Editor
Developmental & continuity editor · Middle grade & YA. I catch the plot holes, the repeated beats and the character slips that readers notice and authors stop seeing, so your book holds together from page one to the last line.
About
I edit middle-grade and YA fiction, and I focus on developmental and continuity work: making sure the story holds together. On The Mirror, a six-book middle-grade adventure series from Phoenix House Books, I tracked rules, timelines and character details across books, flagged contradictions before they reached print, and suggested fixes that kept the page count and the author's voice intact.
I read like a fan and edit like a skeptic. If your world has rules, I'll hold the book to them.
Before & after
Three real catches from The Mirror: Basic Training (Book One, October 2026).
Caught: The series has one rule for the costume change: it happens halfway through the step into a world. The final scene had a boy already in costume while still standing in the hallway, before he'd gone through the door.
Why it mattered: Readers learn the rule early. Seeing it break on the last page is exactly what a sharp middle-grade reader catches.
Caught: A character said the first door "took me two tries to beat it. Failed it twice before I finally got the timing right on the third attempt." Two tries and a third attempt, ten words apart.
Why it mattered: In this series, three failures and the door keeps you. A reader tracking strikes can't have a character contradict himself in one breath.
Caught: The narrator said the main character "would be asked later" about a sound in the house, pointing ahead to a question that comes chapters later.
Why it mattered: Telling the reader a payoff is coming takes the surprise out of it. The line was cut, along with three other narrator flash-forwards like it.
Services & rates
| Service | What you get | Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Free sample edit | 1,500 words edited, plus a short note on what I'd focus on | Free |
| Manuscript critique | Full read and a 4–6 page editorial letter: plot, pacing, character, continuity | $0.012/word ~$480 for 40k |
| Developmental + continuity edit | Editorial letter, in-margin comments, and a story bible / continuity log (names, ages, timeline, world rules) | $0.025/word ~$1,000 for 40k |
| Line + copy edit | Sentence-level edits in Track Changes: clarity, rhythm, consistency, grammar (Chicago style) | $0.02/word ~$800 for 40k |
| Proofread | Final typo and formatting pass on the finished interior | $0.01/word ~$400 for 40k |
| Series continuity check | Cross-book check of the facts a series has to keep straight | Quote |
From an author
“Kaity read every page of The Mirror with me, paragraph by paragraph, and she caught what I couldn’t see anymore: a rule broken on the last page, a count that didn’t add up, a word too old for my readers. She keeps asking questions until what I meant and what I wrote are the same thing. I wouldn’t publish a book without her.”Kateryn Cole, author of The Mirror series
Contact
Tell me your title, your genre and age range, and your word count. I'll send back a free sample edit and an honest note on where I'd focus.