Editorial services

In addition to Marie's writing and her work editing anthologies for various publishers (including Titan Books, Simon and Schuster, Constable and Robinson/Little Brown, Running Press), Marie also undertakes freelance proofreading and editing work, either directly or through Reedsy - both for various independent publishers over the years and for individual authors upon request. To work with Marie through Reedsy, please click on the link below, or to work with her directly, scroll further down the page for contact details.

Marie was commissioning editor for the British Fantasy Society's Dark Horizons and also their news magazine Prism at various points during her tenure on the BFS Committee (her last four years were as Chair), and she co-edited her first anthology, BFS: A Celebration, there. She also taught various creative writing courses for one of the UK's writing periodicals for fifteen years (for contractual reasons, Marie is unable to specify which one) and saw many of her students go on to become regularly published and, in some cases, win awards and competitions. She is also Managing Editor of PS Publishing's novella imprint, Absinthe Books.

A holder of two British Fantasy Awards, Marie's writing and editing has received nominations for the Australian Shadow Award, British Fantasy Award, and Shirley Jackson Award.

If you'd like Marie to help you with your writing project, please email editorial@marieoregan.net to discuss further and request a quote. The areas where Marie is able to help include the following:

  • Query letter review - help with preparing your submission package to an editor or agent
  • Manuscript critique - report on how well your story works, or doesn't. Identifies problem areas.
  • Story development - suggestions on how to fix problem areas
  • Editing - complete editing service; copyedit, line edit, structural edit
  • Proofreading - complete check for spelling, punctuation and grammatical errors (in conjunction with editing service)

Prices are bespoke, and tailored to the individual's needs, but in general an editing, proofreading or critique service will be priced at between £10 to £30 per 1,000 words depending on how much work is needed on the project. For smaller projects, such as the query letter review, an hourly rate of £50 an hour will apply.

Once a price has been agreed, payment must be made and work will be completed within an agreed time frame. Whatever option you choose, you will receive a detailed report of where work is needed, errors need correcting, what does and doesn't work. Although Marie can't guarantee publication, you'll have everything you need to be able to progress your project towards submission to a publisher or agent, or the market of your choice.