As well as being a published writer, I am a freelance editor working independently. I  also carry out editing work for Bridge House Publishing.

I am a member of the Society of Authors and the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading. More on editing services below.

I am also happy to give talks (in person and online) and have judged writing competitions. I am also happy to speak about flash fiction, its benefits, and run workshops.

SPEAKING AND WORKSHOPS

ALLISON SYMES – WRITING BACKGROUND

I am a blogger on Chandler’s Ford Today, usually writing on topics of interest to other writers.

I’m also a published short story writer and flash fiction fan. My work has appeared online and in print via Bridge House Publishing, Cafelit, and Chapeltown Books.

The latter published my first flash fiction collection, From Light to Dark and Back Again, in 2017 (book trailer below).

My second flash fiction collection, Tripping the Flash Fantastic, will be published by Chapeltown Books later in 2020.

My third flash fiction collection has been given approval by Chapeltown Books and will be out in due course.

For details of my published works, please see my Amazon Author Central Page.

I have also written for online magazines – Chandler’s Ford Today on topics of interest to writers (weekly). I have also had a flash fiction column (monthly) for now defunct Mom’s Favorite Reads (though it is available on Amazon).

I am now part of the editorial team and a regular contributor to monthly online magazine, Writers’ Narrative. This is written by writers for writers and is packed full of useful advice. To sign up (for free) please go to http://subscribepage.io/WritersNarrative

TALKS AND WORKSHOPS

I would be happy to give talks on the following:-

Flash fiction – what is it? What appeal has it for readers/writers?

Writing for online and print markets

Writing for competitions

Blogging – what is it? What appeal does it have for readers/writers?

What to look for when writing for the indie press

The Pitfalls – watching out for the scams in the publishing industry

Developing a writing career – things to consider

Why Writers Need Readers (and not just for the obvious reason!)

Editing – The View From Both Sides of the Fence (I have given this workshop at The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick in 2022 and 2023).

I would also be happy to run workshops on the following:-

Flash fiction – setting various exercises

How to prepare stories for submission to competitions and what to look for when submitting work.

Blogging – why do it? How it helps you as a writer. The idea here would be to work out what YOU could do with a blog of your own.

Editing – see above. Can give many useful tips here from the viewpoint of an author, an editor, and as a competition judge.

Photo credit:  Image below taken by Julia Pattison at The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick (2023) at my editing workshop. Many thanks to her.

Contact Info

I can be contacted at:-

Email: allisonsymeswriter@gmail.com

Via Facebook Author page – https://www.facebook.com/Allison.Symes.FairytaleLady/

Also via  From Light to Dark and Back Again Facebook page –
https://www.facebook.com/fairytaleladyallisonsymes/

EDITING SERVICES

As a freelance editor, I can offer the following services for flash fiction and short story collections, for novellas and novels:-

STRUCTURAL EDIT

The structural edit is an overview of your novel/novella/collection.

A detailed report would be provided covering topics including:-

• Is the story/character arc etc believable?
• Are there any plot holes?
• Does the theme come across well?

I would also look at each chapter or story as a single “unit” and analyse where it could be stronger/weaker.

• Is the ending appropriate and satisfying?
• Does the ending fulfil the promise of the opening?
• Are the characters true to themselves? (If they act out of character is there a good reason for it?)
• What is the point of view? Is it consistent? Is there any “head hopping”?
• Is the pace appropriate for the story?
• Is there the right level of tension and drama for the story?
• Does dialogue sound realistic? Does it sound clunky?
• Does dialogue move the story onwards?
• Are any characters telling other characters what they should already know?
• Does the story flow well? Are there any tangents that need to be cut out?
• Is there enough back story to make sense but not so much it swamps the main point of the story?
• Where there are subplots do these make sense? Do they complement the main story? Are there any loose ends?

I would make suggestions for where the story could be improved.

Price:  Based on my hourly rate, your word count, and time scale required for work.

Am happy to carry out a structural edit on your first three chapters only though do bear in mind if your story hinges on a major plot twist after that point, I won’t be able to assess it. Having said that, work carried out on the first three chapters can still be a useful indicator to you.

COPY-EDITING

This would include ideas on how to strengthen your work and to give it an “edge” as a result.  I would also be looking for consistency. For example I would highlight if a character name changes halfway through your novella and that kind of thing. It happens! I would also be looking for grammatical and spelling errors. This is a line by line edit.

Price:  Based on my hourly rate, your word count, and time scale required for work.

Bear in mind, this type of editing cannot be as thorough as a structural edit. To be fair, it is not meant to be! Where this edit is especially useful is when you know you have the structure right, but where you need an independent view to pick up on things you would miss, being too close to your own work (as we all are).

PROOFREADING

This is the final stage of any editing work to make sure your work is as perfect as possible. Again this is a line by line task and again takes time.

Price:  Based on my hourly rate, your word count, and time scale required for work.

I am happy to offer a 10% discount for repeat business, regardless of what type of editing you select.

If you decided you wanted the “whole bundle”  I would be happy to price up each type of edit and then apply a discount to the whole. The “whole bundle” would obviously take longer than, say, proofreading so my quote to you would factor in the time needed to carry out the job (as you would expect).

Payment would need to be by BACS or by cheque and I would email an invoice. Later once the work was completed, I would issue a receipted invoice. I would need payment to be in before releasing documentation back to you but I would be available for queries after you have had the opportunity to go through what I have returned.

I use the Comments function on Word for all kinds of editing. I do not alter the documentation itself. The Comments function is useful in that I can flag up to you what needs changing and you can work your way through easily following those flags.

Time scales to be agreed as part of the quote procedure. I would need you to give me an indication of when you need the work back by.

If you have any queries on the above, please do email me.

Good editing does make a huge difference to your work. (Oh and can competition judges tell where someone is at with their writing based on story submissions? Yes, it shows up in how well the author has edited their work – or not).