EDITORIAL SERVICES

  • You’ve completed a draft and need someone to read it and tell you, broadly, what’s working and what could improve, where to focus your attention, and how to approach your revisions. You’ll receive a feedback letter addressing these big-picture questions.

  • You’ll receive feedback on some of the same big-picture elements that would be addressed in a Manuscript Assessment, but their treatment will be more thorough and hands-on, with comments and suggested edits made directly on the text:

    • Comments about overarching elements of the draft, such as character development, pacing, argument, plot, etc

    • Suggestions on what the draft is missing or what can be cut; how a chapter, or the book as a whole, could be structured

    • Direct, specific questions to help you identify and untangle parts of your draft that are confusing or need to be re-articulated

    In addition, you’ll receive comments and edits that will help you achieve clarity and elegance at the line level by adjusting elements of your writing such as sentence and paragraph structure, word choice, tone, and verb tense.

  • If you’re working on a big writing project, or you just need some regular accountability and feedback in your writing life, we can set up a schedule of regular meetings tailored to your goals. Coaching often includes the following:

    • Regular video meetings or phone calls to discuss your writing

    • Regular feedback on your drafts, from book structure or plot to line level craft

    • Reading suggestions, when useful for inspiration

    • General instruction about various aspects of writing craft

Please use the form below to email me with the details of your project including the genre, total word count, and the type of service you’re looking for. You can also simply book a call using my Google Calendar.

“I can say without equivocation that David is the best editor with whom I’ve worked on any of the five books I have written. He gave me insightful feedback on content and structure, and improved the quality of my writing. I will say yes to my next writing project on the condition that, if I’m to have an editor, it’s David.”
— Sarah Drummond, Founding Dean of Andover Newton Seminary at Yale Divinity School and author of Intentional Leadership in Between Seasons (The Pilgrim Press, 2022)
“David worked with me to hone my thoughts and establish a through-line with my writing. His coaching enabled me to reach my goal of a solid first-draft manuscript.”
— Kori Reed, author of Men in the Middle, finalist for Publisher Weekly's BookLife Prize
“I was a previously published author of non-fiction, and David eased me into the world of fiction. It was important that I work with people who are friendly and knowledgeable. David is both. His feedback and support are both critical and balanced. As I wrote my collection of short stories, David helped me tease out the best stylistic elements (symbolism, tone, and motifs) and extrapolated them across the text. I highly recommend him, and look forward to working with him again on my next project!”
— Desmond Williams, author of The Burning House: Educating Black Boys in Modern America
“I had my share of trepidation going into the editing process, but upon reading the first words of the first comments from David I knew that my project had found the right hands and eyes and heart and mind. David has an uncanny ability to highlight the strongest threads of a work, and to help the writer simplify—and in the process strengthen—the work. He pairs a beautiful eye for particular phrasing with a wide-angled view on the structure and workings of the whole. Working with him was a joy, and I know that with his help the writing came closer to its full potential.”
— Daniel Cooperrider, author of Speak with the Earth and It Will Teach You: A Field Guide to the Bible (The Pilgrim Press, 2022)