Lively Margins

Get Your Writing Growing!

Welcome

In the great garden of creative works, the strongest, hardiest, most vibrant specimens are the ones that catch the eye. Just as an attentive gardener prunes and nourishes a plant to optimize its growth, so too can clever editing nourish your sprouting creative work, helping it grow into the strongest, most engaging piece possible.

I offer a range of services designed to get your writing project into peak form. Whether you’re a publisher, independent author, blogger, or an individual with a personal or professional project, I’m here to help you realize your writing goals.

Please take a look at my services page, and let me know how I can help you. Not sure what exactly your latest project needs? I can help with that too. Contact me and we’ll develop a plan together.

Happy Writing!

Nicole Saunders
Owner, Editor

Services

As a lifelong bibliophile and all-around lover of the written word, I enjoy working in many mediums and welcome a variety of projects. Please see my services page for a more robust discussion of each service indicated below.

Developmental Editing

Developmental editing looks at the big-picture components of a work, especially content and structure.

Line Editing

Line editing is a line-by-line pass through a work to optimize language usage, flow, and the way sentences relate to one another.

Copyediting

Copyediting eliminates error and imposes consistent style and usage. Copyediting work varies by degree—heavy, medium, or light.

Ghost Writing

Ghost writing is writing for hire with no claim to a byline or publication rights. It may include generating a first draft or rewriting an existing draft, in whole or part.

What about substantive editing, content editing, manuscript editing, etc.? The great irony of the editing profession is that no two authorities seem to use exactly the same jargon or define different types of editing exactly the same way. Substantive editing, for instance, primarily comprises of the substantial reorganization of sentences, paragraphs, and even extended passages. Some consider it to be a component of (or even synonymous with) line editing, while others consider it to exist in the space between developmental editing and line editing (or developmental editing and copyediting). For another example, content editing is another term for developmental editing. Regardless of the jargon used, nuanced preferences regarding the exact components of an editing pass can almost always be accommodated. The most important thing is that editor and client are in agreement regarding the work to be done.