Overview

Effective plot-driven fiction relies on the excellence of many elements, including compelling characters, an engaging story arc, an effective ebb and flow of the story’s rhythm, internal storyline consistency, and clean copy. I have developed methods for ensuring these are in place in my own work.

For example, I create an analysis inspired by Shawn Coyne’s The Story Grid to track story elements, character development, and logistics such as timelines. I listen to manuscripts via a text-to-speech app to catch grammatical issues, stylistic awkwardness, and typos.

I am enthusiastic about bringing these same methods, and my experience as the author of five well-received suspense and thriller novels and a number of short stories, to support the work of my fellow authors.

Types of Edits

Price for edits can be reduced if the author combines more than one type of edit into one engagement.
Sample Edit
​​This mini edit enables editor and author to assess compatibility and to determine author’s next steps and amount of editorial assistance needed.
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Price: $50 for up to 5,000 words
Substantive Edit
​This type of edit considers a work’s organization and presentation, tightening and clarifying at a chapter, scene, paragraph, and sentence level.
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Price: $15 per 1,000 words
Developmental Edit
This type of edit assesses all the aspects of a manuscript that will draw your readers into your story: structure, flow, pacing, consistency, characters, point of view, tense, plot, subplots, and dialogue.
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Price: $20 per 1,000 words
Copy / Line Edit
This type of edit examines the manuscript line-by-line, analyzes each sentence, assessing word choice, and trimming and tightening as needed.
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Price: $10 per 1,000 words
Beta Read
​A beta read provide an analysis of your readers’ reaction to the work and assesses the readiness of the author to move on to subsequent steps in the editing process.
Price: $5 per 1,000 words
MS Office for Authors
​This service includes consulting on use of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint to support author efforts (e.g., accommodating submission document format requirements, tracking character timelines, creating book trailers) as well as editing of PowerPoint presentations.
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Price: Quoted on request
Prices subject to change

Deliverables

Chapter-by-Chapter Analysis
​A summary of each chapter, identifying issues, questions, or potential challenges as the story is unfolding.
Characters-by-Chapter AnalysisEspecially valuable for mysteries, tracks chapters on one axis and characters on another, indicating what each character does / knows / believes at that point in the story.
Action & Intensity Analysis
​A graph reflecting a chapter-by-chapter rating of (physical) action and (emotional) intensity, identifying areas were the reader’s interest and engagement may fall off.
In-line Copy / Line Editing
​In-line corrections and notes related to writing style, point of view issues, and stylistic consistency and accuracy

What Matty's clients have to say ...

"In the stew that is this book, you have given me many ingredients and helped define the recipe."

Kudos for Matty's Books

The Sense of Death
​“Airtight. Crucial plot details lock into place in the denouement like the tumblers of a Diebold safe. The characters are clever, real, and enjoyable, but also organic, their emotional genuinely wrought; there is no formula for brilliant writing like this.”
—Robert Blake Whitehill, Screenwriter and Best-selling Author of The Ben Blackshaw Series

The Sense of Reckoning
“A book that proves just as keen and charming as its characters.”
—Kirkus Reviews

Rock Paper Scissors
“Dalrymple has written a fast-paced, complex thriller that can keep a reader engaged and off-kilter until its foreboding conclusion.”
—Kirkus Reviews

Snakes & Ladders
“Dalrymple’s writing is fast-paced and compelling, and her characters are human and easy to relate to.”
—Golden State Media Concepts Book Review Podcast

The Iron Ring
​“Dalrymple gives a master class in how to raise the stakes for her complex, well-drawn characters as they fight to disentangle themselves from impossible situations.”
—Lisa Regan, USA Today and Wall Street Journal Bestselling Crime Fiction Author