JM WINDLE EDITORIAL SERVICES
Jeanette Windle is an award-winning author with twenty-plus titles in print, including Tyndale House Publisher fiction releases Veiled Freedom, ( ECPA Christian Book Award/ Christy Award finalist), sequel Freedom’s Stand, ( ECPA Christian Book Award/Carol Award finalist/Golden Scroll finalist), Congo Dawn (Golden Scroll Novel of the Year). She is also author of several non-fiction books, including Forever Faith: The Abe Cruz Story (2021 Christian Market Awards Memoir of the Year/Golden Scroll Awards finalist) and Baker Group titles All Saints, also a Sony Affirm movie, and Forgiven: the Amish School Shooting, a Mother’s Love and a Story of Remarkable Grace (ECPA Christian Book Award/Christian Retailing Best Awards/Golden Scroll finalist).
Jeanette has more than thirty years of experience as a missions journalist and freelance editor. Jeanette is founder and editor of an international missions publication, BCM World, and has served as a fiction projector editor for Grupo Nelson, the Spanish-language division of Thomas Nelson Publishers. Jeanette is a contributing author and editor for the Christian Editor Connection, Christian Authors Network, and The Christian Communicator. She speaks extensively at Christian writers conferences and offers freelance editing, book mentoring services, manuscript review, and critique in both English and Spanish. This includes all fiction and non-fiction genres.
Jeanette offers freelance editing, book mentoring services, manuscript review, and critique in both English and Spanish. This includes all fiction and non-fiction genres excepting poetry and children’s picture books. She is also available for full collaborative titles as well as book to movie/movie to book contracts.
EXAMPLES OF WORK: For examples of Jeanette’s editing work and style, beginning excerpts/chapters of many published client titles can be read online, above all on Amazon “Look Inside” author functions. See links on Client Testimonial page (below) to such non-fiction titles as Forever Faith: The Abe Cruz Story (2021 Christian Market Award), bestselling international speaker Janet Perez’s Now I See, BGEA VP of Communication Kathy Yokeley’s Not My Plans: When God Allows A Parent’s Worse Fears to Come True, Tracy Casciano’s Out of the Darkroom into the Light (2016 Christian Small Publisher Award), Pierre Eade’s Our Good Father, Eleanor Isaacson’s Dancing from Darkness (Golden Scroll Memoir of the Year), Marriage God’s Way by Scott LaPierre, or Mary Therese Hutchinson’s A Road to Mercy, (2020 Illumination Book Awards Silver Medal, 2019 Xulon Press Christian Author Awards Bronze Medal). For missionary memoir, check out Hilda Bradney’s Do Angels Wear Overalls? and Lois Zigrang’s Who Me? Following God’s Missionary Call to the War Zones of Communist Angola. For a professional manual example, see Between Cultures: Culturally Intelligent Coaching for Missions and Ministry by Tina Horst. For fiction example, check out Brian Godawa’s bestselling Chronicles of the Apocalypse, Lisa Betz’s Death and a Crocodile (2021 Golden Scroll Novel of the Year, Gold Medal, 2021 Illumination Book Awards), Kathy Cassel’s Freerunner and A Thousand Lies (2021 and 2023 Selah Awards finalist, 2023 Christian Indie Awards finalist).
“From the first time Jeanette and I spoke about bringing my story and message of Forever Faith to the printed page, I knew GOD was part of this connection. With her experience and upbringing in different Latin countries I knew she would understand many of my challenges growing up as Latino raised by a single mother. We were on the same pages the entire project, and I knew she would bring out the best in the story. This has been demonstrated by winning two industry awards already for the finished book. I’m so grateful to have had the opportunity to work with Jeanette.”
Jeanette reserves the right to reject any manuscript project at her own discretion, including for such reasons as overt profanity, graphic sexuality, content or philosophies strongly at odds with Jeanette’s own life views as a committed Christian.
CONTACT: Contact us with your project request at jeanette@jeanettewindle.com. Though all initial contacts are preferred electronically, a phone conference can be set up if necessary to discuss your project in more depth.
MANUSCRIPT SERVICES:
Manuscript Evaluation: We offer several level of services to fit your budget.
*Initial Package: includes a line-by-line substantive critique of synopsis, and up to 10,000 words of manuscript. Typically, this package is enough to give an overview of strengths/weaknesses of the project as a whole and its marketability. FEE: $200
*Full Substantive Critique:
1) An initial read-through of the manuscript, offering line-by-line commentary. For fiction, this would include pointing out plot holes, character and event inconsistencies, problems with setting and story structure, theme development, etc. For non-fiction, this would include evaluating readability, organization of material, prose quality, reader takeaway, and more.
2) A separate detailed analysis of the project as a whole, strengths and weaknesses, marketability and what remains necessary to bring manuscript to publishable stage.
3) A follow-up teleconference to discuss manuscript, address any questions raised, brainstorm next steps (optional, but an extra step clients have found invaluable; there is no additional charge).
Typically, a 50,000 word manuscript takes around 10 hours for Full Works evaluation (an easy calculation for your manuscript is to approximate 5000 words per hour). What this does NOT include is actually rewriting the book for the author [see Copy Editing below]. FEE: $50 an hour
Project Mentoring: Many writers, especially those working on their first full-length manuscript for publication, find the back-and-forth of personal mentoring more profitable than a simple evaluation. Typically, project mentoring begins with one of the above packages, followed by a personal mentoring session by phone, going point by point through a manuscript and how the author can improve it. Rewrites can be sent back for perusal. This process can be a combination of rewrites, e-conference, and phone mentoring until the book is judged polished enough for submission. Total cost varies hugely depending on how much editing is needed and how much the author desires; the author can pull out at any time. FEE: $50 an hour
Copy Editing: The level and cost of copy editing depends entirely on how print-ready your manuscript already is. We offer three levels of copy editing. FEE: $50 an hour for all copy-editing services.
*Content Editing: Involves substantive correction of grammar, tightening and smoothing prose, necessary reorganization of material, and other general polishing to produce a print-ready manuscript while retaining the author’s own voice and writing style.
*Full Rewrite: The difference between content edit and full editorial rewrite basically involves how print ready general content is and time/willingness of author to do rewrites. If author simply has a story or material they wish to convey without investing serious time in learning the writer’s craft, a complete group effort with the author supplying core content and the editor doing a full in-depth rewrite/reorganization to produce a professional-level final text may be an effective alternative.
*Proof-reading: This offers a final read-through of a finished manuscript for typos, misspelling, basic grammar errors, inconsistencies without any alterations of author content and formatting (an added note here is that sole proof-reading can be on a case basis, but typically involves manuscripts for which a professional content editing has already be done; if a manuscript’s basic content is not edited to a publishable level, proof-reading will be declined and content edit recommended to be done first).
All editing changes will be done through the Microsoft Word Track Changes program, permitting the author to accept or reject any rewrites performed. An initial manuscript evaluation (see above) will help you determine which of these options is best for you.
Customized Editing: If you have an editing need not listed above, please contact us with your project, and we can put together a package designed specifically for your needs.
WORK-FOR-HIRE BOOK SERVICES:
COLLABORATIVE TITLE: The collaborative title (once called ghost-write) involves no need for author/client to write at all, but is in essence contracted journalism, where the co-author (editor/journalist) collects in-depth interviews, researches, and completely writes book subject to the final approval of client. Examples of Jeanette Windle collaborative titles include Baker Group titles Forgiven: The Amish School Shooting, a Mother’s Love and a Story of Remarkable Grace (ECPA Christian Book Award/Christian Retailing Best Awards) and All Saints, also a Sony Affirm movie, as well as Dancing from Darkness (2018 AWSA Golden Scroll Memoir of the Year) Najiba (the John/Jeanne Weaver/Afghanistan story), Hope Underground (the 2010 Chilean mine rescue) and Forever Faith: The Abe Cruz Story (2021 Christian Market Awards Memoir of the Year/Golden Scroll Awards finalist). Collaborative titles are fully contracted as work-for-hire projects. Inquire for specifics or sample contract.
BOOK TO MOVIE/MOVIE TO BOOK: As with collaborative titles, Jeanette Windle is available for full movie to book projects, fiction and non-fiction, as well as true life accompanying titles for movie releases. Among such true-life book/movie projects have been All Saints, a Sony Affirm movie, Forgiven: The Amish School Shooting, a Mother’s Love and a Story of Remarkable Grace (ECPA Christian Book Award/Christian Retailing Best Awards/Golden Scroll finalist) and Hope Underground (the 2010 Chilean mine rescue). Movie/book titles are fully contracted as work-for-hire projects. Inquire for specifics or sample contract.
MANUSCRIPT SUBMISSION: Do NOT submit a manuscript with initial inquiry. Electronic submission is always preferred. Double-space manuscript using 12-point Times New Roman font and standard margins on your computer. Send files as attached Word document.
PAYMENT: Do NOT submit payment with initial query. Once project request has been processed, you will receive an invoice, which can be paid through check, money order, PayPal or credit card (through PayPal). Please specify if you wish to pay by credit card or directly through PayPal to receive a secure electronic PayPal invoice (you do not need a PayPal account to pay by credit card through PayPal invoice). Retainer must be deposited before work begins. If a project runs above $500 or alternative arrangements have been made, payment may be made in installments with work continued as balance is maintained in the client’s account.