Client Testimonials
Editing and Consultation
Write me at mayrpeterson@gmail.com for all inquiries.
I bill on an hourly basis. My standard rate is $50 USD per labor hour for all services. However, I strive to accommodate disadvantaged authors when possible. Please feel free to email me and describe your needs, and we can discuss how I can help. This may include discounts or alternate billing structures. Consider subscribing to my Patreon for discounts on editing services!
- July 2024: I’m currently taking new clients. Email to inquire about availability.
I offer a variety of editorial and consultation services that may be right for you at multiple stages of your writing projects.
If you’re stuck on a manuscript or haven’t even begun writing it yet, you may like:
Book Doctoring: If a story just isn’t coming together or you don’t know how to complete it, I can help you get to the finish line. Manuscripts are tricky animals that can get stuck for many reasons. I’ll work with you to help you identify what’s getting in the way, both on a story and craft level and in terms of your writing process. Read KJ Charles eloquently describe the benefits of book doctoring. Highly popular service.
Artistic Consultation: Stories take work even before you write them, and may require planning and consideration on the concept level. I’ll help you refine your artistic vision, plan for your story, and identify what may intimidate you about writing it. This may include using an outline or similar tools if you feel they’re a good fit for you. Highly popular service.
If you have a finished manuscript, you may be seeking:
- Developmental Editing (AKA content editing): Big-picturing editing that focuses on the bedrock of the book—the characters, character development, pacing, plot, theme, consistency, and setting. This typically occurs before other steps of editing (see below) but can sometimes be concurrent with them. Highly popular service.
- Line Editing: Editing on the page and line level, which includes language, dialogue, scene set-up, action flow, fine-level characterization, and helping prevent writing errors of fact or logic. This process focuses on precision, clarity, and consistency, but involves more attention to artistry than a copyedit alone.
- Copyediting: If you need a text proofed and refined but don’t need as much attention as a full line edit, this is a useful option. The emphasis on technical detail tends to result in a less labor-intensive process than a line edit.
If you’re concerned about representation and sensitivity in your work, consider:
Artistic Ethics Consultation: My approach to the practice of sensitivity reading. While most editing traditionally focuses on the craft and artistry of a writer’s work, this service focuses on what I call artistic ethics. We all want our creative works to responsibly represent who we are and have a positive impact on our audience, without doing harm or disrespecting vulnerable populations. I help authors strike this balance while also educating them on matters of artistic ethics to the best of my ability. Highly popular service.
My areas of focus as an artistic ethics consultant: No one can be a universal advisor for every matter of artistic ethics, but we can work from strong practical principles. I bring to my work a robust foundation of care ethics and concern for all oppressed populations. However, I always advise that authors seek a consultant who is part of populations they seek to represent in their work, especially if that representation is an artistic highlight. I’m known for my work on trans issues, with a particular focus on trans women and transfeminine people, who are especially poorly represented in fiction. Other points of focus include: autism, ADHD, C-PTSD and childhood trauma, abuse survivors, disability, highly sensitive people, queer populations, bisexuality, feminism, poverty, and working class populations.
My Editorial Philosophy
My goal is always to help the author best realize their artistic vision. This means striving for a high standard of artistry and craft, but also means nurturing the confidence, voice, and artistic fulfillment of every author I work with. In my view, a skillful editor is sensitive to the experience of the author and to providing the most effective kind of guidance.
