Job List

Seeking a developmental and line edit for a completed narrative nonfiction manuscript, The Value Gap™, written in the spirit of Tuesdays with Morrie. The book follows a first-person, fictional composite narrator (a business owner) through a sales transformation story, built from real coaching work and interviews with actual industry professionals. The manuscript has been through extensive internal revision and is tracked against a detailed internal style/continuity guide.
Looking for an editor who can assess the manuscript holistically — story structure, pacing, and voice consistency — as well as line-level craft. Voice consistency is a priority: the narrator's voice is conversational and first-person ("telling it like it happened"), not literary or polished, and the edit should protect that register rather than smooth it toward a more conventional business-book tone.
Self-publishing via Amazon KDP. No traditional-publishing submission package needed.
Preferred/required experience:

Developmental and/or line editing experience with narrative nonfiction, memoir, or business/entrepreneur nonfiction specifically (not fiction-only background)
Comfort working with a first-person, story-driven narrative voice rather than a traditional how-to/textbook business format
Experience with self-published authors and KDP preferred but not required
Timeline: Open — flexible start, but author is actively interviewing editors now
Rate: [Open to quote — happy to discuss flat project rate or hourly, depending on scope you'd recommend after reviewing a sample chapter]

My book is a Christian Living/Spiritual Growth project heavily infused with memoir, tentatively titled From Self-Made to God-Reliant. It deconstructs the cultural myth of the "self-made" person by proving that human willpower has an expiration date, and that true change requires complete dependence on God.The book opens with a powerful flash-forward: sitting in my driveway at the peak of my $250,000 corporate salary, suffocating under the crushing pressure of being the sole "savior" for a family that used to watch me fail, my twenty-year white-knuckle sobriety shattered. I relapsed. From that dark room, the manuscript flashes back to how I built my "survival armor" in the first place—surviving a negligent mother, teen pregnancy, high school dropout status, domestic violence, severe drug addiction, and homelessness. I want to deeply explore how the hardness required to survive trauma and excel in corporate spaces eventually became a spiritual barrier that kept me from truly surrendering to God. I have already developed a strong 10-chapter skeleton outline and a draft of my opening narrative hook. I need a coach who can partner with me behind the scenes to:Guide me in weaving my intense personal narrative seamlessly with scriptural truth. Help me navigate the emotional weight of writing about past trauma and relapse. Hold me accountable to a steady writing routine so I can produce polished sample chapters suitable for a future traditional book proposal. Ensure my manuscript remains strictly private and un-published so its "first worldwide serial rights" are fully protected for traditional market acquisition.

I've written a story and revised it a couple times. I'm looking for an editorial assessment to understand if it works at a high level—or even at all.

The story can be darkly funny, psychological, and tragic. It’s built around two primary tales. It’s a curious structure. I wonder what you’d be looking for to know if it works?

I’d be interested in anything you’d have to say. How’s the writing? Is it boring? Was the payoff worth it?

Thanks for reading this. Perhaps you’ll read more!

Experience with writing/editing Women’s fiction

Looking for a copyeditor/proofreader with a background in physics communication or STEM editing. The ebook introduces Quantum Theory to non-specialists with video simulations doing the heavy lifting. There are 59 short, full-page simulation videos. The edit should ensure visual-textual synchronization. Because of the nature of the project I'm considering publishing through Apple Books. The book was written in Apple Pages and this would be the natural platform for editing. Please provide a quote and be open to a 1,000-word paid sample edit.

55k word non-fiction manuscript in left political economy. The audience is activists and fellow travelers who would be attracted by the title "Seize the Means of Production: Make What You Use at a Human Scale." Red ink welcome.

Seeking an experienced poetry editor for That Girl, Tricia: Images from the Flipside, a raw, confessional collection of 24 memoir-style poems exploring trauma, resilience, family, identity, and Caribbean-American life. Voice is rhythmic with hip-hop/spoken word influences. Goal: refine for potential publication.
Scope of Work:
• Big-picture feedback on themes, tone, structure, and cohesion.
• Line-by-line suggestions to strengthen language, rhythm, and clarity while preserving authentic voice.
• Help with sequencing, proofreading, titles, and publication readiness.
Project Details:
• 24 poems (full manuscript in Word/Google Doc).
• Timeline: very flexible
• Remote collaboration.
Preferred Experience: Poetry editing, especially confessional, spoken word, or diasporic voices.

Trigger/Content Warning

Potentially Sensitive Content: This memoir contains discussions of military service, high-stress aviation operations, workplace discrimination and racial bias, grief and loss, serious injury and recovery, and other personal and professional challenges. The material is presented in a thoughtful, reflective, and inspirational manner and does not contain graphic violence or explicit content.

Job Description

I am seeking an experienced developmental editor (or an editor who offers a manuscript assessment with developmental feedback) for my completed memoir, Flight Path: The Unyielding Journey of a Black Air Traffic Controller.

The manuscript is approximately 40,757 words (244 pages) and chronicles my more than 30-year career in aviation, beginning as a U.S. Air Force air traffic controller and continuing through civilian air traffic control, airport operations leadership, FAA modernization, and aviation consulting. More than a career memoir, Flight Path explores leadership, resilience, mentorship, identity, professional growth, and the human side of aviation.

At this stage, I am seeking high-level editorial feedback rather than sentence-level editing. Specifically, I would like an editor to evaluate:

Overall narrative structure and organization
Story arc and pacing
Chapter sequencing and transitions
Character development and memoir voice
Balance between personal narrative and technical aviation content
Reader engagement and accessibility for both aviation and general audiences
Areas where the manuscript could be expanded, condensed, or reorganized
Overall commercial and publishing readiness

The ideal editor will have experience editing one or more of the following:

Memoirs or autobiographies
Military or veteran nonfiction
Leadership or business nonfiction
Aviation, transportation, or technical nonfiction
Narrative nonfiction with a strong personal voice

Experience preparing manuscripts for traditional publishing or literary agent submission is highly desirable.

Following the developmental edit, I anticipate engaging the same editor—or another qualified professional—for line editing and copyediting as the manuscript progresses toward publication.

My goal is to produce a compelling, professionally polished memoir suitable for submission to literary agents and traditional publishers, while remaining open to self-publishing if appropriate.

Preferred project timeline: I would like to begin the developmental review within the next 30–60 days, with flexibility based on the editor's availability.

When responding, please include:

A brief description of your experience with memoirs or narrative nonfiction
Samples or testimonials, if available
Your editorial approach to developmental editing or manuscript assessments
Estimated timeline
Fee structure (fixed fee or per-word rate)

I'm the editor in chief at a university press, helping an editor under contract find a good developmental editor who can also do fact-checking. Her manuscript work above the level that the Press's copyeditors can provide--meaning that we don't have the budget to ask one of our editors to do a heavy edit.

I have spent the past few months writing an illustrated nonfiction manuscript that blends memoir, photography, and interior design into a reflection on beauty, belonging, hospitality, and the people who shape our understanding of home.

Although the book contains original photography and interiors, it is ultimately driven by personal essays rather than design projects. My hope is to create something that sits alongside literary lifestyle books rather than a traditional decorating title.

Belonging
There was a season in my life when joy felt very far away.
I was only in eighth grade, but I was carrying things that felt much too heavy for someone my age. Looking back, I can see that I was struggling with anxiety and depression, even though I didn't have those words then.
What I did have was a counselor who faithfully walked beside me.
Week after week, she gave me a place to tell the truth. She listened with compassion, gently pointed me back toward what was true, and helped me believe that what I was experiencing didn't have to define the rest of my life.
Over time, she began encouraging me to do something I didn't expect.
She invited me to begin noticing other people.
To become curious about someone else's story.
To find small ways to serve.
I remember wondering what that could possibly have to do with what I was carrying.
Then she encouraged me to volunteer at the Boys & Girls Home a few afternoons each week.
So I did.
Every Tuesday and Thursday, I showed up after school.
I was supposed to help tutor the children, which is still funny to me because school was never my greatest strength.
But what I could do was sit with them.
I could play basketball.
I could make art.
I could laugh with them.
I could listen.
Over time, the girls began telling me their stories.
Stories of hardship.
Stories of loneliness.
Stories that no child should have to carry.
I found myself caring deeply about each one of them.
Somewhere in those afternoons, something unexpected began to happen.
Without realizing it, my own heart was beginning to heal.
Not because I stopped hurting.
But because I had discovered the quiet gift of entering into someone else's life.
I've often thought about those afternoons.
I don't remember every game we played.
I don't remember every conversation.
What I remember is the feeling of leaving lighter than when I arrived.
It wasn't because my own circumstances had changed.
They hadn't.
It was because empathy has a way of widening our hearts.
When we step into someone else's story, we somehow discover that we don't have to carry our own quite so tightly.
That season changed the direction of my life.
I continued looking for ways to serve in the years that followed.
Not out of obligation.
Because it had become one of the places where I experienced the greatest joy.
The greatest sense of purpose.
The deepest awareness of love.
Looking back, I don't think serving other people removed my pain.
It simply reminded me that pain was never the whole story.
There was still beauty to notice.
Still people to love.
Still hope to offer.
Still joy to be found.
Perhaps that's why belonging has become so deeply woven into everything I create today.
Not because I believe a beautiful home changes a life on its own.
But because I know what can happen when someone walks into a place and feels welcomed, known, and safe enough to simply be themselves.
Healing doesn't always arrive in dramatic moments.
Sometimes it begins with someone making room for another person.
I've been fortunate enough to experience both sides of that invitation.
Someone once made room for me.
And somewhere along the way, I discovered that one of the greatest joys of my life has been making room for someone else.