About

noveledit.net is the website of specialist fiction novels editor David Imrie.

David switches to the first person, because David is writing this and believes third person references to the self are best-suited to making villainous characters appear deranged.

I’ve edited a variety of literature but chose to specialise in fiction novels because I love helping to craft good stories. They contain a creative energy that fires the imagination, and for me this is at the core of the joy of reading.
As with all art forms, of course, there’s a whole bevy of technique to the delivery. The plot consistency and plausibility that facilitates reader engagement. Vibrant characters and settings to elicit empathy. Pace and hook to coax immersion. Also rich and accurate word choice, correct grammar, and the eradication of distracting errors from the manuscript.
I’d call this the storyteller’s art, and I can think of no current, successful author whose books don’t use an editor to help achieve it.

Okay, you already knew this and that’s why you were on this page in the first place. So let’s move on to the two questions you actually have:
(1) Why choose David as my editor?
(2) Would having David as my editor fall within my budget?

We’ll start with the second of those, because reality often dictates this order.
The reduced cost of living in Galicia means I can afford to work at lower rates than most editors in the UK/USA/Australia/Canada, etc.. And I do. Initially this was to ensure I got plenty of work, but latterly I’ve kept my prices relatively cheap so I can choose which projects I want to work on.
Full details of what I charge can be found, clear and upfront, on my prices page.

Now onto that first question.
I believe, and it’s been confirmed by authors, that my standout quality as an editor is that I make a thorough and often onerus process constructive and energising.
What I mean by this is not just hitting the poor author with endless volleys of red pen. I view handing back an edit that’s only criticism and mistakes-to-fix as a very negative thing that saps energy from manuscript revision. And energy is what it’s all about; fragile, easily-snuffed-out-by-the-rigours-and-demands-of-day-to-day-life creative energy. I therefore do my damnedest to give that flame oxygen rather than douse it.

Fine words! But meaning what exactly? In practical terms, what differentiates me from a lot of other editors is that as well as pointing out problems I also go the extra mile to offer actual, concrete, specific solutions like a changed block of text and references to other paragraphs and pages needing to be made consistent if you accept the change.
Sometimes an author will use these ready-made fixes. Other times they won’t, but what I’ve proposed will help explain the issue and inspire the author towards their own solution.
I do this more at the development edit stage, of course, but I maintain the same philosophy even through the copy/line edit stage – always looking for potential improvements and spelling them out in detail. Why? Because literature is so insanely competitive these days that I do not believe any stone can be left unturned: for a manuscript to stand any chance it has to be as good as both author and editor can possibly make it. Period.

Beyond this I’m an experienced, diligent fiction editor with a good grasp of detail, grammar and spelling. You can see details of the books I’ve edited on my portfolio page.

Choosing an editor for your novel is a critically important decision than can have a major bearing on your novel’s chances of success. It’s also a personal decision that can affect the joy or otherwise of writing novels. Please take a look at my testimonials page to see what authors say about me. If you want a low-cost, no-commitments way to check out how I’d edit your work then consider a sample edit.
If these things convince then the next step is to get in touch with me via the contact page.