open book beside crystal ball working developmental editing magic
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You+Me+Your Manuscript = a Team, and teams stick together.

Developmental editing, manuscript evaluations, and beta reads to bring out your story’s glory.

Member of the Editorial Freelancer's Association

Bringing Out the Glory

You…

  • Have written something awesome
  • Want to make it better
  • But aren’t sure where to start

I…

  • Talk to your story
  • Find out what it wants
  • Tell you what it said

We…

  • Team up with your writing
  • Polish it ’til it shines
  • Bring out your story’s glory

🧙‍♀️ I’m the story whisperer, and I’m here to help.

Passion for stories. That’s what drives me, and it’s why I do what I do. Nothing gets me more excited than falling in love with characters (or hating them, whichever floats the story’s boat), exploring worlds, and hanging on while conflicts rip everything apart.

As far as things I put on my resume, they include an MFA in Popular Fiction (Seton Hill University) and a BA in Psychology (Merrimack College), as well as 10+ years of reviewing, blogging, and otherwise working with books. If you want the full list, you can check me out on Linkedin, but my professional credentials are only the foundation of what I bring as an editor. Need help untangling story threads? I’m here. Want to make sure every line shines? I’ve got your back. Feeling overwhelmed or uncertain about your writing? I’ve been there, and I’m here to tell you no story mountain can’t be climbed. You, me, and your story—we’re a team, and teams stick together.

As the story whisperer, I tailer my discussions in terms of how much feedback you want. From beta reading to manuscript evaluations, to full-blown developmental editing, there’s a service for your place in the writing process and your budget.

I’m open to discussing most genre fiction, including works with literary-genre crossover. My specialties lie in science fiction/fantasy (especially doorstopper epics, fairy tales, superheroes, and dystopias), anything middle grade, and quirky mysteries/romances for both adult and YA. If you’ve got pop culture references, uniquely amazing magic/technology, or an eccentric but lovable cast of secondary characters (or primary characters—multiple POVs are very much my thing), I’m your girl. I love whimsical and fun as much as I love lyrical and dark, and all the stuff in-between. My reading and editing tastes more or less align, and you can browse my Goodreads shelves for an idea of what gets my editorial engine running.

my read shelf:
M.T. DeSantis's book recommendations, liked quotes, book clubs, book trivia, book lists (read shelf)

📖 Reading and Evaluating

Beta reading and manuscript evaluations are designed to give a bird’s eye view of the manuscript, and each offers a different level and style of feedback.

  • Beta Reading

Beta reading is all about “reader” comments–the “loved this, didn’t jive so much with that” kind of stuff. If you’re story is as polished as you can get it and you want an idea of how readers might respond, this is the service for you. My beta read comes with a 1-3-page report of overall notes, as well as reaction comments in the manuscript to show how I responded to the story in real-time. For more info about beta reading and the answers to some commonly asked questions, check out my Beta Reading FAQ.

For projects 40,000 words and up, my beta reading rate is $2 USD/1000 words. For shorter projects or to ask about a beta read, shoot me an email at mary@kitnkabookle.com.

  • Manuscript Evaluation

Manuscript evaluations are designed to give you everything you need to take self-editing to the next level. An overall report will offer in-depth critique of major story elements (plot, characters, conflict, etc.), and in-manuscript comments will complement this report by highlighting places where something worked well or could use some extra care. Manuscript evaluations also come with a partial line edit to help identify things in the writing that are extremely effective or that are keeping your meaning from coming across (length of line edit depends on complete manuscript length).

Rate for manuscript evaluations is $5 USD/1000 words for works 40,000 words or more. For shorter projects or to see about booking an evaluation, email me at mary@kitnkabookle.com.

🖊️ Editing

Developmental, line, and copy editing, for whatever your manuscript needs.

  • Developmental Editing

If your manuscript just needs to unload its troubles (and you need a break from listening), this is the service for you. Developmental editing is all about the big-picture elements of the story (characterization, plot, conflict, world, etc.) with a focus on suggestions for improving trouble spots by both showing how things may be changed and offering examples for strengthening the story. I’ll deliver a detailed report with feedback on these big-picture elements, as well as recurring things about the writing itself that kept your story from shining through. In addition, my developmental edit comes with both the reader-reaction and complementary comments of the beta read and evaluation, all aimed at giving you and your manuscript the ultimate story whispering experience.

My rate for developmental editing is $0.025 USD/word for works 20,000 words and up.

  • Line Editing

If developmental editing is about story elements, line editing is its cousin that’s all about the writing itself. As its name suggests, line editing focuses on tightening up the writing at the line level. Don’t be swayed by the word “tightening.” The idea isn’t to use as few words as possible. If your story calls for sweeping lines full of metaphor and imagery, I’ll preserve that tone while making suggestions to improve readability and flow. Even sweeping sentences should make every word earn their keep. In addition to suggestions throughout the manuscript, I’ll also provide an overall report with recommendations for strengthening the writing and pointing out overused constructions (such as starting lots of sentences with “but”).

My line editing rate is $0.02 USD/word for projects 20,000 words or more.

  • Copy Editing

The nuts and bolts. Copy editing (also rendered as copyediting or copy-editing in the wild) focuses on cleaning up technical details of the writing—punctuation, grammar, spelling, missing/extra words, etc. It also involves a bit of fact checking (such as making sure a song is attributed to the right artist) and consistency checking (like keeping the spelling of your fantasy kingdom’s name right all the way through). I will also help put together a style sheet for the book/series as part of a copyedit. For more on what a style sheet entails, check out this excellent post (complete with downloadable style sheet template) from Louise Harnby.

A quick note about my copy editing service: I strongly suggest having another editor go over the manuscript to catch missed errors (this step is often called proofreading), especially if you’re self-publishing. While I strive to catch as much as I can, little things will slip through the cracks. Even the most thoroughly edited book will miss a few small things, and you want to give your book every possible advantage out there. For more about editor error rates (because it happens to all of us), check out this great post by Lisa Poisso.

My rate for copy editing is $0.01 USD/word for projects 20,000 words and up.

If you have a piece under 20,000 words that you’d like edited, shoot me an email at mary@kitnkabookle.com. I love working with short fiction and have experience with stories as short as 100 words.

✍️ Writing

In addition to bringing out your story’s glory, I also offer services geared toward creating academic materials for fiction titles. If you’d like summaries, analyses, or essay/book club questions to go with your book, I have 3+ years of experience writing study guides that include such elements, and I know what makes for strong, meaningful analysis. I can also help with editing and revising materials you’ve already written, so email me at mary@kitnkabookle.com to ask about my academic writing services. Rates will be quoted following discussion of what you’d like done.

So when you’re ready, I can help you…

  • Chat with your manuscript
  • Find out what it wants
  • Bring out your story’s glory

And if you aren’t sure what exactly your manuscript wants, you can drop me a general message below for some help figuring it out. After all, I am the story whisperer. 🤫