Sara Oestreich

Sara Oestreich – Editor

Romance editor with 10+ years of experience. A lover of love, master of meet-cutes, and finder of plot holes. Let's make your book its best!

Overview

I have been in love with love since the first time I snuck a harlequin novel off my grandmother's shelf!


I work in the boutique publishing industry as a developmental editor in ALL romance genres. My passion (besides tall, dark, and handsome) is strong stories. I focus on aligned goals, motivations, and conflicts as well as character-driven plots. I like to pride myself on never skipping a "beat" in a story.


Services I Offer:

* Developmental Editing: Includes three full feedback rounds with overarching notes and in-text comments.

* Editorial Assessment: Includes one round of feedback with an overarching note and comments at the chapter level.

*Guided Beta Reading: Includes sourcing beta readers, creating a custom feedback questionnaire for your manuscript, and one feedback round for incorporating edits.


I am responsive and open in my communication. I have been told I thrive during the editing process in taking a book to the next level. I like to collaborate and use questions to push the story forward. I believe in helping the author find their voice rather than impressing my own ideas onto the story. It's not my story -- it's yours!


I have been working in the publishing industry for ten years, including long-term contract work with several Boutique Publishing companies. I have also created an asynchronous course on outline writing published through Relay Publishing.


I am looking forward to helping you find all the FEELS in romance writing, please let me know if you have any questions regarding my work and/or experience.

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What others say:


"She was prompt, honest, clever, flexible, communicative, clear, kind and so generous with her time, and I had total confidence in her assessment of my work’s strengths and weaknesses. As a new author I was very apprehensive and naïve and Sara taught me so much."


"Sara was fantastic to work with, she does a fantastic job editing and really knows what she is doing! I highly recommend her."


"Sara has been an absolute pleasure to work with. She keeps me updated with progress and proactively checks in with me on milestones. She is great at developmental editing and has steered my novels in the right direction. Her feedback is clear, concise, and very importantly direct. Rather than 're-do' everything for me, her editing provides guidance both on any issues as well as the direction to take to address those issues. My first project with her has led to a great relationship and I will continue to work with her on future projects."


"Brilliant freelancer and creative mind. Professional approach to work. Hardworking. Pleasure to work with."

Services
Fiction
Chick Lit Contemporary Fiction Contemporary Romance Fantasy Paranormal Romance Romantic Comedy Romantic Suspense
Languages
English (CAN) English (UK) English (US)

Work experience

Special Fiction Books

Jan, 2022 — Present

I developmental edit books from start to finish. I begin by offering feedback on concepts based on market trends and a solid foundation for romantic conflict and tension. Then I edit the outline ensuring the book is romance-forward and that all of the story beats are accounted for. I find the outline stage to be important - if I can catch a plot hole or unlikeable character at this stage it won't be baked into the book! Finally, I edit the written book offering feedback to stay true to the heart of the book's story.

Bickerstaff Publishing

Mar, 2017 — Oct, 2022 (over 5 years)

I worked as an editor during the outline and writing stages. Stories were focused on evergreen trope driven romance and market trends. Feedback was collaborative in nature.

Relay Publishing

Apr, 2016 — Present

I have worked for Relay in a number of capacities: Outliner, Concept Creation, and Editor. I feel that experiencing each role has given me a unique insight into each step of the story creation process. My work with Relay includes editing at the outline and writing levels.

Sara has 20 reviews

Professionalism

Quality

Value

Responsiveness

Jojo L.

Jojo L.

Mar, 2024

Sara is awesome. As a first time author I was intimidated by the process, the work, by concepts I didn't understand, but she held my hand and navigated me through them all, with the calm assurance I needed. Thank you Sara, can't wait to work with you again.
Anne H.

Anne H.

Mar, 2024

God Bless Sara! This was my first manuscript, and it was awful. Sara saw the strength of one of my side characters and encouraged me to look further at his story. In the end, I decided to rewrite it, and it was so much better. When we started working together, I had no idea what I was doing. She taught me structure using her Beats Worksheet and helped me develop my characters and the plot. She ...
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Jacquetta E.

Jacquetta E.

Mar, 2024

Sara was exactly what I needed for my first novel. She not only helped with making my manuscript read better as a novel but she helped with the lack of confidence I had. I'm pretty sure that's not part of the process and if it is, I'll be using Reedsy and Sara again. Being affordable is relative, but I think of it as an investment in myself. I was willing to pay what we agreed because I knew I ...
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H'deel B.

H'deel B.

Mar, 2024

OMG! Sara is AMAZING and LOVELY! She knows what she's doing and has opened my eyes on a lot in my novel that it's coming out great! More than I expected. She's very easy to get along with, very communicative, and will be with you till the end until your happy with the results. She provided me feedback and details on what needed to be fixed in my manuscript. And on the plus side, she's flexible ...
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Molly A.

Molly A.

Mar, 2024

Sara, what can I say? Sara truly helped me more than I could've ever imagined. My first draft was very rough and had quite a few plot holes. Sara was patient and helped me iron it out into a readable, great story. As an indie author, I can't recommend her services enough. She understands the romance genre intimately, and anyone who works with her is fortunate. "I can't express how much Sara hel...
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