General Information

I applaud all your hard work spent writing a book. I know it can be nerve-wracking to have someone else critique your work, so while I will be honest, I strive to encourage you along the way, acting as a beacon guiding your editing journey.

And since words have the ability to transform lives, you too are a beacon, sharing your message with the world. I want to help ensure that nothing stands in the way of that message by reducing errors and strengthening your content.

Let’s build a partnership to make your book the best it can be in the time allotted.

Genres I edit

I offer both copyediting and substantive (developmental) editing.

Self-Help/How-To Books**

General Informational Books (excluding highly scientific texts)

Religious Guide Books

Memoirs and Biographies

**I specialize in self-help and how-to books. Having studied best practices for that genre, I know the common pitfalls and how to avoid them, and I can offer specific feedback on how to best appeal to your audience.

Resources for you

Visit my writer's resources center for articles and ebooklets focused on helping you.

My resource center offers resources in a variety of categories:

Working with an editor
Self-editing
Style sheets
Self-publishing tips
Fiction writing tips
Nonfiction writing tips
Grammar and punctuation help

Visit Writer's Resources»

Testimonials

5 Stars

Katie was a professional. It was an honor to work with Katie. We work hand in hand and she offer great advice and suggestions without taking away from my style and or vision. She was on point and true to her delivery time. I definitely recommend Katie’s services.

Eileen Silverberg Self-help book

4.3 (Skills, Quality, Communication, Cooperation= 5, Deadlines=2, Availability=4)

I was very nervous about handing over my personal story to an editor, but very soon in the editing process, Katie surprised me with her first message to me. It was respectful, kind, generous, and I felt confident my book was in the right hands. I have nothing to compare her skillset to as I’m a first-time author. Expectations weren’t really clear and the timeline was not as expected, but I learned to let the process happen the way it needed to and forego expectations/irritations. I could have become angry with the delays, but what good would that do? In the end, I love my book and am honored to have worked with Katie to produce it.

Kellee Pope Memoir

5 Stars

I enjoyed my experience working with Katie. As a first time author, I wasn’t sure what to expect from the editing process. I heard horror stories about editors completely changing your words, and writers losing confidence and giving up. I never experienced any of these working with Katie. In reality, she motivated me to think deeper and create a product that my readers will find valuable. I’m passionate about helping social service professionals and the notes Katie provided pushed me to create a product that will make a difference. If you’re looking for an editor that will challenge you to become a better writer while giving your manuscript the transformation it needs, I HIGHLY recommend you work with Katie.

Sabrina Self-help book

4.7 Stars (Skills, Quality, Availability, Cooperation=5; Deadlines and Communication=4)

I feel Katie did an excellent job overall! This was my first book, so I had a lot of editing that needed to be done. I wrote the book several times over an extended time, so there was a lot of repetition and too much detail that I feel she did a great job sorting through. In the beginning we didn’t communicate clearly about time expectations. However, once we cleared that issue up she was awesome at doing all she could to ensure meeting deadlines, which I really appreciated. On the first edit, she missed a couple things like switching tenses, and proper capitalization/editing of headlines, however she brought the tense issue to my attention and went back to fix it for me. She did several edits, correcting tenses and headlines on her second edit. I am satisfied with her work and would hire her again and recommend her to others. Thank you Katie for all your hard work! 🙂

Ashlee Self-help book

5 Stars

Katie did an amazing job of editing my book. It was my first one and she made it feel like a breeze with her helpful tips and the way she carefully went through my manuscript. She put her heart and soul into my book and I highly recommend her if you’re looking for an editor not only with skill but heart!!

Kelsey Religious self-help book

4 Stars

Katie was great to work with. I learned a lot thought this process and she was very helpful as I was unfamiliar with this industry. Edits were extremely helpful in getting my thoughts out on the page in a concise manner.

Stephen Self-help book

5 Stars

I was extremely impressed with Beacon’s work on my manuscript. I thought I was pretty good with grammar, but they really cleaned things up. Aside from that, it was clear they took the time to familiarize themselves with the flow and content of my work. This was evidenced in their comments and suggestions regarding said content. I would confidently consider them for any future projects.

Mick Naples Religious Book

5 stars

Katie Chambers did an excellent job editing my book, the Parris Island Planner.I would recommend her to anyone who wants a polished book ready for publication. She quoted a price with delivery date and stuck to our schedule. My book is so much better because of her talents.

Vera Nonfiction book

5 Stars

I was a joy to work with Katie on my first full book experience. I feel she really cared and connected with the goal of making my story cohesive and compelling as well as grammatically correct. Her suggestions were good and needed edits. She had a natural ability to create better flow over the whole book in the spots where I had mixed up ideas or gotten out of order. I highly recommend her for substantive and copy editing. She met every deadline and turnaround on my project of 50K words was quick. Communication via email was quick and painless. I would use her services again.

Katy Patrick Religious book and memoir

5 Stars

Launching my first book was so nerve racking! Katie had helpful advice and was very encouraging; this made me feel I was on the right path. She was very patient and helpful with me, even through the multiple edits, which is part of her process anyways. She was a pleasure to work with!

Cathy Nonfiction Book

5 Stars

Katie was so easy to work with! She completed the work exactly as she described and made some excellent suggestions and observations. I would highly recommend her.

Janice Lamy Self-help book

5 Stars

Katie was easy to work with. She honored our agreed upon deadlines and made adjustments as needed. Her comments and edits helped me clarify the content of the manuscript and ultimately made it a better book. Katie revised my biographical information and provided three different versions of various lengths. She wrote the book description which went through several review cycles before providing three different version of various lengths. l’ll gladly work with her again and am happy to recommend her services to others.

Pam Northrup Religious Book

4.8 stars( 4 on availability; 5 on skills, quality, communication, deadlines, and cooperation)

Katie did an amazing job editing my book! Her communication was great and she worked with me throughout the whole process. This was my first time writing a book. I couldn’t have asked for a better editor to work with during the process. She is really good! Don’t wait to reach out to her.

Laura Stonitsch Self-help book

5 Stars

I love working with Katie. She is a great editor and critic. She took the time to really improve my book and make it the best it could be. Will definitely use Katie on my future projects!!!

Maitha Self-help book

4.83 Stars (Communication = 4; Skills, Deadlines, Quality, Available, Cooperation =5)

Working with Katie was definitely worth it. She helped me clean up my manuscript and gave great tips to improve the content, which resulted in a book I feel way more confident about. She was also very understanding of my author newbie position and respected my emotions. Thank you for everything.

Winnie Carmo Self-help book

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Rates and Services

My rates include three passes.

Rates depend on the depth of editing needed. After I complete a free sample (1,300 words or less), I will determine your rate.

COPYEDITING ONLY

Rate: $0.015–$0.025 per word

Deals with word- and sentence-level issues. My copyediting service includes stylistic editing, what some call line editing.

Correct mechanical issues: spelling, capitalization, and punctuation
Correct all errors and infelicities in grammar, syntax, and usage
Rewrite any wordy or awkward sentences according to best writing practices
Check that endnotes and footnotes are correct and consistent
Conduct light fact-checking, names, places, dates (Complete fact-checking is the responsibility of the author.)
Create style sheet to ensure consistency

SUBSTANTIVE EDITING ONLY

Rate: $0.02–$0.04 per word
Deals with big-picture issues. Some refer to this as developmental editing.

I offer three approaches to substantive editing: hands-on, coaching, and blended. With hands-on, I make suggested changes directly to the text whereas with coaching, I mostly leave comments. Blended mixes the two.

Suggesting organizational changes: rearranging sentences, paragraphs and/or chapter order; adding additional headings and subheads to aid the reader; and adding in transitions
Suggesting content changes: deleting repetitive material, adding or querying content to fully explain ideas, and ensuring content meets your readers' needs

COPYEDITING & SUBSTANTIVE EDITING PACKAGE

Rate: $0.025–$0.05 per word

This combines copyediting and substantive editing at a discounted rate. I offer this to help meet authors' budget and deadline needs.

Note 1: while I strive for high quality, combining them is a lot to focus on at once. I do multiple passes and have learned how to appropriately prioritize to ensure a good quality. But you will get an even better quality if you pay for each service separately.