Near Gardner, Colorado. ©2006 by C. Daniel Miller. Used with permission.

Integrated Writer Services, LLC (IWS) provides professional manuscript assessment, editing, copyright clearance, and consulting services for writers of both fiction and nonfiction works. We help both unpublished writers and seasoned authors polish their manuscripts prior to submitting their work to publishers. We also can provide special assistance and consulting services to authors who intend to independently publish their works. And, we are happy to receive referrals from small presses, independent publishers, traditional publishers, and print-on-demand (POD) publishers.

We begin every editing project with a critical, objective reading of the entire manuscript in order to make an assessment of the work as a whole. We have an advantage over the author in making such an assessment: we will only read what the author actually wrote, not what he or she intended to write! IWS editors will provide honest constructive feedback on how well the manuscript is put together and which segments or aspects of the work require additional work either before and/or during the editing process.

Go to Estimates for an explanation of the method we use to determine the fee for this service.

After the objective manuscript review has been completed, we will be able to tell the author which of the following four types of manuscript editing services he or she will need.

• Copyediting or light editing
• Substantive Editing, also called content editing
• Developmental Editing that includes changes at the paragraph, chapter, and book levels

IWS also provides the following support services:

• Copywriting to create cover copy that will make a positive first impression on the sales rack
• Ghostwriting on selected topics
• Copyright clearance review to determine which items in a manuscript require rights clearance
• Copyright Clearance that includes research to locate the owner and administrator of rights to a copyrighted item and to identify possible alternatives if rights cannot be obtained for the initial item
• Consultation and project management of the independent publishing process