Editing Services

Something about Mary

Mary Harris had a magical childhood in England and Germany, then she and her family returned to Wisconsin.

A graduate of University of Wisconsin/Madison and of Mallinckrodt College, Chicago, Illinois, she now lives in Chicago with her husband, children, and grandchildren.

Mary is also a freelance writer in fiction and non-fiction, and a screenwriter. Her main mantra is, “It’s all about the story.” Presently, she is Co-Executive Editor for Hidden Thoughts Press; Senior Editor, Noble Romance LLC; editor, Curiosity Quills Press; Editor, Scribe Publicity; and Head of Development for Sunset Pictures, headquartered in Los Angeles, California.

She is also a passionate believer in the Oxford comma, but allows nothing to interrupt the flow of the story.

Edits Include

Proofing for typos and grammatical needs

Word coaching as needed

Character arc and timeline consistency

Line or copy editing: grammar, syntax, flow, and logical statements; consistency of details such as place spelling, character’s eye color, etc.

Developmental editing: Character and plot developments are logical within the author’s world; writing is clear and concise; no loose ends; all or almost all questions developed throughout the book and answered in the conclusion

All editing done with Track Changes notes on a PC or a Mac

Email and/or phone calls with author to discuss and clarify edits (up to 2 hours)

Incorporation of author’s changes/clarifications/rewrites into the ms. in a clear manner

Final polish and Spellcheck