Ruth Freitas
Author. Copywriter. Editor.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What is a manuscript appraisal?
A manuscript appraisal is a cost-effective assessment of the structural elements in your book and will identify any major areas that need work. It's similar to a structural edit, however it's not as detailed as a structural edit. A structural edit will provide more detailed coaching and instruction on how to fix up any structural errors.
When should you get a manuscript appraisal of your book?
You should do a manuscript appraisal before you submit your book to agents and publishers, or before you self-publish it. This is so that you can fix up any structural errors within your book before you do a copyedit.
Pros to having a manuscript appraisal?
It's an affordable option to structurally assess your book.
What qualifies me to appraise your manuscript?
I'm a qualified editor with a BA in Creative Writing from Curtin University. I've also completed Creative Writing Stage 1 at the Australian Writers' Centre. I've also written and edited a book that made the Wattpad Editors' Choice List and was featured across their profiles nine times. I've also had feature articles published with Good Reading Magazine.
What is a structural edit?
A structural edit looks at the structural components of a manuscript to see what is working for your manuscript and what isn't.
If there are structural issues in a manuscript it can be one of the reasons why an agent or a publisher will reject it. This is because the manuscript requires more work and re-drafts until it is ready to be marketed and sold. If you are a self-published author and there are structural issues in your book it will be obvious to readers because they'll either lose interest, get confused, or won't connect with your book.
A structural edit addresses the below components in a manuscript:
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Genre
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Characterisation
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Plot
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Theme
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Pacing
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Dialogue
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Setting
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POV
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Style.
When should you get a structural edit of your book?
You should have a structural edit done before you do a copyedit. This is because you are changing large components of your manuscript. In the publishing industry, structural editing is a mandatory process that all books must go through prior to publication.
Why hire a structural editor?
Hiring a qualified structural editor will greatly improve your manuscript so that readers will enjoy your book. A qualified structural editor will be able to coach and mentor you through gentle yet constructive feedback that will improve your story and your writing skills for any future books that you'll write.
What qualifies me to be a structural editor?
I'm a qualified editor with a BA in Creative Writing from Curtin University. I've also completed Creative Writing Stage 1 at the Australian Writers' Centre. I've also written and edited a book that made the Wattpad Editors' Choice List and was featured across their profiles nine times. I've also had feature articles published with Good Reading Magazine.
What is a copyedit?
A copyedit is an edit that addresses punctuation, grammatical, and spelling errors in a manuscript.
When should you get a copyedit of your book?
You should do a copyedit of your book after you've completed any structural changes. Having a copyedited book will ensure that it is polished and ready to submit to agents and publishers, or to a typesetter if you're self-publishing.
Why hire a copyeditor?
Hiring a qualified copyeditor will ensure that your book will be at its best when it goes on submission, or when it goes to market. Too many copyediting mistakes can be jarring for a reader and may make them lose interest in your book if they think it was written poorly.
What qualifies me to be a copyeditor?
I'm a qualified editor with a BA in Creative Writing from Curtin University. I've also completed Creative Writing Stage 1 at the Australian Writers' Centre. I've also written and edited a book that made the Wattpad Editors' Choice List and was featured across their profiles nine times. I've also had feature articles published with Good Reading Magazine.
What is a proofread?
A proofread is the final edit before a book goes to market. It will address any punctuation, grammatical, and spelling errors that were missed during a copyedit and it will also address any formatting, spacing, or design issues before a book is published.
When should you get a proofread of your book?
You should do a proofread of your book after it has been copyedited and all the design elements have been completed.
Why hire a proofreader?
Hiring a qualified proofreader will ensure that your book will have no formatting errors, or inconsistent design issues, once it's published. It also serves as a final defence against any copyediting errors that may have been missed throughout the copyediting process.
What qualifies me to be a proofreader?
I'm a qualified editor with a BA in Creative Writing from Curtin University. I've also completed Creative Writing Stage 1 at the Australian Writers' Centre. I've also written and edited a book that made the Wattpad Editors' Choice List and was featured across their profiles nine times. I've also had feature articles published with Good Reading Magazine.
Do you provide sample edits?
Manuscript appraisals and structural edits require the entire manuscript to perform those particular edits, so asking for a sample is professionally impossible to provide.
I would be wary of any editors who offer sample edits for structural/developmental edits because it indicates that they don't know how to perform a structural/developmental edit at all. How will you determine an issue with plot, characterisation, theme, style, dialogue etc if you only have a page of material to work with? How do you know the inciting incident is where it should be if you haven't read where it is yet? You see where I'm going with this.
As a vendor I have professional boundaries and will not work for free.