Taller Books offers a professional editing service for indie authors. We specialise in working with you to make sure your indie-published book is as good as it can be, while respecting and enhancing your vision, and focusing on the story you want to tell.
We want to make sure your finished manuscript reflects your storytelling skills and ambitions. We love interesting and unique stories, and we understand that you bring your own experiences and vision to the creation of your book. We won’t push you to fit your book to a pre-defined formula – we’ll work with you to perfect the story you want to tell.
Our Experience
Before writing the Battle Ground Series, Rachel spent many years working as an editor and copywriter for national and in-house magazines, and editing educational resources for schools, universities, and charities. She has a BTEC Postgraduate Diploma in Copywriting, a Masters Degree in Science Fiction Studies, and a track record of helping indie authors to achieve their goals. She has written and edited all eight books in the award-winning Battle Ground Series, and is currently working on a new stand-alone novel.
Rachel reads and reviews Young Adult fiction on the Taller Books blog, as well as providing ARC reviews to NetGalley and indie authors. She loves discovering new authors and new books, and recommending them to anyone who will listen!
What We Offer
We specialise in editing Young Adult fiction and Science Fiction – whether that’s a series, a single novel, or a novella, short story, or story collection. If you’d like us to edit something outside these genres, give us a shout and we’ll take a look. We’re not here to polish your manuscript for an agent – we’re here to help you produce the final version of your book, ready for typesetting, design, and upload to your chosen indie publishing platform.
We love indies, and we want to send great, high-quality indie-authored books out into the world!
We can also provide a cover quote or launch-week review for your book, and we’re always thrilled to receive paperback copies of the books we’ve worked on.
Working With Us
If you choose to use our editing services, we’ll ask you to send us a sample of your book before we settle on a price or a deadline. We’ll edit the sample, and send it back to you. If you don’t agree with the edits we make to your sample, you are under no obligation to use us for your full edit. There is a small charge for this service, but it ensures that both parties are happy to continue to a full edit.
If we don’t think we’re a good match for your writing based on your sample, we’ll let you know. If we think the editing process is likely to take longer than our usual estimate, we’ll get in touch and talk things through with you.
At every stage, you are in control. If you’re unhappy with any of our editing suggestions, you are free to disregard them. This is your book, and you always have the final say.
What To Expect
We ask you to send us the manuscript you are happy with. We’re not writing the book with you, or for you – we’re taking your best words and making sure they match your vision for the story.
We describe our editing process as an extremely thorough proof-read. We’ll approach your book as a reader, and notice places where wording, grammar, and spelling can be tightened, clarified, or improved. We’ll also note plot holes, characters acting out of character, and anywhere where the narrative is confusing or contradicts itself. We’ll comment if we think there are changes you can make to improve the structure or emphasis of the story, or recommend changes to voice or tense that might enhance the reading experience. In short, we’ll pick out anything that might throw a reader out of your story, and suggest a way to improve it.
We work in UK/British English as standard, so please let us know if your book requires editing for another marketplace. For spelling and usage we use the Oxford English Dictionary. For knotty grammar questions, we refer to New Hart’s Rules and the Cassell Guide to Common Errors in English.
The Process
Drop us an email, and let us know about your book – genre, length, and a brief synopsis. We’ll respond with payment details for the sample edit, and a request for the sample of your book. When we receive payment and the sample as requested, we’ll take a look as soon as we can. We’ll let you know how long you’ll need to wait for the return of the edited sample.
When you receive our suggested edits, we’ll also send you a time estimate for the full edit, and a quote for the work. Then it’s over to you! If you’re happy to work with us, drop us another email and let us know. We’ll put your book in the diary, and work on it as soon as possible. We’ll try to fit around your deadlines and publication plans, although this will depend on our workload and cannot be guaranteed. We promise to keep you informed.
If we’re not sure about something in your manuscript, we’ll email you for clarification. We’ll work with you to make sure our edits fit your vision, and we’re happy to talk via email or Zoom to make sure we understand your requirements.
We’re happy to collaborate with you, and to make sure the finished edit reflects your ambitions for your book.
Testimonials
We love working with Indie authors. Find out what our editing clients have to say about working with us!
Contact Us
If you’d like to send us a sample for a test edit, or you have questions about our editing service, drop an email to rachel.churcher@tallerbooks.com, or use the button below.
We love meeting authors! We’re happy to talk through the editing process, and to hear about your ambitions for your book. We can’t wait to hear from you!