Welcome to Quail Run Editorial, your one-stop shop for all editorial services. We serve indie authors (those who are self-publishing), authors who are pursuing traditional publishing (pitching to agents and publishers), and publishers and presses.

Our services include ghostwriting, manuscript evaluations, developmental editing, line editing, copyediting, and proofreading.

With vetted professionals to help you with interior and cover design and marketing/publicity needs, we can guide you through every step of the process. Visit our OTHER SERVICES page.

Julie Swearingen, owner and editor, received a master’s degree in book publishing from Portland State University in 2017. She works with manuscripts in the memoir, fiction, young adult, historical romance, and middle-grade genre. Julie also works as the events manager for an independent bookstore in Bend, Oregon, where she is able to stay well informed of new releases and publishing trends, as well as facilitate a YA-centered book club.

She is a member of the Central Oregon Writers Guild, the Northwest Editors Guild, ACES: The Society for Editing, the Freelancers Union, and the Independent Book Publishers Association. Read Julie’s full bio here. 

Follow our blog posts here.

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Quail Run Bookshelf

Reviews

“Working with Julie has been a pleasure. The first thing that impressed me was how promptly she delivered her feedback. Julie conducted a thorough edit of my manuscript in three weeks. Not only did I receive well-thought-out specific comments, but she also included a lengthy editorial note, which summarized various elements of the book and offered additional suggestions, helping me as a writer. Julie’s also proven to be a valuable resource regarding “what’s next.” I trust her advice and would recommend her without hesitation.”

–Michelle Davis, author of Learning to Bend (available on Amazon) and The Dog Walkers (coming Spring 2022)


“Julie has been helping me get a book published. She is very knowledgeable and knows the answer to every question I throw at her. I would consult with her professionally on any editing or marketing project. I highly recommend.”

–Mary Medrano, artist and author of 50 Dogs 50 Tales


“Working with Julie was an amazing experience, She is diligent and committed, and her notes are on-point and delivered on time. I will gladly work with her again in the future.”

–Gustavo Rodriguez, author of The Devil They Know


“A prompt and complete edit, very useful and much appreciated.”

–David Hendrix, author of Prospector’s World

STYLIST

Seven Stitches

Ruth Tenzer Feldman

Project Management
Purchase Book

STYLIST

High-Proof PDX

Karen Locke

Marketing and Publicity
Purchase Book

STYLIST

Three Sides Water

Peter Donahue

Line Editing
Copyediting
Project Management
Purchase Book

STYLIST

Raised by Narcotics

Alyse Neibaur

Developmental Editing
Purchase Book

STYLIST

Tilikum Crossing

Donald MacDonald and Ira Nadel

Marketing and Publicity Purchase Book

STYLIST

Middle grade fiction

Svevo Brooks

Developmental Editing
currently seeking publisher

STYLIST

Untitled memoir

Carol Greenberg

Developmental Editing
soon-to-be published

STYLIST

NotForTeens

Alyse Neibaur

Developmental Editing
Purchase Book

STYLIST

The Being Zone

Marla Williams

Copyediting
Purchase Book

STYLIST

Untitled memoir

Gary D. Cole

Developmental Editing
currently seeking publisher

STYLIST

Untitled literary fiction

Gustavo Rodriguez

Line Editing
currently seeking publisher

STYLIST

Untitled nonfiction

James Nelson

Copyediting & Proofreading

STYLIST

The Dog Walkers

Michelle Davis

Developmental Editing
Publishing Spring 2022

STYLIST

The Roads We Take

Brad Jensen

Developmental Editing
currently seeking publisher

STYLIST

The Maverick

Jennifer Valenti

Developmental Editing
Purchase Book

STYLIST

Dandarah

Kathryn Young

Manuscript Evaluation & Copyediting
currently seeking representation

STYLIST

The Saint Nicholas Society

Benjamin Bongers

Developmental Editing
currently seeking representation

STYLIST

Wellsprings of Hope

Richard H. Lowery, editor

Copyediting
Purchase Book

STYLIST

Blessed Union

Sarah Griffith Lund

Copyediting
Purchase Book

STYLIST

Faith after Ferguson: Resilient Leadership in Pursuit of Racial Justice

Leah Gunning Francis

Copyediting
Purchase Book

STYLIST

Cookbook

Angela B. Cohan

Copyediting
soon-to-be published

STYLIST

Shakespeare on Ice

Jake Blake

Proofreading
Purchase Book

STYLIST

Untitled short story collection

Arianna Ruhoy

Developmental Editing
self-publishing

STYLIST

The Think Pink Line: Regulating Reproduction

Carol Curchoe

Copyediting
Purchase Book

STYLIST

Untitled memoir

Heidi Van Vleet

Developmental Editing

STYLIST

River of Lights

Melanie Dobson

Proofreading
Purchase Book

STYLIST

Mark of the Pteranodon

Mitzi Scotten

Developmental Editing
currently seeking publisher

STYLIST

Money Bay

Paul Spivack

Developmental Editing
coming Summer 2021

STYLIST

The Invitation

Michelle Davis

Developmental Editing

STYLIST

Prospector's World

David Hendrix

Copyediting
Currently seeking publisher

STYLIST

Voices Against Trafficking

Andi Buerger

Copyediting & Proofreading
Publishing December 2021

Our

Services

Manuscript Evaluation

A manuscript evaluation is usually completed before any professional editing. Because it is a high-level overview, as opposed to the more detailed developmental edit, it will cost less and include a shorter feedback letter. Manuscript evaluations are beneficial to help the author identify what works and what doesn’t, including story, structure, mechanics, characters, and genre. The evaluation is performed on a completed manuscript but does not generally include any track change markups on the document.

A manuscript evaluation can also include advice on traditional versus self-publishing, marketing, and querying.

Developmental Editing

Often the first step of editing after you complete a manuscript, a developmental edit (DE) can be one to three rounds and is collaborative—we work with the authors, as a dialogue, to strengthen your piece and your writing overall.

During a developmental edit, we are looking for inconsistencies in tone, tense, structure, characters, or intended audience. Unlike a copyedit, a DE doesn’t usually include corrections directly on the manuscript. We might highlight a paragraph that corresponds to a section of the editorial note that will be included in a completed developmental edit. We will also highlight areas where the writing is done well and how to use that to help any areas that might need improvement.

A developmental edit is focused on the big picture and direction of your work to make it the best possible version.

Line-Level Editing

Line editing, often called substantive or line-level editing, often occurs between developmental editing and copyediting. It is an intense examination of every word, sentence, paragraph, chapter, and the work as a whole. This can include heavy fact-checking and suggestions for moving or removing text. Line editing will also include more comments directly on the manuscript, in addition to an editorial note.

Copyediting

A copyedit (CE), at minimum, will address grammar, spelling, adherence to a recognized style guide (such as The Chicago Manual of Style, Associated Press Stylebook, or a house style guide when working with a publisher), and, in some cases, fact-checking of names, events, quotes, etc.

The copyedit will be the final stage of editing before the book is put into layout and design. After a copyedit, no further writing is recommended. Some aspects of copyediting are addressed in a line-level edit, but they are not the same kind of editing.

Proofreading

A proofread catches any errors introduced during final revisions or during the design process—as well as any remaining grammar or punctuation issues, misspellings, dropped words, and other typos.

Proofreading should only be done after the manuscript has been laid out during the interior design process. A proofread will be performed on a PDF copy of the interior layout so that the editor can see how the book will look when printed. No additional writing or revisions should be made once the manuscript is in the proofreading process.

Ghostwriting

Ghostwriting is very common in celebrity and political books, especially in the memoir and autobiography genre. Ghostwriting of nonfiction may involve several rounds of interviews with the author and others involved in the book.

Ghostwriting in fiction is less common and includes expanding on what the author has already written. A ghostwriter will develop the dialogue and descriptions throughout the book, without changing much of the plot, etc.

Ghostwriting does take the longestfrom several months to a year.

Our

Prices

We support authors and book projects at every stage of development. These pricing tables will give you an idea of our services. Please contact us for an initial consultation.

Editing Consultation Free (30 minutes)


Manuscript Evaluation $500 for up to 75K words

$600 for 75K—100K words

$750 for 101K—125k words

Over 125K words—contact for pricing


Developmental Editing $40/hour

estimate 50-60 hours for 75k word


Copyediting $35/hour

estimate 40 hours for 75k words


Line Editing $40/hours

estimate 50-60 hours for 75k words


Proofreading $0.02/word


Ghostwriting $50/hour

Quail Run Editorial

Let’s Work Together

We start every project with a free consultation. Tell us a little about yourself and your project, and we’ll be in touch to set up a meeting with you.

Use the form to tell us about your project, or just email us at quailruneditorial@gmail.com