Aaron Sikes – Editor

You found your way here, so that means you have a science-fiction or fantasy novel in the works. Maybe you're looking for help to break through a block, or need suggestions to get your characters feeling more life-like, more authentic. Just won another NaNoWriMo? Well done! You're 50,000 words closer to the finish line than you were in October, but you know the story is far from complete.

Whatever you're working on, I can help you reach the next stage of the publication quest. I love helping other authors hone and improve their stories, and especially enjoy working with new writers. I can catch plot holes, timeline inconsistencies, out-of-character behavior, idiomatic errors, misspellings, grammar and punctuation errors, and pretty much anything else that can (and does) go wrong along the road from first draft to final.

Developmental editing is my preferred work, because I love to watch a story grow and unfold in real time. In my own writing, I'm always hopeful for those moments of discovery and expansion that come when I'm working on a particularly troublesome character or plot point. Helping other writers find those moments is a real joy.

I'm also happy to work on manuscripts that have been through the wringer a few times and just need that extra touch from an impartial set of eyes. My areas of expertise range from US military small squad operations to the proper method for cooking lemon curd. I'm a board gamer, woodworker, cosplayer, Steampunk, and maker, and I occupy a feline-surbordinate role here at home. I bring all of my background, training, and knowledge to the table.

I encourage my clients with praise where due, and point out elements of a manuscript that really work to keep me invested in a story. Where I see things falling down or in need of attention, I leave notes explaining my understanding of the author's intent and some suggestions for revision. This is always done as suggestion and with deference to the author. While I do correct mechanical errors as I come across them, I do not approach my work with a proofreader's eye (that is a whole different job).

If you've read the Janus Group series by Piers Platt, the Codebreakers series by Colin F Barnes, or the Dark Space series by Jasper T Scott, then you've had the pleasure of reading some of the best science-fiction out there, a pleasure I am lucky to share as the editor of those books.