Manuscript Repair

Writing Coach

Almost everyone you meet these days seems to have a fantastic idea for a book. Only a fraction of the population will actually have the discipline to sit down and write an entire manuscript. Too many things get in the way—work, family, obligations, or just life in general. Often, the largest obstacle to success is crippling self-doubt. Sometimes, what an aspiring author needs is a coach, someone to encourage them, show them valuable writing techniques, and help them to develop their own skills.

If you’ve already written your work and it continues to languish in your study or basement, a Sparks Writing Coach can help.  A writing coach will identify where an author makes mistakes, where the manuscript needs strengthening, and work with the author to develop and correct the text. Through this collaborative process, the writer improves and ultimately achieves their goals. The manuscript takes form and can be submitted to acquisition editors for traditional publishing or it can go into self-publishing, if the author prefers.

Professional Editing

Thorough, careful editing can make an enormous difference to the quality of your writing and the success of your manuscript. These days, publishing houses will only consider polished, professionally edited manuscripts. You have to put your best foot forward. Hiring a Sparks Editor before submitting your manuscript is a smart investment—in your work and yourself. Not only will editing enhance the text itself, but working with our professional editors will strengthen a writer’s skills immeasurably.

Thorough, careful editing can make an enormous difference to the quality of your writing and the success of your manuscript. These days, publishing houses will only consider polished, professionally edited manuscripts. You have to put your best foot forward. Hiring a Sparks Editor before submitting your manuscript is a smart investment—in your work and yourself. Not only will editing enhance the text itself, but working with our professional editors will strengthen a writer’s skills immeasurably.

Our Editing Services

1. Substantive editing—the entire manuscript is reviewed to ensure that the integrity of the content, as well as its structure, is impeccable. Substantive editing looks at the big picture—the entirety of your work—and addresses issues of continuity, understandability, and believability.
2. Stylistic Editing—where language is polished, jargon is eliminated, and meaning is clarified line-by-line.
3. Copy editing—concentrates on accuracy, formatting, spelling, grammar, syntax, and structure corrections throughout the manuscript. Copy editing is perfect for the well-written manuscript that’s almost ready to be seen by the world, but just needs a bit of finessing first.
4. Proofreading—this is the most basic, yet meticulous, editing process. Proofreading lends a professional eye to a strong manuscript that may have occasional spelling or grammatical typos. Line by line, the editor will review the manuscript and point out any infelicities in the text. 

How will an edit alter your carefully crafted manuscript? How much will it cost? We will perform a free sample edit of five pages (see our Fees Page for proper formatting guidelines), including a projected estimate of what the costs are likely to be. If you find those five pages to be enhanced and improved, a full edit can commence.