I offer a variety of services for authors, from editing and coaching to illustration and cover design. I’m co-founder of Blue Crow Publishing, where I also served as a primary editor and art director. Both through BCP and with independent authors, I have helped publish over 30 titles from start to finish: that includes developmental editing, cover design, marketing strategy, and more. Read on to learn more about how I can help you bring your book to its fullest potential.

For inquiries, contact me at Lauren@faulkenberryarts.com. 

Writing Coaching 

A writing coach can help you at any stage of your writing: developing your idea into a book, creating an accountability plan for your writing practice, helping you create action plans, devising strategies to help you over creative hurdles, and more. A writing coach provides a customized plan focused on your goals and needs—this is an intensive 1:1 relationship that is uniquely tailored to you. Writers of fiction and nonfiction can benefit from a writing coach, no matter at what stage you are in your career. My goal as a coach is to help you determine what your goals are as an author  (or with a particular book) and work with you to develop personalized strategies to reach those goals.

Details

• We can meet on your schedule: we can meet just a few times to get you over a specific hurdle, or we can meet for the duration of a project. The frequency and duration of our meetings is up to you.
• We can meet via phone or videochat.
• Contact me to schedule a free 20-minute consultation to discuss your needs. I am happy to provide a quote and will create a plan that works for your budget.

Manuscript Assessment 

If you’re not quite ready to dive in to the editing services listed above, or are looking for overall feedback on a project, what you need is most likely a manuscript assessment. An assessment gives you an evaluation of your manuscript in terms of character development, plot, narrative voice, scene building, world building, dialogue, etc. This is a global review of what’s working well in your manuscript and what could be improved as you move into more detailed editing. As an author, you have unique strengths, and my goal is to help you develop them so they shine. I offer this service for both fiction and nonfiction.

Details:

• An assessment can be the first 50 pages of your book, the first five chapters, or the entire manuscript—it’s up to you. 
• Clients will receive a written evaluation of their manuscript and comments via tracked changes that include suggestions for improvement. 
• Fees for this service are based on word count and begin at 1.5 cents per word. 
• I am happy to provide a quote when you submit a manuscript or query. 

Copyediting and Proofreading

You’ve put a ton of work into your manuscript: now it’s time to make it shine.

The terms copyediting and proofreading are quite often used interchangeably in common speech, but they are very different services. Proofreading is, in fact, not editing. If you are looking for someone to correct grammar and usage mistakes, you are looking for a copyeditor. The big difference between the two? Copyediting improves the writing, whereas proofreading is a safety net that catches any remaining errors that the author and editor(s) have missed.

Copyediting / Line Editing

This type of editing considers your work at the sentence or paragraph level. I correct errors in spelling, grammar, usage, and punctuation, but also focus on improving the language and style of the text. I am always sensitive to your voice, as the writer: it’s not my goal to rewrite your text, but to improve it based on your style. In this way, copyediting provides a final level of polish to your writing. This service can include heavy revision (revising the text) to light revision (making notes and suggestions for the author). I’m happy to take a look at your manuscript and discuss your specific needs, wherever you are in your revision process. Rates begin at 3 cents per word.

Proofreading

This serves as a final check for any remaining errors, including typographical errors, typesetting errors (like extra spaces or incorrect line breaks), and simple formatting errors (like incorrect paragraph breaks or inconsistent headers). Proofing is the final pass for your manuscript before it moves into publication, and should happen after all editing is complete. Simply put, proofreading should catch any minor errors that the author(s) and editor(s) have missed. Rates begin at 1.5 cents per word.