Rakow is a brilliant editor and an astute reader…. blessed with the gift of empathy so that when she turns her attention to a work in progress her recommendations reflect a deep and uncanny feel for one’s purposes and for the given work’s goals, even when those purposes and goals are apparently at odds with her own customary aesthetic.
–Peg Boyers, author of Hard Bread

Whether we are aiming for traditional or self-publication, we all make our writing more beautiful, powerful and lasting with the help of a superb editor.

We can hire an editor at any stage of our project and if he or she is exquisite, we will richly benefit.  Such an editor can help when we only have a single line written on the back of a grocery store receipt or we have 700 pages of a project to which we’ve devoted a decade.

The reason this is true, the reason the benefit happens no matter where we are in our process, is that by far the most important quality we need in an editor is deep listening.  This needs to happen first in the editing process and it is also first in importance.  Everything else follows from that talent.  So it is crucial to locate such an editor.

From the editor’s deep listening, all of the other issues come into place.  Character, story, plot, tension, context, back story.  And all of the technical things are also examined from the deep listening–word choice, paragraph breaks, chapter sequence–to make sure they are doing their specific jobs to support the broader issues.

In every single art form, whether writing, architecture, design, musical composition or choreography, the artist must exist in a place of not-knowing while, at the same time, continuing to work.  This is really hard.  But it’s a skill we can learn. And we must learn it.  If we have a writing coach or editor, we can work from this uncertain place with peace and enthusiasm because we are getting superb feedback. If the editor is top-drawer he or she is listening at a deep level and hears, when we often can’t, where the work itself is leaning. The superb editor hears what we as writers often cannot hear and sees what we cannot yet see. When we learn what the editor hears and sees, our work takes off.  This is always true.

I am primarily a writer.  And I am sharing this from my writing experience. I know I have blindness and deafness in regard to my own work.  I always will. So will you.  So does every writer, famous or obscure. But I also know what deep listening has brought to my work and brings to it now. It’s rare to find that quality.  And it is why I have worked with the same peer writers for over 20 years.  Because this deep listening is exactly what they give to me and what I give to them.  And this is what I try very hard to give every writer I edit or coach.

The world is full of editors and writing coaches. And that’s a good thing.  We have many choices, as writers.  A widespread tendency is to consider editing essentially the dutiful and responsible application of a set of rules, pre-established structure shapes, “tricks” to improve character or plot or story, and so on. We hear this kind of message and because of the certainty in it, we feel safe, excited, confident.  We’re given a roadmap and all we have to do, as writers, is to drive.   We like certainty.  We like these promises.

But this is not my experience as a writer or an editor.  I find by doing this I can make stuff.  And my clients can make stuff.  We can each make many, many books, poems, stories. But, in my experience, we cannot make art this way. Because art, whether a painting, symphony or well designed coffee cup, refreshes us in a way we can’t exactly explain.  We experience in that symphony or painting or cup something entirely unparalleled.  Something unforeseen, magical and lasting.

So we want to shape our time, our physical space, mental space, social life to support our writing life so that we are inclining toward the making of art not stuff. Because art is what the world needs. And we begin by finding the deep listener. When we get true support, we are doing everything possible to help our work become more itself.  We locate the exquisite listener and together examine what is going on in the work at the deepest levels as well as how it’s operating on the surface. And in this way, together, we are doing true editing.  And there is tremendous joy in this. Because by doing this we will make the piece of writing that we alone can make.  We alone, of all the people who have ever lived on this planet or who will live ever live here, can make. And when this happens, the work sings a melody never before heard.

How I edit:

I work in one of two ways.  Either receiving work, editing it, and returning it. Or going over work face to face in one-to-one sessions.

Please see above for the One-to-One option.

Forms I edit:

I am open to editing any form, am currently working on my first children’s text and my first graphic novel.  But my deep experience is in the novel, memoir, short story, personal essay, mixed genre, romance, mystery, sci-fi, YA and scholarly work. Please note,  I do not ghost write.

My method:

I do Developmental, Copy and Proof editing all at the same time.  This is highly unusual, I realize.  But I do this because it’s how I think. It is how I read.  And it is how I write. It comes naturally to me to respond on all three levels at once. The nice thing is this ease allows me to pass on to you substantial savings. I do this whether we’re meeting one-to-one or you’re submitting and I’m returning pages. For more about this method, please check the One-to-One page above.  To me, it makes sense.

Occasionally clients want to do these edits in stages, which is fine with me, too.  It is sometimes what is most natural to the writer. So I do offer just Developmental or Copy, etc.

My four options and their fees:

#1.    The Combined Developmental and Copy Edit–My Most Commonly Selected Option and the Best Value

My fee for is 6 cents per word. I offer a reduction to 5 cents per word to writers who come to me through:

-Harvard Club San Francisco

-Mechanics’ Institute, San Francisco

-San Francisco Writers’ Conference

-Writing for Change Conference, San Francisco

-New York State Summer Writers’ Institute

-Writers who have studied with my writer friend

-Friends of former clients

For a full or partial manuscript, polished or rough,  I take one month to be with the text, reading it twice, marking the pages with constructive suggestions from each read, in black ink then in green.  Then I spend time away from the text to experience how it resides in my memory. Often it is in this absence from the pages themselves that my deepest insights for the work come. I return to the work and see if my insights hold up.  They always do. From that place of insight I do a typed critique of 15-25 pages for a full manuscript. I do both the developmental edit and the copy edit and most of the proofing. I discuss in detail what the strengths and weakness are in the developmental issues of theme, character, plot, sequence and so forth as well as noting issues on the surface of the work (each word, each sentence, each chapter break, each set up of dialogue, etc).  I do all three of these edits at once because I think they’re interrelated.

For a partial manuscript I do the exact same method. My turn-around time is generally less than a month, depending on the length of the submission.  I give a firm return date to you once I know the length you’ll be sending. See below for fee structure.

 

#2.   The Developmental Only Edit Option

My fee for is 5 cents per word. I offer a reduction to 4 cents per word to writers who come to me through the above organizations.

For the full or partial manuscript, polished or rough, I take a bit less than a month,  and read the pages twice, marking in black then green ink. I consider the broad issues of story, plot, character development, structure. As with the Combined Edit, I spend time away from the text to experience how it resides in my memory. Often it is in this absence from the pages themselves that my deepest insights for the work come. I return to the work and see if my insights hold up.  They always do. From that place of insight I do a typed critique that addresses the developmental issues and my insights into the deeper things going on in the work.

 

#3.  The Copy Edit Only Option

For those wishing this option, the turn-around time is shorter and determined by the word count. My fee is 5 cents per word.  I offer a reduction to 4 cents per word for writers who come through the above organizations. I read the work twice, marking in black first then green if I catch something I missed on the first read.  My typed response is rather brief.

 

#4.  “First Pages” Options–New and Very Popular 

For you as an individual: If you would like to send me your First 7 Pages my fee is $125 and turn-around time under 3 days.

For your writing group: If you would like to have me do a First Pages Workshop, this is easily arranged and fun. I do a live edit on the pages. Scheduled for 3-4 hours, the number of pages per writer is determined by the size of your group. My fee is $150/hr plus travel. I am happy to split the travel expense to workshops meeting in either Los Angeles or D.C.

 

Fee Structure: Manuscript Editing payment is staggered into 3 steps:

1) A $100 non-refundable deposit to secure the month.  This is credited in full toward your fee.

2) A check for half of the fee sent with the manuscript.

3) A check for the remaining half of the fee, minus your $100 deposit, sent to me upon your receipt of the edited manuscript. However, as I believe deeply in the value of a good edit, a payment schedule for this second half of the fee can be customized for clients who wish, over a longer period of time if desired.  This customization is agreed upon before submission of the manuscript and is limited to the Combined Edit of a full  manuscript.

Please note: I do several pro-bono jobs each year.  Currently my pro-bono slots are all taken.

 

Follow-up Phone Call can be arranged upon receipt of my critique to go over questions.  Since the edit is very thorough and easy to understand I’ve never actually had a client do this, but I’m open. My fee would be $150 for the hour.

Testimonials on the site will give you additional information on how I work.

You can email me here with questions or to schedule your project.  Email    

Good writing to you!