April Kelly – Editor

Hi! I’m April, a copy editor and proofreader with 16 years of experience. Almost all of my work is sci-fi and fantasy (mostly dystopian sci-fi and epic fantasy), which works out great, because that’s also pretty much all I read.

When I copy edit, I’m looking at grammar, punctuation, word choice, and how your sentences flow. I use Word’s tracked changes so you can accept or reject every edit, and I follow the Chicago Manual of Style unless your book has its own rules. I’m also really careful not to change your voice. It’s your book, after all.

Sci-fi and fantasy come with their own special set of mistakes, too. Eye colors change between chapters, a city gets spelled two different ways, or someone shows up to a funeral before they’ve actually died. (It happens to everyone, I promise.)

That’s why I keep a style sheet for every book. It’s a running list of every name, place, invented term, and timeline detail, along with every decision about how your book handles words. It helps me catch those slips before your readers do, and you get to keep it for the sequel.

If you need a proofread, that’s the final pass on a finished manuscript, where I catch the typos and little errors that slipped through.

Before I start, let me know if there’s anything specific you’d like me to watch for or comment on. Every author has a pet worry, and I’m more than happy to look after it.

If you’re working out a budget, my rates are roughly in line with the Editorial Freelancers Association’s rate guidelines, which you can find online.

And if you’re looking for an editor who’s as obsessed with these genres as you are, let’s talk!