General Information

Name: 4.83 Stars (Communication = 4; Skills, Deadlines, Quality, Available, Cooperation =5)
Item: Self-help book
Rating: 5
Author: Winnie Carmo

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

Featured Review from Nicholas Boothman, a New York Times Bestselling Author:

5 stars! A great book is two hands clapping. One is the writer; the other the editor. I have worked with a lot of top editors over the years and while they all have talent the majority live in a world of their own timing – they are not reliable. So while there may well be two hands clapping they don’t clap at the same time which leads the writer into realms of frustration. Waiting, wondering and worrying. Not so with Katie Chambers. She is an excellent substantive editor and is prompt and reliable. A pleasure and a relief to work with. That being said the bottom line with any review is would you work with this person again? And the answer is a definite yes. And I will recommend her to my fellow authors and speakers. Thanks Katie.

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

5 Stars

Katie, there is nothing I could tell you to improve on. You were SO easy to work with I can’t imagine working with anyone else on my future projects. Your comments and editing were absolutely on point. You were even able add content when needed with my style of writing. All in all, 5 stars!

Cody Smith Self-help 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

Working with Katie was a fantastic experience for me, as I was writing my first book and had a non-literary background. Katie really improved my writing where it was a bit wordy and gave several useful suggestions of placement of material. Furthermore, her questions about the text brought up places where it could be improved. This made her a really great content and copy editor. On deadlines and communication, I felt all of it was smooth and reliable. I recommend Katie very highly and would not hesitate to use her services again!

Sonia Weyers Self-help Book

5 Stars

This was our first time writing a book and we really had no idea what to expect. Katie was very patient helping us through this process. She has great skill, objective edits, and we highly recommend her. Our book is infinitely better after retaining her services and we will definitely be in touch for any future projects.
Thank you for everything Katie.

Colin Leis & Erika Holenski Self-help book

5 Stars

Katie is a fantastic editor! She was easy to communicate with and always met the deadlines set in the contract. As a first time author, I was so nervous to hand my work over for someone else to critique, but Katie was kind in her critiques, but also honest. Her edits definitely unleveled my book and her comments and notes helped me to become a better writer. I highly recommend her and will be using her for my editing needs in the future.

Chaundell Monn 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

5 Stars

A great book is two hands clapping. One is the writer; the other the editor. I have worked with a lot of top editors over the years and while they all have talent, the majority live in a world of their own timing – they are not reliable. So while there may well be two hands clapping they don’t clap at the same time which leads the writer into realms of frustration. Waiting, wondering and worrying.
Not so with Katie Chambers. She is an excellent substantive editor and is prompt and reliable. A pleasure and a relief to work with.
That being said the bottom line with any review is would you work with this person again? And the answer is a definite yes. And I will recommend her to my fellow authors and speakers. Thanks Katie.

Nicholas Boothman, New York Times Best-Selling Author Self-help book

5 Stars

I was so fortunate to have Katie Chambers edit my memoir. She helped polish my story from editing the conventions of writing to addressing the content, style, and structure. I was impressed by how Katie gave brilliant suggested options to improve and strengthen the manuscript. She is very professional and gets the job done. As an editor, Katie is a true gatekeeper between the author and the reader.

Brett Preiss Memoir

5 Stars

I could not be happier with the ease, professionalism, communication, and quality of feedback. We will without a doubt reach out to Katie again for future projects!

Jake Gunnoe Self-help book

5 Stars

Katie did an excellent job with my book. Several times I was in a rush to accomplish a task and was having difficulty with an aspect of my book and Katie graciously walked me through it. Overall, she was a pleasure to interact with and I’m very satisfied with my results and my decision to go with her services.

Karen Iverson Memoir

5 Stars

Katie was a thorough and EASY editor to work with! Her edits made a huge difference for my book (which is now ranking #1 in Modern Philosophy and College Student Life!) and she was able to work under my tight deadline. I especially love her method of editing where she sends the book in chunks. It’s EXTREMELY effective and really speeds up the process and makes it feel more collaborative. Thanks, Katie!

Danielle Diamond Self-help book

5 Stars

Katie was great to work with for this project. She is knowledgeable and gave great feedback. We communicated clearly and easily with one another. I would definitely work with Katie again.

Jaime Grodberg Self-help book

5 Stars

Katie is a genius. She brought my book to life. She was wonderful about helping keep my thoughts organized and improved the flow of the content. Her comments were both thoughtful and insightful. She had an amazing sense of what I wanted my message in the book to be and helped me bring it to life. I couldn’t recommend her more highly. She was a pleasure to work with and always followed through on schedule.

Pam Theriot Self-help book

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

Working with Katie was a totally positive experience. She met all deadlines and was readily available anytime I had a question. Her editing helped polish my writing, making passages more clear and concise when necessary. Most importantly, her editing helped make my book flow more consistently and be more fun to read. I definitely recommend Beacon Point! E. Oetinger author of Signs of Hope—Recognizing Messages From the Afterlife

Ellen Oetinger Religious Book

4.85 (Skills, Quality, Cooperation, Communication, Deadline=5; availability=4)

Katie is top-notch! She has an eye for detail, but also has the ability to zoom out and see edits on a big picture / content level. Efficient, professional, and full of insight! I’ll definitely be collaborating with Katie in the future.

Omer Redden Self-help book

5 Stars

Katie did a brilliant job of taking a rookie writer through the editing process. I’ll be collaborating with her on any books, etc that I write. She is a valuable partner in the process.

Bill Gilliland Self-help book

4.6 Stars (4 on Deadlines and Availability; 5 on Skills, Quality, Communication, and Cooperation)

Katie was direct and to the point from the get-go. I wrote a book on meditation and my aim was to keep my content simple and digestible without going into too many esoteric directions, and Katie hit the nail on the head with her suggestions. When I got my first pass back I was amazed at what I saw, my words sounded professional and like a book that I would read. She was also not afraid to offer her insight into the subject which helped me move the reader along, and she did extremely well navigating through my Sanskrit references. She also happily edited in British English which was useful. I would recommend Katie in a heartbeat and look forward to working with her on my next project!

Talwinder Sidhu Self-help book

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Rates and Services

My rates include two-and-a-half passes. If you opt for each service separately, then it will be three-and-a-half passes.

Rates depend on the depth of editing needed. After I complete a free sample (1,000 words or less), I will determine your rate.

COPYEDITING

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

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 COMBINED

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.