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on Feb 12 inWelcome!
WRITERS, AUTHORS:
Let’s take your fiction to the next level!
WRITERS, AUTHORS -
Welcome to the cyber-home of Jodie Renner, freelance editor and craft-of-fiction writer. I specialize in editing thrillers (but not really gruesome ones, please), romantic suspense, suspense-mysteries, and other fast-paced fiction, and also enjoy editing historical fiction, YA, and mainstream. My clients are all across North America and also on other continents.
If you’re looking for someone to help you bring your characters and scenes to life on the page, add more tension, suspense and intrigue, pick up the pace, smooth out your prose, and tighten up your writing, you’ve come to the right place!
Not only that, I’ll address any “head-hopping” and other point-of-view issues, point out too much “telling” where there should be “showing” in real time, flag any plot holes, consider character motivations and decisions, alert you of any time-sequence discrepancies, and ferret out those lurking logistic issues you may not have noticed as you were busy crafting your story.
And finally, I’ll go over your manuscript with a fine-toothed comb to check for logical sentence structure, grammar, punctuation, and capitalization.
If your manuscript is ready for some editing and your story interests me, I’ll provide you with a free sample edit* of about 6-10 pages, no strings attached, so you can see how I’d handle your writing.
*Note that if your first chapter has too many big-picture issues that need to be addressed before it’s ready for a sample copyedit, I’ll give you a bit of free advice or suggest you send me $25 for valuable, critical advice on your first chapters, with links to relevant articles, so you can do some reading and revising before moving on to the editing stage. Or, if your manuscript is ready for it, I may suggest my thorough edit and critique of your first 5,000 words for $100. Either of these critiques could easily save you hundreds of dollars on the editing process, with me or another editor. And the last thing you want to do is pay for a light copy edit of a manuscript that needs major work first, as that’s just money out the window, since many of the chapters you’re paying to be edited may need to be radically revised or even deleted.
For information on how I work, please visit the Process page.
For a detailed description of each editorial option with my fees, please visit the Services page.
Are you new to writing fiction and want to produce a book that sells, while saving money on editing?
If you’re an aspiring author and want to bring your manuscript up to industry standards, to sell well and garner lots of 5-star reviews, but don’t have a lot of money to spend on the editing process, I highly recommend you first read my blog posts, “How to Save a Bundle on Editing Costs,” ”Honing Your Craft,” and “How to Slash Your Word Count by 20-50%,” and then buy my two e-books, Style that Sizzles & Pacing for Power and Writing a Killer Thriller. They’re only about $3.00 each on Amazon, are highly skimmable and chock-full of to-the-point valuable advice for writing compelling fiction, and they’ll easily save you hundreds of dollars on editing fees.
Also, you don’t need a Kindle to read e-books – you can upload them to your computer, Mac, tablet or smartphone. Style that Sizzles & Pacing for Power is also out in paperback, on Amazon.com and elsewhere, and for Nook, Kobo, Sony Reader, and Apple iPad, through Smashwords.
Click HERE to visit Jodie’s author website.
Or you can contact me for an intensive, in-depth edit and critique of your first 5,000 words (about 20 pages, double-spaced) for $100, and you can then use my advice to revise the rest of the manuscript before submitting it for editing. This could easily save you hundreds of dollars on your total editing costs.
I also offer a first-page critique every Wednesday on my blog.
“Jodie Renner is a 5-star thriller editor with the eye of an eagle and the skill of a surgeon. She goes beyond copy and line editing to target even the most elusive content issues. A pleasure to work with—highly recommended.”
~ Lynn Sholes & Joe Moore, Dec. 2012, #1 Amazon and international bestselling authors of The Phoenix Apostles and The Grail Conspiracy
“When it comes to fiction techniques, Jodie Renner knows her stuff. She’s the real deal.”
- D.P. Lyle, MD, Macavity Award winning and Edgar Award nominated author of many non-fiction books as well as numerous works of fiction, including the Samantha Cody thriller series, the Dub Walker Thriller series, and the Royal Pains media tie-in novels. Website: http://www.dplylemd.com, Blog: http://writersforensicsblog.wordpress.com
“Jodie Renner is the best editor you can hope for, because she pours her heart and soul into each project. […] with Jodie, weeding out typos, grammatical oversights, and clunky writing is just a small part of her work. She’s a seasoned industry guru who will address both language and content issues to get your mystery, thriller, action, or espionage manuscript up to a publishable standard.
“Jodie will pore over every detail of your writing to transform it into a world-class novel that will sell. She will challenge every logical flaw and plot inconsistency in your story to ensure nothing comes in the way of your readers’ suspension of disbelief. She will nip any literary arrogance or showy ambiguity in the bud. Most importantly, Jodie will provide you with the viewpoint of most contemporary readers.”
~ A.M. Khalifa, thriller writer, Los Angeles, CA, February 2013
JODIE’S BLOGS: Jodie Renner Editing http://jodierennerediting.blogspot.com/
and Crime Fiction Collective: http://crimefictioncollective.blogspot.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jodie.rennerediting
Twitter: @JodieRennerEd
For Jodie’s popular craft of fiction e-books, go to Jodie’s Books.
To contact Jodie about presenting a craft-of-fiction workshop at your writers’ conference or to your writing group, please email her at j.renner.editing(at)hotmail(dot)com. For more info on this, go to www.JodieRenner.com.
Contact Jodie at j.renner.editing(at)hotmail(dot)com.
Why pay for a freelance editor, anyway?
Here’s what Andrew E. Kaufman, talented thriller novelist and fellow founder of Crime Fiction Collective, has to say about the importance of using the services of an editor:
This is an extremely important point and one I can’t stress enough. It doesn’t matter how good a writer you think you are. After numerous rewrites of a manuscript (which is just as important), you are too familiar with your work and have lost all objectivity.
An editor with a fresh and critical eye will bring things to your attention you never knew existed, both developmentally and in the line/copy editing. These are the people who will help bring a novel to the next level. I consider their work to be an invaluable part of the process.
And for those who say they can’t afford to hire one–I say you can’t afford not to. If you’re serious about selling your book, then this is a step you simply must take.
~ Andrew E. Kaufman, Sept. 30, 2011. www.AndrewEKaufman.com
EXCERPTS FROM TESTIMONIALS JODIE HAS RECEIVED FROM VERY SATISFIED WRITER CLIENTS:
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WHAT I LOOK AT:
Here are a few of the many issues I look at and advise on in all my fiction editing:
Opening:
Is the first page compelling? Does it hook the reader in quickly? Does it introduce your protagonist? Does it situate the reader as to Who, What, Where and When, so they can quickly get into your story world and start enjoying your story?
Characterization:
Is your protagonist likeable, smart, resourceful, and strong enough to appeal to your readers, but with vulnerabilities and inner conflict? Are your main characters complex and three-dimensional, or flat and predictable, cardboard cutouts? Do your characters develop through the course of the novel? (Is there a good character arc?) Are their motivations clear and plausible?
Point of view:
Is most of your story anchored in the viewpoint of your protagonist? Is each scene in one character’s point of view? Or is the viewpoint hovering above or ping-ponging among your characters, all in one scene (“head-hopping”)?
Plot and Scene Structure:
Do you have an inciting incident and a main story problem/question? Is there enough conflict? Do you have tension on every page, with rising stakes and ongoing complications? Are the scenes well-written and well-structured? Is the climax nail-biting? Is the ending satisfying? Do you have plot holes that need to be identified and plugged? Are there inconsistencies, discrepancies, or illogical actions or events that need to be addressed?
Style and Pacing:
Does your prose meander along, trying to find its way? Is it awkward, too wordy, or overly erudite? Or is it clear, tight and compelling? Does your pacing fit the genre? Do you vary the pace, depending on the scene?
Dialogue:
Does it sound natural, like people in that milieu really talk? Does each character speak a little differently? Or do your characters all sound like the author or university professors?
Logic and continuity:
Do you have sudden unexplained changes or discrepancies in characters, time sequences, and other circumstances? Do all the plot details make sense? Are your characters’ actions and reactions logical and believable?
Grammar, syntax, phrasing, punctuation, spelling, and typos.
I’ll help you smooth out awkward or overly wordy phrasing to create a better flow of ideas. I’ll add the final polish to make your story publish-ready. I’ve been called “a precise grammar queen.” I know my stuff, but won’t let correct English trump your style or voice – this is fiction, after all, not a doctoral dissertation!
Available for workshops
Jodie is available to present workshops/seminars on various topics related to writing effective fiction that sells. Topics she speaks on include Openings (your first few pages), Point of View (especially deep point of view or close third), Characterization, Dialogue, Style Issues, Suspense & Intrigue, and more. For more information, please email me at j.renner.editing(at)hotmail.com.
Please click here to read testimonials from authors on my editing and critiques. For excerpts from Acknowledgments in published books, click here. For excerpts from emails Jodie has received or mention on Facebook or blogs, click here.
For information on how I work, please visit the Process page.
For a detailed description of each editorial option, please visit the Services page.
For tips on taking your fiction to the next level, as well as useful links, see my Resources page.
See down for a sampling of my articles.
For the answers to a number of questions you may have, please read the FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) and answers on the Contact page, below the Contact Form.
For more information about Jodie, visit the About Jodie page.
Let’s work together to enhance and empower your writing — and get your book published!
Besides Crime Fiction Collective and my own blog, I’m also a regular guest blogger at Blood-Red Pencil blogspot, The Thrill Begins blogspot, and The Writer’s Forensics Blog; and my craft articles appear on Suspense Magazine’s blog, www.Publetariat.com and on various other blogs from time to time.
I’m a member of both International Thriller Writers and Sisters in Crime.
