Crafting Your Story, Your Book
From Concept to Composition
Charles Davidson
Biography – Memoir – History
Philosophy – Psychology – Theology – Religion
Manuscript Assessment — Developmental and Copy Editing
“True ease in writing comes from art, not chance, As those move easiest who have learned to dance.” Alexander Pope
If as a writer your passion is Christian non-fiction (biblical, theological, philosophical, historical, ethical, homiletical, pastoral, devotional, or inspirational), or your literary bent belongs to one or more of the conventional non-fiction genres of biography, memoir, history, philosophy, psychology, or religion, then I may be able to assist you.
What You May Expect
As an editor, I devote my analytical, evaluative, developmental, and compositional skills to assist you with crafting your book-length manuscript or article. I am personally committed to working with you to achieve, with satisfaction, your best writing expressed in your own voice.
From beginning to end we collaborate as a team. I maintain an open channel of communication with you as a valued client whose writing is of great importance to me as your editor. I bring to your project six decades of experience as a published writer and editor.
We first get acquainted via a Zoom interview that enables us to discern whether we are a good fit. I may ask you to submit additional material for review, beyond the sample accompanying your initial inquiry. Once the nature and scope of the project is agreed upon, you receive an offer based upon the type of editing you request, which is set forth in a contract along with my current fee schedule, and the timeframe for beginning and completing the editing.
To initiate the process, you need to contact me via my profile page on Reedsy’s website, which is the platform through which I conduct my editorial communication, contracting, payment, and delivery. Before you do so, I invite you to read the remainder of this page for specific information about my services.
I welcome the opportunity to learn what you are passionate about as a writer.
The Types of Editing
Both of us benefit at the outset from answers to two clarifying questions about your writing project: (1) In what specific genre of Christian or conventional non-fiction are you writing? (2) Which one of the following types of editing best describes what you need now.
• EDITORIAL ASSESSMENT You’ve completed the first draft of your book or essay and want an overall evaluation of its strengths and weaknesses, including suggestions for improving structure, organization, style, tone, theme, characterization, voice, point of view, plot, dialogue, diction, phrasing, documentation, and how best to retain your readers’ engagement. You will receive a written report with concrete recommendations including specific comments, questions, and suggestions. The assessment concludes with an optional Zoom conversation about the content of your report.
• DEVELOPMENTAL EDITING You’ve completed the first draft of your book or essay and want a comprehensive, in-depth, paragraph-by-paragraph report with explicit recommendations throughout the manuscript for restructuring and redevelopment of your content and its presentation, including concept, theme, theses, timeline, argument, evidence, signposts, transitions, conclusions, documentation, style, voice, dialogue, diction, plot, and characterization. The developmental report addresses important matters for your consideration when revising your text. It is accompanied by track changes along with comments, questions, suggestions, and a style sheet. The developmental editing concludes with an optional Zoom conversation about the content of your report.
• COPY EDITING You are satisfied with the direction and substance of your completed manuscript, yet it needs fine-tuning and polishing before you present or re-present it to an agent or publisher, thus concentrating on clarity of meaning, grammar, syntax, diction, punctuation, and spelling. Your copy-edited manuscript contains track changes along with comments, questions, suggestions, and a style sheet. The copy editing concludes with an optional Zoom conversation about your manuscript. Your copy-edited manuscript is then ready to present to your agent or publisher.
• PROOFREADING You’re ready for the final inspection of the formatted, typeset, and publication-ready PDF of your manuscript, correcting last-minute spelling, grammatical, and typographical errors before it goes to print.
The Process
Submission of Your Project Summary and a Sample Chapter → Our Zoom Conversation → My Offer of the Price Estimate and Proposed Contract → Your Contract Acceptance → My Editing of Your Manuscript → Delivery of the Edited Manuscript to You
(1) When contacting me through Reedsy, you submit a brief summary of your project and other details as stipulated, including a sample chapter or section of your manuscript for my review.
(2) We set up a time for us to get acquainted via a Zoom meeting, to address your questions and discern whether our collaboration seems to be a good fit.
(3) Once we decide to proceed to the next step, I make a formal offer including the estimated price based upon my current fee schedule and the nature, extent, and complexity of editing required. My offer is accompanied by a detailed contract setting forth the scope, timeframe, and terms of payment for the work to be performed.
(4) You accept the offer and terms of the contract.
(5) Your manuscript is edited and then delivered to you. Throughout the process you and I communicate about the progress of your project because collaboration is vital to achieving the results you desire.
Testimonials, Endorsements, Reviews
Congratulations to Reedsy for including in its roster a professional with the excellence of Dr. Charles Davidson, at once a scholar, an experienced editor, and a distinguished author himself. This collaboration very much exceeded my expectations. Without ever condescending, Dr. Davidson read my offering, listened to my needs and hopes, and fashioned a comprehensive response that answered my questions and provided the specific feedback that I had requested. Some editors slow down a project with pages and pages of trivial and unhelpful suggestions, while others attempt to remake the entire work according to their own preferences, without taking the time to carefully read what the author is attempting to express. Dr. Davidson “got it.” He helped me perfect this project. I am now working on another that I hope to submit to him when it is tolerably ready. Many thanks to you, Charles – and to Reedsy. —Rebecca S., Reedsy client
I wish to express my sincere gratitude to Charles for his excellent work in helping to revise my manuscript. His qualities are many: He was very friendly and personal, which made the communication enjoyable. Of course, his editorial expertise was key to the task at hand. I learned much about writing from him. His suggestions were always relevant, helpful, and challenging too! The memos and document exchanges were very timely, which allowed me to stay on schedule. Charles expressed a keen interest in my work, and he clearly wanted me to succeed in my publishing endeavors. I highly recommend Charles to anyone seeking an experienced professional development editor. —Gregory H., Reedsy client
“When things began to get a bit tangled in my mind, and I felt I was unsure of a clear perspective in evaluating the manuscript draft of my project, Charlie Davidson was able to show how it needed to be pulled together and reset in clear, revealing ideas and examples. He seems to be able to do this with ease. He has got it in him to provide editing that opens up all kinds of new, coherent, explicit language and structure, and his personal and professional support was critical for me in the successful completion of the book. I highly recommend him.” —Douglas Heidt, The Love That Will Not Let You Go: Being a Christian Is Not What You Think
“I wish to thank my editor, Charles Davidson, for the amazing way that he has walked with me, encouraged me from the very moment he set eyes on the manuscript, has helped to broaden and deepen my writing, and has believed in this project from the beginning of our work together. Charles gave the confidence to me that I needed to launch this project and was just the editor I needed to do so. I will be forever grateful.” —Conrad Kanagy, Reedsy client, from the acknowledgments, A Church Dismantled, A Kingdom Restored
“Working with Charlie has been a joy. From the start, he showed incredible interest in my manuscript. His edits were clear and his investment in my work was beyond expectation. It would be a pleasure to work with him again on my next project. I highly recommend Charlie to anyone seeking a premier editor.” —Lumi Nichols, From Pain to Purpose: A Young Woman’s Journey from a Communist Prison to an American Pulpit
Charles was a dynamic editor and extremely helpful throughout the entire process. He answered my questions and challenged me to become a better writer. His suggestions on the modifications to my manuscript made it compelling and thoughtful. If you are looking for a flexible and adaptable editor, I highly recommend Charles. —Andrea Skeeter, Hurt Hands That Healed: A Story of Violation and Redemption
“It has been a pleasure working with Charles. His wisdom and insight have been invaluable in completing my project. Throughout the project he has been very easy to work with. He is readily available to contact and is thorough and prompt. I could not have asked for a better person to collaborate with and will forevermore be in his debt.” —Chris Schultz, The Humor, Horror, and the Heart of the Badge
“Charles is a very pleasant, competent, and great fellow to work with. He not only doesn’t beat around the bush with what he thinks, but is also willing to provide extra help to upcoming authors. He edited my work exceptionally quickly, and with stellar proficiency. I would recommend Charles to anyone who wants to get their manuscript edited right. —Abraham Rogers, Reedsy Client
“Approachable, excellent writer, good listener; gets to the ‘kernel’ of the matter quickly; the glass is always half full, not half empty. When I had a writing project he was one to whom I turned for editorial advice. I found his suggestions most helpful and encouraging.” —Walter Smith, Learning to Forgive: A Memoir of Doubt and Faith
“Charles Davidson has done a masterful job of curating Buttrick’s lectures and of painting within the introductory biography a winsomely accurate picture of Buttrick in and beyond the pulpit.” —Theodore J. Wardlaw, president and professor of homiletics, Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, Austin, TX, endorser, George Buttrick’s Guide to Preaching the Gospel
“George Buttrick becomes a teacher once again, not only through his own words, but through Charles Davidson’s biographical sketch and copious helpful annotations.” —John W. Kuykendall, president emeritus, Davidson College, Davidson, NC, endorser, George Buttrick’s Guide to Preaching the Gospel
“You don’t have to be a theologian or artist to appreciate this book. I know: I am neither, and I found it to be a masterful, compelling work that kept me turning pages and left me feeling enriched and enlightened. . . . Davidson melds scholarship with elegant prose to produce a provocative portrait of the great artist. In an engaging, never-pedantic style, he sheds light on Vincent—the artist, the man, the minister, the brother, the lover. . . . I felt inspired.” —Carol Cole, actor, reviewer of Charles Davidson’s Bone Dead and Rising: Vincent van Gogh and the Self Before God
“As much a volume of poignant poetry as of delightfully crafted prose . . . [and] consummate and definitive scholarship that reads like a novel. . . . Once you have taken up this volume it is impossible to put the book down. . . . You will not wish to miss this.” —J. Harold Ellens, reviewer of Charles Davidson’s Bone Dead and Rising: Vincent van Gogh and the Self Before God,HTS Theological Studies, South Africa
“I had a lovely experience participating in Charles’ blog, Life Turnings. He is a kind gentleman and a gifted editor. He knows how to apply just the right bit of polish to bring out the best in his writers’ works.” —Debra Wesselmann, Integrative Team Treatment for Attachment Trauma in Children
“I worked with Charles when he was publishing Life Turnings as a regular blog. The value of engaging him as an editor is that he not only has good editing skills, but he is also supportive of the writer. So if you want a good editor who also cares about you as a person, I recommend you contact him.” —Stephen McCutchan, A Star and a Tear
GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATIONS COMPLIMENTS OF FREEVINTAGEILLUSTRATIONS.COM
CAPTIONS BY CHARLES DAVIDSON
Why Reedsy?
On Reedsy you will have access not only to editorial expertise but also to specialists in book cover design, marketing, publicity, ghostwriting, web design, translation, and discovery reviews. As stated on Reedsy’s website, “Every single freelance editor on the Reedsy marketplace has been carefully selected. They all have extensive experience and impressive portfolios.”
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