Why choose Louise

Tips to help you decide if we’re a good fit

Choosing an editor can be tough. Here are some tips to help you work out if I provide the kind of editorial experience you have in mind.

A good editorial fit ...

Specialist crime & thriller editing

I edit only crime fiction, mysteries and thrillers, and know how to ensure that your story ripples with the suspense that your readers expect.

Line editing

I'll edit your novel line by line. My focus is on sentence clarity, pace, rhythm and flow at every point in your narrative and dialogue, and ensuring your scenes transition smoothly and logically.

Learning tools included

In addition to your edited book file, you’ll get an extensive editorial report, a style sheet, a plot-summary spreadsheet, and free fiction-craft ebooks on viewpoint, punctuation, self-editing craft, and showing versus telling.

Human line editing

I use software to carry out consistency checks when copyediting, but a stylistic line edit is done without any assisted technology.

It’s just me, reading each line of your story and ensuring every word works hard for you.

An author’s counsel

When you work with me, you get advice on what you’re doing well and where you can improve. Each edit comes with detailed guidance that helps you move forward with confidence.

Honest guarantees

I never promise perfection because stylistic line editing is a subjective art.

What I do guarantee is that:

I will do my absolute best for you, and always aim for the very highest editorial standards
the changes I make will result in a substantively, and substantially, higher-quality book
I will respect your work, your voice, your characters, your privacy and your confidentiality.

Transparency

The price we agree is the price you pay. There are no hidden extras. That's because you and I work directly together. No one else is taking a slice of the pie.

You can also find out what my editing fees are and when I'm available before you get in touch. That means I'm not wasting your valuable time.

A poor editorial fit ...

Generalist editing

If the editor is a generalist, do they know how to help you create page-turning moments that make your crime novel or thriller unputdownable?

Developmental editing

If you're looking for support with story structure, character arc and development, theme and voice, world-building, and market and audience fit, I recommend you choose a developmental editor.

Limited resources

If you aren’t being offered detailed information about why the editor made the changes they did, and resources to help you hone your fiction craft, you won’t be able to analyse whether you’re happy with the edit or develop your skills.

AI-assisted line editing

If your editor’s using AI to generate stylistic recommendations on how your book should read, an emotionally intelligent brain isn’t doing the work.

Your line editor should know how to suggest a revision that works. That’s what you’ve paid them for.

An author’s judge

If you're hoping for guidance, but end up feeling judged, you’ll lose confidence in the editing and writing process. That’s not how an editor should make you feel. Ever.

False promises

Is the editor promising perfection? Then beware. There’s no such thing when it comes to writing or line editing. Anyone who tells you different is misleading you. Try this:

Ask yourself if you’ve ever seen a perfect painting or listened to a perfect song.

Then ask yourself if you’re one hundred per-cent sure that everyone else would agree with you.

The same applies to writing and editing.

Guesswork

Are you paying additional fees to an agent? If you hire an editor via Reedsy, for example, they'll charge you and your editor a hefty finder's fee.

It's also frustrating to find an editor you like, only to discover that your enquiry was a waste of time because the price or the schedule doesn't work.

What authors say about my editing

The voyage through your edits is an intellectual and craft adventure, getting me in touch with a different
and often better way to say things.
DAN FLANIGAN, AUTHOR OF THE PETER O'KEEFE THRILLERS

I'm just going through the edits now and I'm extraordinarily grateful for the work you've put in on this project. You've seriously improved the writing and enhanced everything about the story. Thank you.
PETER FOLEY, THRILLER WRITER

Louise has the rare ability to refine and polish sentences with a perceptive lightness of touch, revising only where necessary, and somehow, magically, what is left on the page better captures the very essence of exactly what you wanted to say.

Deft and precise in her edit, she enhances what is written so at once it is crisper and more elegant, revealing the writer's voice by making it stronger, clearer and more eloquent. Add that she is a pleasure to work with and clearly loves what she does, and it really does become impossible to find fault with her service.

In short – if you want your writing to be better, then you need to get Louise to edit it. I can't recommend working with her highly enough.
KESS GOLDLAND, THRILLER WRITER