Sarah Anderson: Freelance Editor, Manuscript Doctor, Writing Coach

Sarah Anderson is a freelance editor and writer, experienced in fiction and nonfiction. Her work has been called outstanding, and she was solely responsible for editing the three most successful romances published by Banbury Books and distributed by Dell. Her recent nonfiction projects include A Loving Guide to These Shifting Times and Biography of A Time Traveler: the Man behind the 2012 Phenomenon. Recent fiction projects include The Apprentice and Sisters of War. Sarah is an acknowledged contributor to The Wisdom of The Enneagram, published by Bantam. She has self-published a relationships handbook, Relationships Made Easy: How to get along with all kinds of people, and has written articles on the psychology of personality.

Clients are particularly impressed by her ability to make their text sparkle while maintaining their voice. She is flexible, personable, and highly proficient. As one client noted,

Sarah is clearly a gifted, disciplined editor. It was obvious that she took great care to preserve my voice, and not to change meaning when structure needed adjusting. Her art is subtle – at first glance, I wondered what she'd done . . . but the changes added power, conviction, and flow to my thoughts. I am so glad I found my way to Sarah!

Specialties:

Copyediting
Line editing
Rewriting
Developmental editing

Genres: women’s fiction, literary fiction, memoir, biographies, religion, new age, spirituality, inspiration, self-help, how-to

Sample titles:

NONFICTION
A Loving Guide to These Shifting Times, Alice Inoue, 2008 (line edit)
Be Happy: It’s Your Choice, Alice Inoue, Fall of 2009 (line edit)
Biography of a Time Traveler: The Man behind the 2012 Phenomenon, Stephanie South, Career/Press, New Page Books, Volume I Spring 2009 (line edit)
Come to the Secret Garden, M.R. Muhaiyaddeen, The Fellowship Press (rewrite from transcripts of spontaneous oral translations)
Conscious Communication: A Language of Connection, Miles Sherts (line edit)
Conversations with Jerry and Other People I Thought Were Dead, I. Kendig, October 2009 (line edit)
Finding the Way Home: A Journey of the Spirit, Locke Rush, PhD, Infinity Press (develop/structure/rewrite)
God's Natural Wisdom Psychology, M.R. Muhaiyaddeen, publication pending (structure and rewrite from transcripts of spontaneous oral translations)
The Golden Words of a Sufi Sheikh, M.R. Muhaiyaddeen, The Fellowship Press (rewrite from transcripts of spontaneous oral translations)
The Handbook of Marriage & Marital Therapy, G.P. Sholevar, MD, Spectrum (proof)
Illuminations: A Road Less Traveled, Christmas Miller (rewrite, content edit)
It's Not Your Fault: The Destiny Program for Curing Post-Divorce Trauma, Raj Paode, Ph.D. (line edit/structure/rewrite)
Managing the Mommy Years, Judy Myers (rewrite, content edit. restructure)
Maps & Metaphors of the Human Heart: 1, 2, 3 – Mystery, Damian Vraniak, PhD (content edit)
The Promise of Rolfing Children, Transformation News Network (write, rewrite)
River of Diamonds: Spiritual Gems for Living, Isobel Aura, (line edit)
RX: Radiant Love, Gil Burgstede, M.D., (content edit)
Show Me Your Way, Howard A. Addison, Skylight Paths (acknowledged contributor)
Sunology: A Guide to Source Connection (using Astrology’s Amazing Sabian Sun Symbols), Sharon Moore, Brightstar Small Press (line edit/rewrite)
The Return: To Holding Hands Again, Edmond C. Hallberg, Ed.D, MFT (line edit)
The True Marriage, L. Rush, PhD, Infinity Press (develop/structure/rewrite/write)
Twelve Steps for Everyone, James McGovern (line edit)
The Unabridged Edgar Allen Poe, Running Press (proof)
Unicornis, Michael Green, Running Press (proof)
The Windsor Style in America, 1730-1830, C. Santore, Running Press (copy edit)
The Wisdom of the Enneagram, Don Riso and Russ Hudson, Bantam (acknowledged contributor)
Womansong: Balance and Harmony in a Feminine Key, Gwen Suesse (line edit)

FICTION
7 Days From Darwin, John Buckland (line edit)
The Apprentice, Jana Barkley (line edit)
A Frozen Grave, Brian Frederiksen (line edit)
Broken Promises, The Hopewell Saga, D. Campbell, Banbury/Dell (line edit/rewrite)
Empire Builder, Westward Rails series, P. Rothweiler, Banbury/Dell (rewrite)
Here I Go! April Beverly, short story, (line edit)
Lumpy: A Baseball Fable, Tug McGraw, Running Press (copy edit)
Margarita & The Master, Marina Osipova, (line edit)
Parallels, Bob Gallawa, short story (line edit)
Perhaps George's Ghost, Debbie Lee, short story (line edit)
The Rogue, Kirsten Kelly (line edit)
Silent Dreams, The Hopewell Saga, D. Campbell, Banbury/Dell (line edit/rewrite)
Sisters of War, Kirsten Kelly (line edit)
Splinters to Love, Lawrence R. Fisher, Pangean Sun (line edit)
Squash Blossoms, Debbie Lee, short story (line edit)
Troubled Empire, Westward Rails series, P. Rothweiler, Banbury/Dell (rewrite)
A Woman of San Francisco, L. Erickson, Banbury/Dell (line edit)
Without Wings, Derek E. Ladd, (line edit)

Feedback

"I’ve reviewed your edits and comments. You were so right on with your suggestions. I’m lucky to have found you to edit my book! Thanks again for all your help." —Karen deGrenier, The Spiritual Novice

This is amazing. I read the clean copy first and thought, "Hey, there's no changes here," and then I read the copy with the track changes and WOW! I felt myself in your clean copy, and that is really what I wanted. Another editor did a sample and made it sound like my personality was gone. I felt it was cold and sterile and not "me." —Alice Inoue, A Loving Guide to These Shifting Times

This is an eye-opening experience for me. I self-published my first two books without an editor and they're full of errors and rough spots. Thanks for being so great to work with. I have to say, I'm very impressed. The little notes are a terrific help. And the fact that you tell me what you like, as well as what you don't is more than I expected. —Derek E. Ladd, Without Wings

Sarah is an insightful and intuitive editor. She masterfully tackled the unusual subject matter of my novel—falconry—and was an invaluable resource when it came to keeping the rich yet archaic language of the sport understandable in my manuscript. The chapter breaks she inserted work well. I was very happy to read the clean copy and feel like it was still my voice I was reading. I will not hesitate to use her services again in the future. —Jana Barkley, The Apprentice.

Thank you for the excellent job. Your creative talent in structuring and editing contributed strongly to the final form of this book, and your edits made a vast improvement in the manuscript. I was touched by your sincerity, dedication, and attention to detail. —Raj Paode, Ph.D., It’s Not Your Fault: The Destiny Program for Curing Post-Divorce Trauma

I am glad I could entrust my manuscript into your caring hands. The result is amazing, especially since you had to work with such unfamiliar material. I greatly appreciate your kind remarks and encouraging comments. Thank you for helping to improve my query letter and synopsis, which I couldn’t have done without your contribution. I look forward to working with you again .—Marina Osipova, Margarita and the Master

Thank you for editing the appendix (concerning how boys are and are not maturing into men) for my book. I found your suggested changes very helpful in making the text much more clean and clear. —Damian Vraniak, Ph.D., Maps & Metaphors of the Human Heart: 1, 2, 3 - Mystery.

I am SO PLEASED with what you have done with the edits. I barely changed or was concerned about anything. — Christmas Miller, Illuminations: A Road Less Traveled: A modern-day Seer's journal of the human experience

Sarah was amazing! She did a fabulous job! My manuscript was immeasurably improved because of her work! I'm so grateful that I found her through your network. — Judy Myers, Managing the Mommy Years

Sarah was a pleasure to work with. She provided me with some very useful edits/comments on my manuscript. — Apryl Beverly

It has been a great experience for me. Working with you has been easy and I've learned a lot. You have really accommodated me, especially the present tense issue. Your comments are always germane and have enthused me to be a better writer and to get this novel very polished and have convinced me I can get published. I especially liked that you attempted to fill in needed gaps. It made it easy for me to perceive what was needed and to fix it. —(Contact information on request)

It was a great pleasure to work with Sarah. I brought Sarah a labor of love and she reciprocated. Writing a biography is a very sensitive process and finding the right editor is crucial. Sarah displayed a rare combination of sensitivity to the subject matter with confidence and thorough professionalism. It is clear that she really cares about her work. I would recommend her services to anyone and I would love to work with her again! —Stephanie South

I have signed with an agent! I am so excited. Thank you again for all the work you've done. You did a darn good job and I know I wouldn't have gotten as far as I did without your assistance. Thank you so, so much! (I can't say it enough.) —Monica Bouvier, In Search of Mr. Wonderful

I loved your copy edit and the clarity you gave to the two interweaving dialogues. You did a wonderful job. Thank you so much. —Joyce Johnson, Sir Goodnight Ethan

Sarah was an outstanding editor who performed her duties in a very professional yet personal way. She polished my work but kept my voice. She reorganized the content and made it flow in a much smoother way. She was extremely helpful and I am thrilled to have found her. —Judy Myers, Prana Creations

In writing a book about the search for truth and meaning in our lives, it is valuable, if not essential, to have as editor someone who is personally involved in that search. Sarah is a person who has been on that search for most of her life. Much of the richness of this book is due to Sarah's work. Certainly, the experiences and the knowledge gained are mine, but the manner in which these adventures of body and mind are presented is Sarah’s gift. Her own life has afforded her the experience and wisdom to sort carefully through the basket of stones I presented, find the gems, and clean and polish them befitting their value. My deepest thanks goes to her for her kind and wise editing and her unflagging support for this project. —Locke Rush, Ph.D., Finding the Way Home

"I am very satisfied with both the editing and the substantive comments. I feel that my story has been seriously improved by this process." F. Hampton Carmine

"My manuscript grew from a pretty good book into a great book under Sarah’s guidance. Her knowledge and sensitivity to my subject matter made the changes profound and painless. I would highly recommend her expertise to any writer seeking to make their book better." Fredd Lenn, The Three Hearts of Consciousness: A Guide to Practical Spirituality

Submission

Cut and paste the questions and answers into an e-mail:

EditMyBook@Gmail.com

Alternates
2010@Book-Editing.com
Help2010@Airmail.net
Contact@Editing-Writing.com

You may send your initial submission to all addresses to make sure it's received.

Required:
Submit the first 50 pages of your manuscript (Word/DOC or RTF attachment preferred). Large files should be zipped. Attachment not required if writing has not started (e.g., because you're looking for a ghostwriter).

A sample is required to receive an estimate
for editing services

Along with a sample, the following information is required. Ignore questions that do not apply to your project (e.g., footnotes).

(01) Word count of complete project (under "Tools" in MS Word):

(02) Put your 100-word (approx) synopsis/description here (or attach):

(03) Describe your genre and topic (e.g., nonfiction/self-help, science fiction, horror, romance, mystery, Western, young adult, children, poetry, Christian, creative nonfiction, literary):

(04) Deadline date, if any, for return of complete project. (Please be realistic. Remember that professional editors usually have a project in process.):

(05) If you have no immediate deadline, when do you want to start the editing process?: (For instance: within 30 days, within 60 days, within 90 days, 4-12 months)

(06) Level of editing desired/expected --

Copyediting / Proofreading / Line Editing (e.g., English corrections, typos, paragraph and sentence structure, word use)
Developmental (e.g., help with the big picture, such as flow/pacing, telling the story, characterization, structure, style)
Rewriting / Ghostwriting
Critique / Evaluation

(07) Number of charts/tables/pictures (if any):

(08) Writing style/format manual (e.g., Chicago Manual, APA, MLA), if applicable:

(09) Number of footnotes/references:

(10) Do you have a contract with an agent or publisher?:

(11) Do you plan to self-publish?:

(12) What is your budget for the entire project?
$ ________________
(Note: The editors will quote their regular rates, but having an idea of your budget allows the editors to tell you what services they can provide to stay within that budget.)

(13) Your name:

(14) E-mail addresses:

(15) Day/evening phone numbers (required -- in case the response to your e-mail bounces or the editors need clarification regarding the scope of service needed, deadline, etc.):

(16) City, State, Country (or time zone):

(17) The name(s) of the editor(s)/writer(s) you'd like to contact.
(If no names are selected, your e-mail will be sent to several consultants chosen by the coordinator):

(18) Do you want the coordinator to reroute your submission if you requested editors/writers who (a) are not available by your deadline date, (b) do not handle the type of material you submitted, and/or (c) do not perform the service(s) you want?

(19) How did you learn about our service?:

(20) Attach the first 50 pages of your manuscript (include prologue/preface, proposal, query)

Notes:

No hidden charges
We won't quote you one price and charge you another. When possible, we'll provide you with a per-word or per-page rate so you'll know up front exactly how much your project will cost. (Of course, we ask that you fairly represent the scope of your project.)

To learn more about the rates charged by professional editors, please see: Editorial Freelancers Association

It is a mistaken notion that freelance editors work "on spec" (speculation) with no payment to the editor. It is basically asking the editor to work for free. There's no guarantee that a book will see a profit (or even be published). The editors posted here do not work on spec.

LIVE AGENT

Note: Price quotes and time estimates for individual editors cannot be given over the phone or via chat. This is a network of freelance editors with varying prices and work schedules (see our FAQ). To obtain a price quote please follow the procedures listed on our quotes page. Contact live support if you do not receive a response within three hours. It is possible that your submission was not received. You may also page the network coordinator by leaving voicemail or sending a fax to 469-789-3030.

Please be as complete as possible in representing your project's scope and size so you will receive the most accurate estimate.

Disclaimer: Your agreement, whether oral or written, is with your freelance editor / proofreader / writer, not with the freelance network as a whole or its coordinator.