Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Blog Closed

To all my regular readers, thank you for your ongoing support. As you may have heard, I'll be closing the blog--indefinitely.


Because some jerk has been spamming me while the blog's been closed, all posts were deleted and new comments are not allowed.


I am not conducting any other Author Features at this time.

I am not accepting any additional books for review at this time.

I AM interested in taking on freelance work doing the following:
  • line editing aka copyediting or my favorite "wordsmithing" (polishing the edges off your work line by line--hence line editing--without making any substantive changes to the story, itself) This is the single-most common thing new authors do, themselves, when they think they are "editing." Please let me do it for you. I charge for line editing "by the word" so shorter costs less. Please email webbiegrrl AT gmail DOT com for a price quote, which will vary depending upon full length of your work. If you have me go through the work more than once (for instance, you change content substantially and need a re-edit), I may negotiate a sliding scale for the second pass. I am in this to make money but I do have compassion and want to encourage new authors, not become an expense they try to skip. Don't be penny-wise and pound-foolish; hire an editor (me, or someone else)!

  • proofreading (correcting spelling, punctuation or obvious typos using the wrong words--e.g., "one" for "won" or "their" for "there" and the social media great "your" instead of "you're" :) Please note that proofreading of this sort is included in the work of line editing; however, line editing (rewriting sentences to make readability flow or to correct grammar) is not included in proofreading. I charge one penny a word for proofreading. For instance, a 50,000 word story will cost 50,000 pennies or $500 USD to proofread. I will rework at no additional charge if you modify less than 10% of the work (e.g., less than 5,000 words altered in the above example)

  • cover art graphics (simple, no illustrations - also reformatting of existing/legacy JPG files for the new "hi-res" rules that came out in 2012)

If you'd like to hire me, please follow these guidelines:

First, query me with a short blurb about your work (forex, the back cover text you plan to use--25 words or less is best, 50 words max); and tell me what your needs are (i.e., proofreading or line editing), as well as the schedule you need to meet. At least three (3) months out is as short a schedule as I find new authors can meet, since their work tends to go through more than one cycle of edits. I accept payment via PayPal and take one-half (1/2) downpayment to start work and one-half (1/2) payment upon completion. I shall endeavor to make every customer happy with their experience but do not provide free rewrites and reworks indefinitely. Sorry, I've gotta make ends meet, too.

I'll reply to your email query within three (3) days and let you know if I am available to meet your schedule. I cannot promise any work completed in less than seven (7) days from the time we start. Please do not send me a summary of your plot or plan to brainstorm storywriting ideas with me. There are plenty of writer's group type communities online where you can find help figuring out how to play out your story arc. I have used them myself and encourage you to join one or more yourself.

If you have a sample of the work online, please feel free to link to it BUT Please do not attach any files to your query or I'll assume you are a spammer and mark your email address accordingly (so I'll never have to see another message from that address). Sorry but that's what the world has come to these days. Spammers abound. I have received numerous emails with attachments and most are actually spammers so I no longer even check them.

Thanks for stopping by!

-sry
@webbiegrrl