1. What genres of books does Kristen edit?
Kristen edits a wide range of books under the fiction genre, including general fiction, sci-fi and fantasy, romance, thriller, and mystery. She also commonly works with memoirs (creative nonfiction) and literary fiction. Above all else, she prefers plot-driven fiction, meaning the book should have a central conflict for the characters to overcome, and well-developed characters. Kristen does not accept manuscripts that glorify racist behavior, or general nonfiction works.
2. How should authors submit a manuscript?
Generally, authors send Kristen their manuscript as an email attachment, preferably as a Word file. First, Kristen has an email or phone conversation with potential clients to see if they’ll be a good fit. Contact Kristen to start a conversation.
3. How much does book editing cost?
There are many factors that go into providing a quote for book editing. Kristen mainly works with manuscripts that are in the 60k-80k word range, and the cost can range anywhere from $1000 to $5000. See more details about the cost of editing.
4. Will Kristen refer authors to a literary agent?
Kristen is not affiliated with any literary agents, although she’s happy to provide a list of agents who may be interested in an author’s manuscript based on their information online.
5. Does Kristen publish books?
Kristen is a book editor, not a publishing house, but she can help guide you along every step of the way—including pointing authors in the right direction with cover design and book formatter referrals.
6. Can authors meet with Kristen in person?
Kristen is located outside of Boise, Idaho, so if you’re a local author, Kristen would love to get together for a cup of coffee and a chat! If you’re located elsewhere in the United States or world, Kristen can schedule a 15-minute phone call or Zoom consultation.
7. What’s Kristen’s editing process?
Kristen offers three different editing services, each focusing on a different aspect of any manuscript. Each of Kristen’s editing services are very different from one another, and therefore require separate edits. Developmental editing (or a manuscript critique) comes first to make sure your story’s big-picture is solid. Then comes line editing, which focuses on improving sentence structure, checking for consistency, removing clichés or awkward phrasing, and improving clarity and sense of scenes. Copyediting is the last step, where Kristen focuses mainly on word choice, punctuation, spelling, syntax, and grammar to make sure your book doesn’t have any surface errors.
While some authors might be able to skip an editing service, Kristen always recommends authors not to skip the final copyedit—otherwise, while your manuscript may be beautifully edited for style, consistency, or content, you may have petty grammatical or punctuation errors left over…which readers may pick up on, and which may bring your book negative reviews. Check out Kristen’s blog post 8 Secrets of the Book Editing Process.
8. How long does editing a manuscript take?
It usually takes me about 3-4 weeks to edit a manuscript, but if your manuscript needs more work or is much larger, the process could take up to 12 weeks. Kristen books projects sometimes up to 9 months in advance, so be sure to get on Kristen’s schedule early.
9. Who are some of Kristen’s clients?
Kristen’s clients are normal people. Some are authors who’ve self-published before. Others (most!) have never written a book before in their life. Kristen’s clients come from all walks of life, but they all have one thing in common: they have a great story to tell. Some of those books have gone on to win awards and become Amazon bestsellers.
10. What if I don’t agree with Kristen’s edits?
That’s fine! As the author, you’re in the driver’s seat, and while Kristen will make every edit in your book’s best interest, it’s your name on the byline and it’s you who’s in charge. Kristen works in Microsoft Word using Track Changes, giving you the power to individually accept or delete any of her edits.
Book editor Kristen Hamilton is the owner and sole employee of Kristen Corrects, Inc., where she provides manuscript editing services for traditionally and self-publishing authors. Several authors whose books she has edited have won awards and have topped Amazon’s best sellers lists.
Reading is Kristen’s passion, so when the workday is over, she can usually be found curled up with a good book alongside her four cats. She loves watching cat videos and scary movies, eating pizza, teaching herself French, and traveling, and she is likely planning her next vacation. She lives outside of Boise, ID.