Ghostwriting

Your time is important and so is your story. i will write the book length manuscript for you that you have been toying with, using th information you give me. Depending on your needs, the book may be either fiction or nonfiction. the good ghostwriter is a collabgorator who carefully sifts through all the information you give her, and writes it in a manner that will be compelling for your readers. when the terms of the contract have been fulfilled on both sides, the manuscript is entirley yours, and your name is the only name that will appear on it.

Memoirs

Everyone has a unique story. it may be a story that would relate to and add depth to a period in our history, or a story that speaks of the psychology of family life and friendships that deeply affect our lives. Some of my clients have come to me saying they would like to have their life story written, but they do not want to hurt anyone who might still be alive. I often suggest that we write their story as a work of fiction. In this way, characters, scenes and situations can be changed so that no one could point their finger at th book and claim that the author said nasty things about them. other people have come asking for a book that states nothing but the facts. In either event, I gfive my clients the book he wants, written the way he or she would like it to be written, along with the adventure of having his story written by a professional writer.

Substantive Editing

Some clients come to me with manuscripts they have already written, in order to have them prepared for publication. First attempts at writing a book are wonderful, but they generally need a lot of work before they are ready to publish. Very few people are able to sit down and write their story in only one draft. for most of us, the real work begins once that first draft has been written. Editing is a skill that can take years to master. A scene clost to the end of the book may need to be moved back to the beginning, and another one may need to be described in a completely different manner. Often, characters need to be developed so that they are interesting, and the readers want to see what happens to them. This involves far more work than simply making sure that grammar and spelling errors have been corrected. It usually does not make sense to do that final grammar and spell check, until the manusxcrpt says exactly what the author wants it to say.

Copy Edits

Once the manuscrpt does say what is intended, and says it well, then I give it a good copy edit, to make sure that the grammar and spelling are correct.

One note about grammar: Once the basics have been rectified, such as nouns agreeing with verbs and commas used judiciously, what is correct grammar becomes a matter of opinion. The Chicago Manual of Style is the grammar Bible for many publishers and editors. However, there are other equally valid standards. I use the standard my client and his publisher want to see.

Indexing

Indexing is usually done only for scholarly and reference works. It involves reading the entire text and picking out all the topics discussed within that text, noting the pages those topics are found on, in order to build an alphabetical index to be placed at the end of the book. It is hours of painstaking work, and it is absolutely necessary that it be done accurately, or it is worthless. I pride myself on my ability to make an index that is appropriate to the needs of the people who would be using the book.