Professional Editing

Sending out your work without a careful edit is as unthinkable as sending your daughter to the prom in her nightgown and slippers. But it may be a challenge to find exactly the right editor, especially when you're just starting out. That's why the Story Circle Network created its Editorial Service. Story Circle has vetted each editor and stands behind her work. You can trust her to be reliable, efficient, and thoughtful-exactly the kind of editor every writer wants and needs.

--Susan Wittig Albert, bestselling author and founder of the Story Circle Network--

So, you've worked hard on that article, short story, book of poems, memoir, or novel. You've taken Anne Lamott's advice and sat down every day and written your story, bit by bit, bird by bird. Some days your fingers moved like lightning across the keyboard; on others, you spent more time gazing out the window wondering what it would be like to be on a beach in the Caribbean, far away from a computer screen. You've gone through your work two or three times, polishing this, changing that, totally trashing this other thing that, clearly, someone else must have come in and written because you never would have even thought anything so dumb. Point is, as far as you're concerned, it's done. What's your next step? Do you upload it to Createspace, price it at $4.99 as an e-book and call it a day? Do you send it off to fifteen different publishers and hope for the best?

If you're smart, you do neither one of those things. Instead, you invest some time and money in finding an editor to work with you to help you put the finish on your work that it deserves. One big mistake many of us writers make is that we think that we can do it all: SuperWriter Syndrome. We come up with a brilliant idea and actually follow through (this is the work part) and craft it into a compelling story. Then, while our heads are still big from the rush of success, we decide that we don't need no stinkin' editor and blaze ahead, red pen in hand, and do our own editing. Bad, bad choice. Better to duck into a phone booth, remove our capes, and find a professional to help us out. The trick is, where do you find a good editor? One quick, easy way is to check out Story Circle Network's Editorial Service. Story Circle has already vetted each one of their editors, and stands behind their work.

The SCN Editorial Service offers several different services including copy-editing, conceptual editing, comprehensive editing, proofreading, ghostwriting of personal stories or memoirs, and manuscript evaluation for both writers and publishers. Since the program's inception, its professional editors have helped many writers shepherd their projects to the publication finish line. And the best thing? Story Circle guarantees the work of their editors:

"Editing is an art and a craft and no two editors will suggest exactly the same changes. However, because we've selected experienced, respected, and highly qualified editors, we know you will be satisfied with the results. We stand behind our work."

Photo by Rod Waddington, via Flickr

Khadijah Lacina is the coordinator of SCN's editorial services. As a member of SCN's board of directors, she is head of the publications and membership committees. She is a translator, writer and editor at Taalib al Ilm Educational Resources, as well as a writer, translator, herbalist, fabric artist, and teacher. She homesteads near Alton, MO, with her husband and seven of her eight children and blogs at YemeniJourney.com and WideEarth.us.