◊ You won't be dealing with an editing factory. Your editor will be me.
◊ I'm not just an editor but am also a novelist. I have done many times what you are trying to do. My fourteenth novel, House of Eight Orchids, will be published by Thomas & Mercer in November 2015. We'll work together on your manuscript.
◊ I know novel writing and editing well enough to teach the subjects at the University of Washington extension school.
◊ I work on one manuscript at a time. You'll know when your novel is being edited, and when you'll get it back.
◊ Fiction is my focus. I don't edit Ph.D. theses, product data reports, computer game manuals, grant proposals, or cereal boxes.
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Many bargain editing shops are located overseas. They may be able to correct punctuation and the occasional split infinitive, but they may not know the rhythms of the language. English is my first and (regrettably) only language.
◊ Advice about your novel from writing club members and your friends is well-meaning, but in most cases it is the advice of amateurs. Your project may need a professional eye. Robert Dugoni, author of The Jury Master and The Cyanide Canary, says, "Looking for someone who knows editing as well as writing? Jim Thayer is your man."
◊ The fee is competitive, and is set in advance. You won't pay more than that price.