Editing for Nonfiction Authors

General Information

Katie Chambers sitting n a sofa with a purple book, she's wearing glasses and reading.

You’ve worked hard to bring your message to life, carving out time to write. What an incredible accomplishment? So what’s next?

➜ Need to do more self-editing, check out my resource center.
➜ Need some guided self-editing, look into my manuscript checkup service.
➜ If you’ve taken it as far as you can, it’s time to hire a professional editor.

We know these steps can feel nerve-wracking and even trigger imposter syndrome. But you can do this, and we can help. We’ll be honest yet encouraging, a beacon guiding you through the editing journey.

And since words have the ability to transform lives, you too are a beacon, sharing your message with the world. We make your beacon shine by strengthening your content and flow (substantive editing) and polishing your prose while reducing errors (copyediting).

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

Genres We Edit

  • Business
  • Self-Help/How-To Books*
  • Religious Guide Books**
  • Memoirs***  (only accepting ones written in a mostly narrative style, not expository style)
  • General Informational Books (excluding highly scientific texts)

*Some self-help, how-to, and business books are edited by me. Some are edited solely by team members who also specialize in these genres.

**Religious guide books are edited either by me or Caitlan.

***All memoirs are edited by Sarah or Marsha, who specialize in helping nonwriters tell their story in an engaging way.

Resources For You

Visit the writer’s resources center for articles, webinars, and ebooklets focused on helping you.

The resource center contains 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

Agency—Editor Team

As of June 2024, Beacon Point is now an agency. What that means is I have hired a team of editors to help me take on more work.

Some projects I will edit myself, some I will do most of the editing while a team member does one pass, and some will be edited solely by another team number.

All my editors have been thoroughly vetted to ensure they match my style. No two editors will edit anything the same way, but these editors all edit following Beacon Point’s style and quality.

Featured Testimonial

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.

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

Rates and Services

The single service and combined package rates include two and a half passes. If you opt for each service separately, then it will be three and a half passes. Learn more about the process and our editing style


Rates depend on the depth of editing needed. Submit a “Request a Quote” form to get your exact rate. 

Substantive Editing

Rate: $0.035–$0.055 per word

Deals with big-picture issues. Some refer to this as developmental editing.

  • Improve the organizational structure

    • rearranging sentences, paragraphs, and/or chapter order
    • adding additional headings and subheads to aid the reader
    • ensuring titles and subheadings match the content of the text
    • adding transitions between sentences and paragraphs
  • Improve the content

    • deleting repetitive or tangential material
    • adding or querying content to ensure fully explained ideas
    • ensuring all claims are supported
    • ensuring content meets your readers’ needs
  • Ensure it meets genre conventions and has a unique selling point

  • Ensure it uses a good mix of personal and other professional authority

Copyediting

Rate: $0.027–$0.04 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

  • Elevate word choice and sentence structure, according to best writing practices

    • rewriting awkward-sounding sentences, querying sentences with an unclear meaning, varying sentence structure, suggesting more powerful word choice, etc.
  • 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

  • Mark up the structure of the document (such as heading levels, boxed items, lists, figures, and images) using Word styles

Substantive and Copyediting Combined

Rate: $0.04–$0.07 per word

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

Note 1: While we strive for high quality, combining them is a lot to focus on at once. We 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.

Note 2: This does not include formatting, proofreading, or designing the cover. I will suggest colleagues to contact for those services.

Manuscript Checkup

Rate: $500

A bridge service for authors who want professional feedback to help guide their self-editing and save time and money before getting full editing or submitting to an agent.

  • Professional edits on the first 10k words

  • 45-minute one-on-one coaching call teaching you how to edit for the top two specific craft techniques your manuscript needs

  • Feedback for one self-revised chapter after the coaching call so you know you’re applying the craft techniques well

After this service, you’ll have sharper writing and a roadmap for finsihing your self-edits, making the full editing process smother and cheaper.  Plus, you’ll grow as a writer. After all, good writing is rewriting!

Proofreading

Rate: $0.02 per word

Proofreading is only available for manuscripts that have been professionally edited by Beacon Point, as this doesn’t replace editing. If you opt to use our proofreading service, your manuscript will be proofread by a member of the proofreading team. You can opt for a specific person if you want.

Meet my proofreading team.

  • Correct errors with grammar, spelling, punctuation, and usage

  • Correct any formatting errors

  • Comment on, but not correct, any phrasing that stands out in a bad way

Note on Order:

Traditionally, proofreading comes after interior book design/formatting so the proofreader can also check for design errors.

This order is more expensive, as you then have to pay the formatter or proofreader to implement the changes into the formatted manuscript.

So to meet your needs, Beacon Point offers proofreading either before or after formatting.

Katie Chambers sitting on a sofa, holding a file and a pen, looking at the camera

Ready to discuss a potential partnership?

Just click the button below, and let’s start writing your future.

Testimonials

Katie has been a remarkable resource during my initial foray into writing. She has been patient, insightful, and skilled at developing the correct words and messages for my book chapters. She has always been responsive, and she provided me with a deep appreciation for the editing process. She has inspired me to continue writing, and I will not hesitate to engage her in my future editing needs. I can recommend her highly and without reservation.

Peter Diamond MD, General nonfiction book

Amazing! We get so lost in our projects, sometimes its hard to see where inconsistencies exist. Katie took my book and suggested changes where things needed to be moved, expanded on, or eliminated. She took my project and could see my vision – truly amazing outcome of my book in her hands!

Alyn Mitilyng, How-to book

Katie is amazing to work with! She is friendly, professional, and very competent. She makes excellent suggestions, and is willing to discuss them. She also isn’t offended if you choose to go in a different word-wise direction. Having worked with two other editors, I can attest to the fact that traits such as professionalism, competency, and timeliness are not universal qualities of service. I’m so grateful to have found Katie, and will continue to work with and recommend her.

Ally Dalsimer, Self-help book

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, How-to book

If one could give higher than a 5-star rating, then I would for Beacon Point. Beacon Point was excellent to work with throughout the entire editing process. All their edits, revisions, and suggestions made so much sense, especially with me being a first-time writer. They were always timely and delivered well ahead of the deadlines. I would highly recommend them for any editing and writing project.

Zach Riblle, Religious Guide Book

I was very nervous about sharing my first attempt at professional writing with anyone, let alone an editor. Like most authors, I had self-edited and utilized an editing-application to help minimize errors. I wasn’t sure what to expect from Beacon Point, but I envisioned shamefully receiving my edited draft back from her, covered with red-pen “corrections,” just like in middle school. When my first edited draft was returned, however, I was amazed. Beacon Point caught errors that the editing application hadn’t, offered suggestions for re-wording sentences (I tend to write in the passive voice) to enhance the clarity of the message, and suggested moving chapters, and relocating paragraphs, (or to delete them entirely because of redundancy.) They took what I wrote and simply made it better, without detracting from my personal voice or writing style.

We had a slight misunderstanding in the beginning, regarding the number of rounds of edits. Once it was discovered we laughed it off, and got on a solid track, communicating easily and frequently.

I found Beacon Point’s directness to be refreshing. They don’t waste time coddling your ego or telling you what you’d like to hear. They tell it “like it is,” yet they do this in a respectful, affirming, and kind manner. They understand that writing a book is hard work. They meet the writer right where they are, then gently challenge them while concurrently strengthening their writing skills. I highly recommend Beacon Point.

Diane Metcalf, How-to book

I decided to self-publish a book after co-authoring two editions of a popular medical textbook through a large publishing company. I was looking for an editor and heard about Katie through a fellow author. I interviewed several but Katie stood out with her professionalism, responsiveness, and clear communication. I made the leap and hired her for substantive editing and copyediting. I’m a perfectionist and who went through several rounds of my manuscript before sending it off to Katie. You know you have a fantastic editor when they can take your best work and make it exponentially better. That’s exactly what Katie did as she sculpted my manuscript and refined it into a masterpiece.

Of course, I might be biased, so here’s a message from my proofreader shortly after getting started on the manuscript:
“Just wanted to let you know that I’ve started proofreading your manuscript, and I think it will be a fairly quick project for me. It’s very well-written, and I’m finding hardly any errors, so that makes my job a lot easier.”

I highly recommend Katie and I’ll be asking her to be my editor for my next book.

Jonathan Su, Self-help book

When I was referred to Katie I was confident that she would do a great job, simply because of the person who referred me. What I didn’t realize is how helpful, professional and knowledgeable she would be. She ensured that my book would leave my readers feeling confident by having me elaborate on important points. She also provided me with helpful resources that went past the scope of her job. I also appreciated how she helped me stay true to myself while remaining entertaining, honest and professional. I sometimes jump from one point to another but she made sure things aligned.I could go on and on about Katie but you really need to just check her out for yourself!

Kay Lynn, Self-help book

Katie was amazing to work with. She did an excellent job with my non-fiction book on sales, providing copyediting as well as some developmental editing. The recommendations she made (such as moving certain paragraphs, or adding a few points, or adding sub-sections to chapters) were all spot-on and helped to improve my book tremendously. Her suggestions also showed me that she was truly “getting” my book and paying close attention to the message and how to best deliver it. As a first-time author, it meant so much to me to have her careful attention and expertise. I highly recommend her services, and can’t wait to recommend her to the next person I know who is looking for an editor.

Robin Treasure, Business book

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 guide book

I have worked in newspapers and as a writer in various capacities, I can say Katie is exceptional on every level. Easily a 5 in every category. I look forward to working with Katie again with my solo spiritual devotional books. She made the process less intimidating and put my mind at ease with her punctuality, professionalism, positive demeanor and poise.

Syd Rushing, Religious guide book

Katie is amazing. I’ve worked with other editors, and she is the clear front runner! Her timeliness in communication responses as well as her intuition made the process easier for me as a first time author. Katie is very talented at organizing your thoughts into your first masterpiece!

Steve Line, Business book

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

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

Brett Preiss, Memoir

When I first read about Katie, I felt an instant connection with her. Somehow I just knew I was suppose to contact her, and right away she made me to feel important, safe and at peace. (I was very anxious about turning my book/manuscript over to a stranger.) There are no adequate words to express how very pleased I am with what she has done with my revised book. Her organizational skills are phenomenal. She was able to take my very detailed, sometimes confusing personal story, and make it much easier to follow. She encouraged me, embraced my story, and validated me as a writer. Above all she was patient with this 78 year-old-woman who has limited computer skills, which caused me to be overly stressed at times, and is somewhat forgetful. I would highly recommend this kind, thoughtful, talented woman I call My Editor. I thank God continually for putting her in my path. Thank you, Katie; God willing, there will be more books coming your way from me.

Nola Trewin, Memoir

I am very satisfied with Katie’s work editing my book. She was very helpful with rewording sentence structure, grammar, and typos. She offered suggestions in moving paragraphs around so the reader would have a clearer time with the book. By the end of working with her I felt I had a friend that was really for me and my endeavors than just someone I hired to edit my book. I would certainly use her again for my next book.

Katherine, Self-help book

From the very beginning, Katie provided clear and concise guidance on the editing process, which made it easy for me to understand what was expected of me as a first-time author. Her defined procedures were instrumental in helping me stay organized and on track, and I appreciated the structure that she brought to the project.

Katie’s communication skills are excellent. She was always available to answer my questions and she respected the deadlines established at the beginning of the process. Her responsiveness was timely, and it made the entire editing process smooth and less stressful than expected.
Thanks to Katie’s editing expertise, I was able to move from a state of uncertainty about my manuscript to feeling confident that I had written a book that was worthy of publishing. Her keen eye for detail and her ability to see the big picture were invaluable, and I cannot thank her enough for her hard work and dedication.

In summary, Katie has it all together as an editor, and she is generous in sharing her talents with others. She is a consummate professional who handles her work with grace and skill. I would recommend her to anyone who needs a knowledgeable and supportive editor for their next project.

Dea Marx, How-to book

Katie easily absorbed My book’s main ides and then added ideas that I didn’t think about. That says a lot about how she works.

She didn’t just give me grammar and spelling advice. She did much more by suggesting paragraph movements and sentence structure as well as suggesting erudite ideas to enhance and add clarity to the book.

This was more of a consulting relationship than pure editing.
I will use her again!

Kevin Smith, How-to book

I had the pleasure of working with Katie during the editing process for my new book, “Surviving Creative Evolution: Future-Proof Your Creative Career, Overcome Automation Anxiety, and Thrive in the Era of Artificial Intelligence.” I cannot recommend her skills highly enough to other authors looking for an exceptional editor for your nonfiction manuscript.

Katie has a remarkable ability to instantly grasp the essence of what I aimed to communicate in my writing. She provided thoughtful feedback and guidance that enabled me to organize and refine my manuscript tremendously. I was blown away by the depth of her insights on strengthening the narrative flow while organizing and highlighting my key themes.

On top of her editorial prowess, she was an absolute joy to collaborate with. Katie responded to all my questions promptly and worked diligently to meet every deadline for publication. She made the editing experience smooth and relatively painless!

I cannot recommend Katie highly enough for any author seeking to take their manuscript to the next level before publishing. Her skill, dedication, and responsive communication will help your book realize its maximum potential. I am so grateful for[her efforts and give her my highest endorsement.

Shannon Hayner, Business book

I appreciated how Katie provided very thorough and detailed information every step of the way. I cannot commend enough how comforting it was to always have prompt communication and replies to my questions. The edits themselves were very insightful. They helped me better organize, transition, and articulate my thoughts and improved my writing skills for the future.
The only thing I could say (and this is really not a negative critique because I had full power to make the final decision) is some of the edits did not feel like a fit to my voice.

Stephanie Hodges, Religious guide book

Portfolio

Total to date: 220 nonfiction books, 73 self-help, 48 how-to books, 33 business books, 4 general informational books, 30 religious guide books, 28 memoirs, and 2 creative nonfiction.

The Strategic Customer Success Manager2025-08-06T10:08:23+00:00
Rebel’s Guide to Getting $hit Done2025-04-16T16:00:49+00:00
Conversations That Sell for Financial Advisors2025-03-19T17:59:34+00:00
It’s Okay Not to Be Fabulous Every Day2024-11-20T15:08:18+00:00

Not Yet Published

Self-help books

  • Hit the Reset Button

  • Happiness Hijackers: How to Navigate the 8 Most Common Happiness Hijackers in Midlife and Beyond

  • When Strangers Come Together

  • Authentically You

  • No Money, No Worries

  • Awake in Wellness

  • Spiritual Caffeine for the Soul

  • Beyond Trauma Drama

  • Soul Set Free

  • Voices of Empathy: A Guide on What to Say for Those in Grief

  • Confident Performer

How-to books

  • Public Speaking Secrets

  • Navigating Separation

  • Nurturing a Reading Ready Brain

  • Finding the Write Fit

  • Poetry Critique for Prose Writers

  • Giving and Receiving

  • Mechanics, Narrative, and Description

  • Theme, Plot, Structure

  • Deal Deck Demystified

  • One Room at a Time

  • Characters and Dialogue

Memoirs

  • No Business Like Show Business

  • From Blue Collar to Blue Skies

Religious guide books

  • Seeing the Good in It

  • My Mess! His Grace!

  • By My Side

  • Time for You to Choose Me

General informational books

  • On the Side of Angels

Business books

  • The Art of Selling: We Make Order Makers, Not Order Takers

  • Creating the Non-Linear Career of Your Dreams

  • Restaurant Key Performance Indicators