Services
Copy Editing
Includes: An extensive in-manuscript edit of grammar, usage, spelling, punctuation, and other mechanics of style; checking for consistency in mechanics and facts; style edits; and ensuring house style is adhered to using CMOS guidelines. This package includes a style sheet and has a 2-3 week turnaround for one pass (read twice).
Developmental Editing
Includes: Clarifying or reorganizing a manuscript for content and structure; some possible rewrites and organization of text; May also include copyediting and/or stylistic editing, if specified. This package includes in-manuscript notes and an editorial content letter pointing out any overall issues within the manuscript (plot problems, character development, repetition/redundancy, basic grammar problems) and has a 2-3 week turnaround per pass.
Proofreading
Includes the detection and correction of obvious errors in the manuscript (typos, grammar, spelling, and formatting errors using CMOS guidelines) and has a 2-3 week turnaround for one pass of two readings).
Sensitivity Reading
Includes a substantive reading of possibly insensitive issues in the manuscript which fall under my areas of expertise in: The Black/African-American culture, certain cultures within the African Diaspora, military family lifestyle and issues, marriage and children, single-parent lifestyle, Christian and Catholic upbringing, and education from the educational field which may include racism, bigotry, cultural inaccuracies, and ableism. This package includes in-line comments and a comprehensive report and has a 2-3 week turnaround.
TESTIMONIALS
M.J. Marino / Mercy Ravens
Author of Lips On My Soul series
Working with Yas has been a truly enjoyable experience. Developmental editing can be a painful process for an author because your work is picked apart piece by piece and looked at through a microscope for discrepancies. When you work on something you pour your heart and soul into it can be disheartening when you see a bunch of red edits. This was not the case while I worked with Yas. She was very honest, which I appreciated, and gave suggestions as to how I could improve my work without making me feel like my novel wasn't good enough. She was professional, courteous, and above all, supportive. She wanted me to succeed in my work as much as I did. When I had questions, she was quick to answer and thorough in her responses. She was also hilarious--the woman can take a joke and give it back. The bonus of working with Yas is that she also is a great sensitivity editor. She was quick to point out things that were offensive/could be viewed as sensitivity issues and would explain why while offering other suggestions/replacements. Yas is also not one to shy away from a challenge. Yas became my editor in the middle of a book series I'm writing. Staring over with a new editor after you're a book deep can turn a lot of editors off from taking up your work, but Yas didn't blink an eye. She was like, 'fill me in on all the details from book one you feel are important for me to know going into book two.' Seriously, I found my soulmate developmental editor and I can't wait to work with her on book three.