A. Book Editing Blueprint is designed to help you cut down on editing expenses, not eliminate them. By taking this course and doing the work, you will have a great foundation in self-editing. You can do the earlier rounds on your own and ultimately submit a much stronger manuscript to your freelance editor. Then the editor can help you to put it over the edge rather than send you an overwhelming letter outlining a bunch of flaws you could have caught yourself.  

I don’t recommend publishing a book without getting professional editorial feedback, even if you’ve taken the course.

A. Yes, but I charge a higher price for new clients who haven’t taken the course unless they are established authors. Book Editing Blueprint students receive a steep discount. You can see my rates here.  I wish I’d had this course when I was starting out as a writer, and even now I use the blueprint when revising my own books. My years of working as an editor inspired me to create this course as nearly all my clients could have saved time and money if they’d had this baseline training.

If we worked together, I’d tell you the same stuff anyway, except it would be crammed into a long editorial letter. Trust me, you would be overwhelmed. That’s what made me create this class as I don’t like overwhelming my clients. Short video tutorials, written lectures, examples, quizzes, and practice exercises are a much more efficient way for you to master these concepts, and the worksheets will help you apply them to your manuscript. Then you’ll be in a much better position to work with an editor, either me or someone else. 

Note: If you enroll in the class, I can’t guarantee taking you on as a client as at certain times I’m booked or closed to submissions. You’re welcome to check in with me, but please be assured that having this course under your belt will help you when working with any developmental editor.

A. If you’re in the early stages of writing a story, Book Editing Blueprint will teach you to put all the foundational pieces in place from the very beginning. You’ll learn how to develop your theme, flesh out your characters, craft your plot, maximize each scene, and improve your writing technique.

While the final blueprint is geared toward editing a book, the lessons are applicable regardless of what stage the project is in. If you’re still writing your first draft, the course will give you valuable tools to keep you on the right track. Get a solid foundation now, and then come back and review once you finish your draft.

If you’re starting from scratch, in a way you’re lucky because you’ll be able to avoid the mistakes a lot of people make. By catching weaknesses early, you’ll save time on rewrites later. Wherever you are in the process, the course will give you the solid foundation that your novel needs. 

If you’re feeling overwhelmed by the prospect of writing a book and fear you don’t have what it takes, that’s perfectly normal. That’s why I’m going to teach you these concepts step by step and give you the tools to work through the overwhelm.

A. Not in depth. It will give you a broad overview. This class focuses on developmental big picture concepts such as plot, characterization, and point of view; scene level tips such as improving dialogue, description, and pacing; and line editing tips like word choice, style, and conciseness.

We discuss the most common grammar and punctuation mistakes, and I’ll share the best resources I’ve found for cleaning up your manuscript, but delving too much into it would be overwhelming. Copyediting could be a whole separate course, and it’s best taught by a copyeditor. (which I am not.)

As a novelist, your priority should be on writing an evocative, compelling story with a strong backbone. Once you’ve done that, you can focus on fixing the nitty gritty grammar and punctuation. If you focus on those errors too soon, before you rewrite and revise, then your copyedits could become obsolete.

My goal with the copyediting segment is to give you some tips and help you to evaluate your skills in this area. Some writers have a strong grasp of grammar and can manage without a copyeditor and/or proofreader if they have a good developmental editor and eagle-eyed beta readers. Many writers, however, have trouble with grammar and punctuation, and no class or self-study will replace their need for a good copyeditor and proofreader—at least not for their first few books. This class may save them some money though if they can find basic mistakes themselves and submit a cleaner manuscript to the copyeditor.

A. You could take the time-consuming DIY approach and gather information from different resources, or you can cut through the clutter and let me tell you exactly what you need to know and how to apply it to your book. Not only that, you’ll also get a proven system to follow.

Books about writing, articles, podcasts, and YouTube videos can give you helpful hints (and hey, I write articles, give advice on podcasts, and create informative YouTube videos myself!) but if you want to transform your manuscript and escalate your writing to a higher level, you need to learn how to apply what you know. That’s what Book Editing Blueprint will do for you. It’s full of tips, examples, and activities that will equip you and inspire you to apply the concepts to every aspect of your novel. I’ve had many clients who tried to learn on their own before hiring an editor, but they still had trouble recognizing weaknesses in their own work and needed multiple rounds of editing. 

As one of my students said, “Hearing your voice creates a teacher-student relationship that I don’t get out of books. It was more like being in the classroom. Everybody has a preferred style of learning—voice, text, or graphics. You had video, text, recaps, bullet items, tests that you can take over as great extra reinforcement . . . I think the way you’ve done it will help the material stay with students. They can print it out and save it for reference, but the goal is to learn and absorb.”

The hints you gain from books, articles, podcasts, and videos will be much more useful once your writing and editing skills have reached a certain level. 

A. You would get much more overwhelmed if an editor tried to condense all this advice into one letter. I know what an editorial letter looks like. I’ve received some as a writer, and I’ve written a couple hundred of them as an editor. An editorial letter will have a paragraph or two on each weakness, such as Show Don’t Tell. The editor will give you a couple examples, but there is only so much detail we can go into in a letter and in your manuscript’s margins. Then we’ll tell you to read a bunch of writing books and articles when all you want to do is fix your story, not wade through a stack of textbooks.

That’s why I created this course. I knew there had to be a better way to help writers, and once I discovered the world of online courses, I found the answer. 

My 20+ years working as a newspaper reporter, publicist, and health writer taught me how to break down complex information into an engaging, easy-to-digest format. I’ve been hired to write medical articles about surgeries and cutting-edge new treatments as the editors often tell me, “This is really involved, but you always make it so easy to understand.” Plus, I’m married to a high school teacher who has given me lots of insight on teaching strategies. I’ve deliberately made the lessons short and simple to follow.  

You’re not going to tackle everything all at once. You’re going to follow a step-by-step implementation plan, rack up small wins, and gradually get all the tools you need to skyrocket your manuscript to a higher level. You’ll want to keep going as you’ll see the progress you’re making. 

Editing becomes much less intimidating when you know exactly what you need to be doing to get results without any wasted effort. Maybe you’ll even grow to love editing like I do, and this course will set you down the road to becoming an editor!

A.  You will receive login information to the private classroom which you can access on any device that’s connected to the Internet. The lessons are available 24/7 on any device, so you can access it anywhere that’s convenient.  

Once you register, you’ll be able to use this resource over and over and will receive any future updates. Although manuscript feedback isn’t offered as part of the course, you’ll have an opportunity to upgrade and add on a mini critique if you wish.

To keep the price of the course more affordable, there isn’t a group coaching component at this time. However, I’m developing a membership program that would be available for an additional fee, and Book Editing Blueprint students will get the chance to join as founding members at the lowest price it will ever be. Stay tuned for details!   

A. You’re welcome to share a link where they can buy the course. You can even join the affiliate program and get a commission on sales. However, you may not share any material from Book Editing Blueprint with anyone else who has not yet purchased it. You can read the full Terms & Conditions here.

By downloading, printing, or otherwise using our products or content for personal use, you in no way assume any ownership rights of the content—it is still company property. Any reproduction or unauthorized use of any materials found in the program or content shall constitute infringement.