AnnCastro Studio – Editor

Whether you're in those early stages, need feedback for your completed draft, or are somewhere in-between. It's walking you through, over, and under those are-you-kidding-me gnarly patches for clarity, direction, and feet-on-the-ground strategies.

Breathe. You and your project are honored here, safe in the creative process. The final editorial decisions rest in your hands. After all, it's your book, your vision, your baby. As book developmental editor and line editor, I'm the midwife, easing your journey and ensuring your best book delivery.

MY MISSION
Inspire creative breakthrough. Use my skills to elevate others. Infuse my work with artistic energy. And always, always, always, keep my eye on the ball: a client's project and my integrity.

That means listening, being available, and journeying with you. Guiding you through stagnate waters, onto hidden gold for a polished finish. Capturing what's behind your words, where the energy of your vision lies.

MY PHILOSOPHY
Challenge my boundaries. Dive into my creative flow. Produce projects that are clear, solid, compelling, visual—to the eyes of the body and the soul. Write and create courageously, truthfully. Remain diplomatic, collaborative, high-performing, wholehearted. Take time along the way to unplug, exhale, and breathe in again for creative refueling.

fiction [YA/adult/upper middle grade], nonfiction, self-help, creative nonfiction, memoir, spiritual, and nutrition-health-wellness

I'm a champion of self-publishing efforts—especially because it widens the field for storytelling. More voices heard . . . more stories told.

It's where I got my start years ago, ghostwriting and editing titles in nutrition and health/wellness for a well-known nutritionist. From manuscripts to book proposals and queries.

(1) Two New York Times best sellers [nonfiction]—released by major publishers
(a) self-help/women's health/wellness/nutrition: author commissioned my developmental editing, ghostwriting/collaborative writing, line editing
(b) self-help/men's health/wellness: author commissioned my book concept development, book proposal developmental editing/writing that included ghostwriting the book's first three chapters

(2) Another book project in women's health/nutrition—author commissioned my book developmental editing, ghostwriting, line editing—became the major publisher's lead book for the year it was released.

(3) Double gold medals—IPPY Award & Wishing Shelf Independent Book Award [YA fiction]
A self-publishing author with a smart story and gotta-love-em characters commissioned my developmental editing and line editing for her first book, YA/dystopian. She struck double gold: IPPY gold medal award (Young Adult Fiction, e-book category) and Wishing Shelf Independent Book Awards gold medal (teenage division). Now our author-editorial partnership continues across different genres, from her YA dystopian series to an adult psychological thriller series.

(4) Another author's self-publishing work—rich fantasy, children's time travel—hit #2 on Amazon for new releases in her story's category. I journeyed with her, providing a developmental editing/line editing fusion, copyediting, Judaic consulting.

Manuscript Evaluations—a five-to-ten-page overview, identifying strengths and weaknesses, with suggestions on character development, story movement, dialogue, the protagonist-antagonistic tensions, and more. A launching pad for the editorial phases.

Book Mapping—a visual analysis of what's going on—or not so much going on–with your story, characters, subplots, tensions, and more. It can zero in on certain issues, such as scenes or the chapter-by-chapter unfolding or character development or another element. A book map helps identify problematic areas, giving a new perspective, leading the way to solutions.

Developmental Editing—structural, deep, focused, insightful. The bigger-picture view, the panorama, to help define the book’s form and connect the dots for transitional storytelling. It's flying at a higher altitude, giving insight and helping you get down to the bones of your deeper thoughts, concretize elements, and flesh out chapter and story development, character arcs and character status, plot concerns, logical stream, more.

Line Editing—developmental editing's soul mate. It's word-obsessed, image-building, poetic, targeting style, voice, syntax, movement, atmosphere, pacing, dialogue flow, word/paragraph rhythm, clarity issues, credibility issues, stereotypical usages, more. In other words, how you tell your story. It also touches on lighter structural corrections to flag problematic scenes and redundancies.


Book Ghostwriting—nonfiction and memoir

WORKING WITH ME: THE PROCESS
You, me, your, manuscript. Whether it's a few chapters for introductions or a full read with a manuscript evaluation or a scene/chapter book map. Things feel pretty messy? Yeah, the creative process tends to get that way. Not to worry. I'm here to walk beside you, helping you get your creative mojo flowing.

After you've commissioned my full read , I create an evaluation via a developmental editing lens (or a book map with an editorial letter, if better option). I'll applaud your strengths and gently flag areas to flesh out, from character development, story, continuity, and believability to dialogue, inner/outer tensions, and more.

You and I discuss the best-valued editorial package options for you, your book, your budget. At the core: elements of developmental editing and its soul mate, the word-obsessed line editing.

A simple letter of agreement maps our journey and my fees; it's signed digitally. A deposit paid via PayPal puts the project in motion. Subsequent payments are made along each phase; the final-phase balance must be paid to complete the project and release the document.

Editorial remarks are tracked and include comment balloons, so it's easy to see what is suggested and why. I work in layers, ensuring every aspect is handled and all your questions are answered. That's why we'll ping-pong the manuscript between us.

As much or as little as you want during the process. Need to talk through a scene issue, a new idea, or an editorial comment? Reach out. Phone, text, email, Skype/FaceTime.