Poet-on-Demand

​"I do not do well with editors who tend to want to take over a project and make their client's book their own.  I work much better with those I call 'concept editors' and in this regard Laurel has been outstanding. Her questions, insights and recommendations have been terrific and deeply appreciated and so I recommend her highly." George Cappannelli, Founder/CEO of AgeNation

Dear Client: 

You have at least one book inside of you (and more likely two or three)!

Maybe it's still in idea form with notes in journals, files, drawers and boxes. Or perhaps you’ve already written it and just need some help refining and polishing it. Either way, you have something important that you need to share and that people will benefit by reading.

Wherever you are in the process, I can help you bring your vision to fruition and then tune it up so that it resonates harmoniously with your target audience.
 
If you don’t yet have your fiction or non-fiction manuscript ready for review, here’s how we can proceed:

1.  The Conversation: You’ll share your vision and intentions for the book with me. 

2. The Interview: I will interview you to draw forth a deeper well of inspiration and awareness.

3. The Outline: We will then develop an overall plan and outline for your book that assists us in organizing your ideas and material into chapters. 

4. The Review: Either you or I will sort through, evaluate and organize your written notes (whether they are scraps of paper or electronic files) to see where they can be integrated to greatest advantage.
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5. The Process: Then you, or I or the two of us together can proceed to create the first draft of the manuscript. 

For non-fiction work, I will support the research you do to find confirmation for your perspective and additional insights into your subject. Fact checking of your assertions and assumptions is also a service I offer so that your finished manuscript is not only cohesive, coherent and compelling, it is also as correct as we can make it. 

Then, once you’re manuscript is ready to go, this is how I'll proceed to edit it:

1st Edit

• I read through the manuscript to gain familiarity with it while at the same time performing superficial line edits;
• If it seems it would be helpful, I might suggest shorter paragraphs and section sub-headings.
• I may also do some on-line research to supplement my knowledge of your subject or to gain clarification on an issue that you bring forward.
• In the process of this work, I will compile a list of questions or suggestions for you to consider.
• I use the tracking tool throughout so that you can clearly see the changes I’ve made and choose to accept or reject them.
• I then send this version of the manuscript to you for your review and our discussion.
• Once I have your changes, then I will proceed with the 2nd edit on this revised 1st draft.

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2nd Edit

• I am now able to refine the manuscript with a greater sense of the whole work. This refinement process could include rewriting sentences or paragraphs for greater clarity – or suggesting how you could rewrite them to achieve that clarity.
• If necessary, I will create a bullet-point outline of the ideas you present in each section so that we can more readily recognize and eliminate any unnecessary repetitions, discern what additional information needs to be added, and identify the most effective order for the presentation of these ideas.
• I then send this to you for your review and our discussion. Once you feel complete with your changes on this version of the document, you return it to me for completion.

3rd Edit

• I integrate your changes and do a final edit to refine the entire document so that the readers’ eyes can glide easily over the surface of the page while their minds readily absorb the depths and breadth of what you impart – along with your passion for your subject and your compassion for your audience.
• The final product will feel like a gift to the reader that is worthy of re-reading and sharing with others.
• It will also signal the successful completion of a major vision you have held for your life.