Q. What payment methods do you accept?
I accept PayPal
Q. What is your return/refund policy?
No returns or refunds on any services Mystical Night Media, L.L.C. offers.
Q. What are your rates?
You must pay a minimum of $25.00 upfront, and it is nonrefundable. The rest of the payment is kind of like The Honor System, pay what you can.
Q. Who edits my manuscript?
I, T.L. Hicks, edit your manuscript.
Q. What training have you received for your editing services?
I have an A.A. in Communications.
B.A. in English and Creative Writing, focusing on fiction and screenwriting.
M.A. in English and Creative Writing, focusing on fiction writing.
M.F.A. in Creative Writing and Professional Writing.
I edit, write, and train new writers at Coffee House Writers.
Q. What are your working hours?
Whenever I am awake and not being bugged by hubby and the three cats. I take the weekends off.
Q. Do you accept PDF documents for editing?
No, Microsoft Word only.
Q. How do you send the documents back?
I will send the manuscript or chapter to you via email.
Q. Do you edit the complete manuscript at once?
If you have a short story, yes, I will edit it as a whole.
If you have a complete novel, yes, I will edit it as a whole.
If you have a collection of short stories, I will edit a story at a time.
Q. Is my submission confidential?
Yes, your submission is between you and me only.
Q. How long does it take to receive a response?
It depends on when you sent the message. Give me 24-72 hours to respond to you.
Q. When will I get my manuscript back?
- Short story—24-48 hours.
- Novels—24-48 hours per chapter.
- Novels—2 to 4 weeks. I read the novel first before editing.
Q. Is the word count the number of total words or just the words edited?
The word count is the total words in the manuscript.
Q. Will you work on my book for a percentage of profits?
No. The term for that is “on spec” (speculation). It is asking the editor to work for free. There’s no guarantee that a book will see a profit (or even be published).
Q. What genres do you edit?
I edit,
Online content similar to Coffee House Writers.
YA fiction — All genres
NA fiction — All genres
Adult fiction — All genres
Q. What is a Developmental Edit?
Developmental Editing is a thorough and in-depth review of your entire manuscript. The goal of a developmental edit is to point out issues so that you can address them. You have the final say, and if you disagree with the suggestions, I will help determine alternative solutions.
Developmental Editing is the most expensive of the four processes and is the first stage of the editing process.
Developmental Editing pays attention to:
| Clarity | Ambiguity | Tense |
| Structure | POV | Plot Holes |
| Character Motivation | Continuity | Character Development |
| Story Arcs | Use of Dialogue | Presentation |
| Style | Sub-plots | …and more. |
Q. What is Line Editing?
After Developmental Editing, you have Line Editing. I try to improve your writing style while maintaining your personal voice. Some of it is similar to that of Developmental Editing and Copy Editing.
Line editing is the second most extensive of the four editing processes. It is also the second stage.
Here are all the things I will be looking at:
| Writing flow | Readability | Redundancy |
| Repetition | Clarity | Word choice and syntax |
| Tone and style | Wordiness | Phrasing |
| Review character development | Voice maintenance | Plot and pacing |
| Consistent Tense | POV | Content |
| Presentation | Ambiguity | …and more. |
Q. What is Copy Editing?
Copy Editing digs into each sentence on its own to make sure there are no errors. It’s a word-by-word mechanical edit. I make sure your manuscript isn’t riddled with bad grammar, spelling mistakes, or glaring inconsistencies.
This is the third process and is the third expensive of the four editing processes.
Here’s the list of what I’ll be looking for:
| Word choice and syntax | Spelling and punctuation | Intensive grammar audit |
| Consistency | Grammar | Spelling |
| Hyphenation | Punctuation | Capitalization |
| Syntax | Phrasing | …and more. |
Q. What is Proofreading?
Proofreading is the last stage of the editing process and should be less expensive. I proofread manuscripts that have been edited. If I encounter multiple errors, it’s a good indication that a more in-depth Copy Edit or Line Edit is appropriate. See my prices for those kinds of edits.
A proofreader will double-check everything.
In this final editing process, I won’t pay attention to sentence structure, readability, or flow.
Here’s the list of what we’ll be looking for:
| Character-by-character final review | Grammatical errors | Spelling mistakes |
| Consistency | Capitalization | Number Formatting |
| Hyphenation | Page Breaks | Headers/Footers |
| Page Numbering | …and more. |
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