Choose your path
September 25, 2017
8:26 AM
Working with an editor at a publishing house is the last step an author takes in the life of a manuscript. So sometimes, to be extra sure, an author needs an editor before working with the actual editor.
In that case, he or she might reach out to someone like Joni Albrecht.
A freelance editor, she charges $75 an hour for either a structural edit, concentrating on story arc and character development, or an edit for grammar and clarity. Currently, she is at work on two books, including a medical thriller with Richmond writer Dick Wenzel, a renowned researcher and epidemiologist. “Dick’s plot was wild and transfixing, and now after two edits, so is his dialogue.”
Albrecht wants writers to understand that editing is about “solving problems,” not holding hands. Some of her best work has been in refining narrative structure even before the writing has started. “Creating the rails of the story, so that the plot moves smoothly through the climbs, drops and curves, allows the reader to sit back and enjoy the ride.”
