Get a Story Critique or Copyediting

I am now OPEN to doing a critique of your writing, or a copyediting job. I will charge you up front, prices below, and if a story critique, send you a 1-2 page critique of your work within 4 days. It will include places I think you should send your work, based on my experience with markets out there.

Why I might be a good fit for you: My specialty is science fiction and fantasy, but I am also trained as a literary writing teacher, and have experience in memoir, travel writing, and writing about faith. (Note: for more about me, please refer to my ABOUT page. I have some experience listed there. I have been a creative writing teacher for more than 20 years, have a PhD in Creative Writing, am a Clarion grad, have published stories in professional magazines, edited five anthologies, judged writing contests, and have worked with youth and older adults. You can also read my REVIEWS.) STILL, your writing is your writing, and you are never forced to take anyone’s comments or critiques.

Have you been struggling with making a story work and need a new set of eyes? You can be at any level of writing and I will give you suggestions on where to go next. If you are ready to have those new eyes and open to suggestions, now is the right time to have your work critiqued. If your story is something you are very close to and you don’t want to hear any critique that might involve changes or suggestions for altering your story, this might not be the right time. STILL, and I will say this again, suggestions from another writer are still suggestions, and you don’t have to change a thing.

I will give you my suggestions based on my experience, suggestions of what you might try differently.
I will NOT be posting critiques publicly.
Send stories and writing excerpts to me at jeromestueart@gmail.com with the subject heading “WRITING CRITIQUE”
I will only be able to read documents that are doc, docx, or PDF.
* I will not be editing your work, changing grammar or spelling, or sentence structure. I will be talking to you about STORY, about your characters, your plot, your story, your setting, and the way you are narratively working towards your ending.
* IF YOU WANT COPYEDITING, there is a tier for that below, and you can change your subject heading to “COPYEDITING WORK” . If you choose copyediting, I will include comments (through Word if you have a doc or docx) of why I changed the word, grammar, punctuation. I will NOT be commenting on your story.
I will comment on anything you should have checked by a sensitivity reader (because my personal areas are limited to queer, mental health, areas concerning religion, I acknowledge I may not be able to help you in all areas), and don’t stop yourself if you think you might have made a mistake accidentally somewhere in the text. Accidentally is okay–we all make mistakes. However, I have the right to refuse a story or copyediting job (and refund your money) if stories contain content that is purposefully derogatory towards anyone based on race, gender, sexual orientation, sexual identity, gender identity, physical ability, mental ability, etc, or contain graphic long scenes of violence/rape.

Please understand that any critique of your story/writing is not a critique of you. I still write stories that are NOT working currently for any reader, and I want people to be honest with me. That’s what I’m offering you.

I will tell you why a story is not working FOR ME, and that possibly what might not be working for others, too. My caveat is that everyone’s tastes are different, and I will do my best to differentiate between my tastes, and where the story might need some help in a more universal way (where it might be breaking down story-wise).

Help me out by giving me a brief (two or three paragraph at most) explanation of what you want me to look at (or if you want a general look-see), or where you have been told by others to consider, or what you think might be wrong—any kind of focus or general idea of what you are looking for. I’d like to be as helpful as possible. I am eager to read your work, and especially since I am in the summer before I start back to school, and teaching, I have the time for this fast turn around. Send me what you got!

My rates are well within the range, on the lower end, of editorial freelancing rates. I’d like to stay affordable.

$70 for a STORY or novel excerpt up to 3000 words