Testimonials | 3C Scribe: Freelance Fiction Editing

Monique Martin (author of the fantasy Out of Time series and the Blaze series)

"Andra is wonderful to work with. She's polite, professional, and prompt. She also has a great eye for catching those pesky typos and other mistakes that those naughty gremlins insert into our otherwise pristine work. As a bonus, she often offers detailed explanations about her notes. I don't just get a corrected manuscript, but I learn things along the way. Can't recommend her highly enough."

Cherie Claire (award-winning author of multiple historical romance novels and multiple paranormal mystery novels)

"Writing novels utilizes one part of the brain and editing the other, so it’s vital to have someone experienced to look over an author’s work, to catch errors, to fix typos, to smooth out the rough spots and help develop storylines. Freelance writer and editor Andra Paitz is one of those people, a godsend to writers who most often gloss over mistakes over no fault of their own other than using that creative side of their brain. I’ve spent years editing newspapers and felt capable of editing my own work but still missed so many mistakes. Andra came to the rescue, spotting those elusive misspellings and misuse of words. I’m eternally grateful for Andra and her excellent editing skills."

Reid Minnich (author of the fantasy series The Koinobi Trilogy)

"I thought I didn’t need an editor. I'm pretty good at punctuation and spelling, and I thought several beta readers and a grammar check program would suffice. If that is all you think you need, then you are where I was at before I met Andra. She wasn’t selling me on her services, just chit-chatting about our books at a writer’s group social. Her insights into plot and character development singled her out as someone who was accomplished at writing. I was looking for beta readers at the time and Andra volunteered.

To be clear, I have had many beta readers. Some of them are Grammar Nazis, and some of them are good with plot and character development. Andra's low-effort beta of my book pointed out miscues, ambiguous statements, character contradictions, and plot holes that dozens of beta readers had missed. Then Andra suggested she could do a real edit. The end result was a highly polished story that was more enjoyable for Grammar Nazis and pleasure readers alike."

Stacy Bender (author of the fantasy series Sav'ine)

"When Andra Paitz agreed to edit Emerald Tears, I was amazed at what she found. I had run the manuscript by several beta readers, an editing program, and an audio program. So I wasn’t expecting much. Not only did she find more spelling and punctuation errors, but a few plot holes. I’m glad she also had a few suggestions on how to fix them . . . Good editors like Andra Paitz are hard to find."

Sam Howard (author of Angel's Kiss, an erotic fantasy novel)

"Finding reliable beta readers is daunting, but finding a beta reader as comprehensive and helpful as Andra is rare. Andra was a godsend. As a new novelist, I benefited immensely from her experience and expertise in improving my manuscript and my craft in general. Timely, yet thorough, she offered an abundance of insightful feedback regarding content with emphasis on plot and character development, pacing, and forming that ever-so-important connection with my readers (and managed to do so with good humor). I will definitely seek her out in the future and enthusiastically recommend her services to any writer looking for an honest critique of their work."

Elaine Leung-Wolf (author of the memoir At Stage 4’s Door)

"Andra’s feedback was insightful, clear, and informative. As a first-time author and memoirist, her ability to explain the reasons behind her suggestions in concrete ways has helped me to improve the quality of my writing. I feel that she gets right into the crux of the issue whether it is content, sentence structure, or word choice. Andra was also generous with her time, giving me an overview of her editorial process.

As a conservatory-level instructor of piano, I appreciate both the detail and the depth to which Andra feels the pacing and structure of what we worked on; there are many similarities to a musical composition. I am very much looking forward to working with Andra as I complete my first draft."

Larry Warkoczeski (author of historical fiction novel the final commandment)

"From my experience with agents and others in the industry, you have shown passion and commitment to growing writers like I have not seen before. It is consistent with the feedback I read on your web site from other writer clients. So, when I say thank you, I truly mean it."

Alexandra Couch (author of fantasy novel Unforeseen)

"Andra was an absolute joy to work with! I had a 130,000-word manuscript that I wanted to trim to 100,000 words. Andra was able to offer multiple solutions on what to cut, which was no easy feat, and we worked together to find the edits that worked best for my story. Also, grammar has never been my strong suit, and Andra identified common errors in my writing and helped me to understand the rules that have often eluded me. Her editing was top quality; she looked at the plot's overall content and made suggestions on what should be changed or moved around, or when characters were acting out of character. She also explained what agents and publishers were looking for and suggested changes to make my work more appealing and polished. Overall, my writing has drastically improved from working with her, and I could not recommend Andra enough."

Steven Yamaguchi (author of the literary fiction novel Code Maize)

"I really needed some expert advice and honest feedback about my writing. Andra was very thorough in her review and gave me the most honest editorial comments. She was complementary at times but most importantly told me what needed to be changed which, as a first-time writer, was a lot. I value her opinion, and I have been rewriting my novel and hope to have Andra revisit my new edition…"

Christopher Stevens (author of the literary fiction novel Mindful Absentology)

"Thank you so much. The feedback you provided is unbelievably helpful. Every worry I had about my manuscript was addressed perfectly. You've also given me plenty to think about moving forward. The advice you offered was brilliant. Again, thank you."

Amy Whalen (author of the mystery novel Stumbling All In)

"I can't really express how lovely it's been to work with someone that takes the fear out of being critiqued for the first time. Not only do I love the improvements to this story, I've learned so much about writing in the process."

Here's your reward for scrolling all the way to the bottom: a picture of my ink collection.