Services for business
& academic writers
Are you an expert in your field with a message to share with the world?
Not sure how to structure your wealth of information?
Uncertain if your ideas translate to the page and made sense to the general population?
As a business person or academic, writing a book is a sure-fire way to improve your credibility and establish your expertise. Publishing a book can gain you clients, allow you to charge higher rates and really get your name out there.
But it can’t just be a brain dump of information. That won’t make you look good at all, and won’t be accessible to readers.
This is where professional editing comes in.
I like to imagine a rough draft of a manuscript as a lump of clay. As your editor, I get to inspect it from all angles and then get my hands dirty: identifying any structural flaws and underlying gems, lopping off anything unnecessary, and polishing, polishing, polishing to reveal the stunning sculpture hidden underneath.
My services are listed below. If your project is somewhere between stages, or you’re not quite sure what it needs, please contact me for a chat.
Manuscript assessment
(Big picture)
“Jessica was super to work with. She did a structural assessment that helped me to see the holes in the manuscript. Her style was open, honest and practical and her insights have helped me to refine my thinking and present our ideas in a more relatable way.”
Nikk Hughes, InspireTribe (Mindset mentoring and development coaching)
Send me your Word document. Yep, the one you’ve slaved over and can’t even read anymore, the one you’ve brain-dumped all your unique knowledge and experience into. I’ll bring my fresh eyes to it – and I’ll be gentle, but honest.
I’ll look at the ‘big picture’ of the work, and write you a report, covering the following:
Is the information organised in the most logical way?
Are the arguments clear, well-researched and supported?
Are all necessary topics addressed?
Is the tone appropriate for readership and purpose?
What are the manuscript’s strengths and weaknesses?
Where to from here?
By the end of this stage you’ll get to see your draft with fresh eyes again. There might be new possibilities you hadn’t thought of before – a spark of inspiration. You will have clear recommendations of what to do next to make this book the best it can be.
Investment: Up to 20,000 words: $400
Each additional block of up to 10,000 words: $50
As a guide, business books generally run between 20,000 and 50,000 words, depending of course on your topic, strategy and readership.
Copyedit
(Line by line)
“Jessica's copyediting, guidance, advice and suggestions on the flow, clarity and structure have made my rough manuscript truly feel like a book.”
Joonas Heikkinen, author of Spandex not compulsory: How to get (and remain) strong, fit and confident without restrictive rules
If your draft is structurally sound, it’s ready for me to dive in. I’ll edit line by line for consistency, accuracy and ease of reading.
By the end of this stage you’ll have a solid draft that reads like a book and that’s ready to go to be typeset (how exciting!)
Investment: In order to give you a quote that is fair for both of us, I need to see the manuscript first.
Please contact me to discuss your project.
Proofread
(Final polish)
“Once you've written a book, the last things you've got the attention and effort for are those pesky finer details. This is where Jessica's knowledge, eye and expertise were vital.”
Lynne Cazaly, author of ish: The problem with our pursuit of perfection and the life-changing practice of good enough
Your manuscript is back from the designer and looks like a book! It has an eye-catching cover, snappy blurb and neatly typeset pages.
It’s now ready for a final check, because little errors can slip through the copyedit stage and can even be introduced during design. As well as combing through the text, I’ll check your contents, page numbers, headers and footers, and I’ll triple-check the spelling on the front cover (you’d be amazed…)
At the end of this stage – guess what – it’s ready to be sent to the printer.
Investment: Just like the copyedit, I really need to see the manuscript first to give you a fair quote. Please contact me.
Popular package: Manuscript assessment + first 10 pages copyedit
This is a great value package to start getting your book shipshape.
Inclusions:
‘Big-picture’ manuscript assessment of your draft with recommendations
Copyedit of first 10 pages to bring sentence-level suggestions to your attention, and to give you an understanding of craft issues and how to correct them. You can then apply this knowledge to the rest of your draft.
Investment: I’ll need to know the total word count and see the first 10 pages before I can put this quote together for you. Please contact me.