I’ve never been one of those hustling freelancers who is able to fill the sales funnel and load the pipeline with projects weeks or months in advance. In rare cases, I’m able to build a small backlog.

This inability may be due to my admittedly lackluster marketing abilities. Regardless, I’m beginning 2024 with an empty plate and need to fill it with paying projects.

So, why should you hire me?

Comprehensive, holistic editing. The gold standard of editing entails up to eight rounds of editing. I’ve met few independent authors who can afford that. Most not only can’t afford it, they also want to expedite the process and get it done as soon as possible. However, once-and-done editing generally isn’t sufficient. Therefore, I offer substantive editing that is comprehensive and holistic. This means I not only take a bird’s eye view of your manuscript, I also get into the nitty gritty of punctuation, spelling, and grammar. Most clients’ manuscripts go through two rounds of editing: first an intensive, deep round of editing that always results in revisions and a second, lighter round of editing mostly focused on copy errors.

Proofreading. Proofreading is the final step before publication. It puts the final polish on the content and often includes reviewing more than the text. It includes a final check and correction of photo captions, images and image placement, pagination, and page formatting.

Book design. Because I was in charge of newsletter production for past employers, I offer competence where most editors don’t: page layout. There’s more to book design than filling pages with words. The page’s appearance directly affects the reader’s experience. From font choices to margins to columns and more, I have expertise applicable to both books and newsletters.

Ghostwriting. I’m an author and my books generally receive positive reviews. I’ve written professionally for business since 1990. As writing is not a static skill, I continually learn and adapt to contemporary trends and preferences. However, if you week a well-told story or engaging article, let’s talk.

So, why would you not hire me?

You want APA, MLA, or other style and/or refernecing convention. I am also proficient with the Associated Press Styleguide and the Chicago Manual of Style. If you want APA, MLA, or some other style, then I’m not your editor.

You write horror or scholarly works. Since horror gives me nightmares, I’ll be happy to recommend your manuscript to a colleague who enjoys that genre. And I’ll be candid: academic referencing details escape me.

You have a rushed deadline. Proper, thorough editing, proofreading, writing, and book design take time. Sometimes, I can accommodate a fast deadline and quickly deliver a project. That depends upon my workload at any given time, the scope of work your project needs, and the size of the project. I don’t do “machine editing,” so your 50,000-word manuscript won’t be delivered in less than a week.

You want the cheapest service. There’s a saying that there’s cheap, fast, and good: pick two. You can’t have all three. Low-bid vendors often promise all three and deliver poor quality work. For rates consistent with what professionals in my service area charge and commensurat with the quality expected, consult the Editorial Freelancers Association. My rates are in line with these rates.

High Quality Work, Professional Service

That’s what I deliver: high quality work and professional service. It might not be as expensive or take as long as you fear.

There’s no way that I can think of to guarantee the ROI of professional editing and book design, because you can’t measure sales lost. However, your readers expect and deserve the quality of their books and newsletters and articles to be comparable to that produced by the big publishers. I can help you with that.

If you have a manuscript, magazine, newsletter, or other project needing ghoswriting, editing, proofreading, or page design services, contact me at henhousepublishing@gmail.com. Let’s talk.