Our Services
The Story Witches provide editing services for fiction writers in the genres of fantasy and science fiction. We are a team of three women offering one-to-one help to authors, from coaching to developmental editing to copy editing. Whether you're looking to polish your manuscript for submission or need ongoing support throughout the writing process, we can help.
Story Coaching
The coaching sessions offer two approaches: short coaching, which focuses on planning a story from its premise to a scene-by-scene outline, ensuring a solid structure before writing begins; and long coaching, which extends support throughout the drafting process. Both approaches aim to streamline and enhance the writing process.
Developmental Editing
Unlock tailored support to refine your unique story's narrative. Through collaborative story crafting, work closely with the editor to enhance your vision with structural guidance on plot, pacing, character development, and world-building. Get feedback beyond surface critiques, delving into character motivations and narrative coherence, with ongoing revision support to polish manuscripts into compelling stories.
Line Editing
Refine your clunky draft through line editing. Beyond grammar and spellchecking, enhance your prose, improve flow, and ensure clarity while preserving your unique voice. This service includes polishing and feedback on your novel’s opening pages—helping you refine your writing independently—or comprehensive line editing for the entire manuscript.
Ready To Bring Your Story To Life?
Fair & Accessible Pricing for Writers Everywhere
We believe every writer deserves access to quality support to tell their story, no matter where they live. To make our services affordable and fair, we offer region-based pricing that considers local economic conditions. Below, you’ll find our pricing tiers based on different regions:
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High-income countries – 50€ / hour
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Middle-income countries – 40€ / hour
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Lower-income countries – 30€ / hour
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Not sure which category applies to you? Click here to check.
Our pricing system relies on the World Bank's income classification.
Pricing Breakdown
The Story Witches Services
Story Coaching
There are two ways we can approach our coaching sessions. The first is short coaching, where we focus on planning your story. A well-structured plan can make your writing process faster and more efficient. If you know where your story begins, where it ends, and have at least a rough idea of what happens in between, you’ll have a strong foundation before you start writing.
Our planning process starts from the very beginning, even if you’ve already written a first draft. We’ll discuss key elements such as your story’s premise, genre, target audience, point of view, narrator, and, most importantly, the plot. Then, we’ll structure your story using the three-act framework, identifying major plot points to ensure a solid narrative arc. Once these elements are in place, we’ll break the story down scene by scene—even for picture books. After that, it’s your turn to write!
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The second option is long coaching, which extends beyond planning to support you throughout the writing process. Once your plan is set, we’ll continue meeting regularly—weekly or bi-weekly, depending on your schedule—until your first draft is complete. You’ll submit scenes (up to 2,000 words per week), and I’ll provide feedback focused on storytelling rather than grammar. We’ll assess whether your writing aligns with your plot, if dialogues are natural and necessary, if settings and characters are well developed, and whether pacing and language suit your story.
Throughout our sessions, I can also provide useful resources like character sheets, POV exercises, and journaling prompts to support your progress. Whether you choose short or long coaching, my goal is to help you bring your story to life with confidence and clarity.
Let's embark on a journey of creativity together!
- Isabella, your Story Coach
Developmental Editing
Crafting a compelling narrative is an intricate endeavor—one that requires both skill and vision. As a developmental editor specializing in speculative fiction, including fantasy, science-fiction, and horror, I offer a range of services tailored to help authors refine their stories and unleash their full potential.
Collaborative Story Crafting: I believe that every story is unique, and as such, it deserves a tailored approach. Through collaborative sessions, I work closely with authors to understand their vision, identify strengths, and address areas for improvement. Together, we'll shape your narrative, ensuring that it remains true to your creative vision while maximizing its impact on readers.
Structural Guidance
The structure of a story is its backbone—it provides the framework upon which the narrative unfolds. I strongly believe that there is no one-fits-all structure, and that each story needs a structure that elevates its uniqueness. Drawing upon my expertise as both an author and editor, I offer comprehensive structural guidance to help authors navigate plot arcs, character development, pacing, and world-building. Whether you're starting from a zero-draft or fine-tuning a completed manuscript, I'll provide actionable feedback to strengthen your story's foundation.
Thorough Feedback and Revision Support
With a keen eye for detail and a commitment to excellence, I provide thorough feedback that goes beyond surface-level critiques. From character motivations to narrative coherence, I'll delve deep into your manuscript, offering insightful suggestions for improvement. Additionally, I offer ongoing revision support, guiding authors through the revision process to ensure that their stories evolve into polished masterpieces.
Author-Centric Approach
Above all, I prioritize clear communication and collaboration throughout the editing process. Your story is your own, and my role is to support and empower you in bringing it to life. Whether you're a seasoned author or a debut novelist, I'm here to provide the guidance, encouragement, and expertise you need to succeed.
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Ready to Elevate Your Story?
Let's Connect: If you're ready to take your manuscript to the next level, I'm here to help. Let's collaborate to transform your story into a captivating masterpiece that resonates with readers. Reach out today, and let's embark on this journey together.
Let's collaborate to elevate your story, from zero-draft to your unique vision!
- Claire, your Developmental Editor
Line Editing
You have written your story, created a thrilling plot, let your characters grow, went through the climax to the end, edited until everything was in its place and are now sitting on a finished draft. But somehow your story doesn’t flow or feels clunky? Don’t worry, this is normal and I’m here to help you.
Line Editing - Language as a communication tool
I provide one of the last editing steps of your novel, the line editing. Going beyond spellchecking and weeding out grammatical problems, I want to help you find your voice and write beautiful, effective prose that communicates your story in the way you had in mind. The flow of the story is one of my main priorities. I will make sure that your scenes are connected, that every paragraph leads to the next, every sentence flows. I will find repetitions, superfluous words, unnecessary dialogue tags, I will go which hunting for you and replace every weak verb that comes my way. All while making sure to preserve your unique writing style and keep the narrator’s voice consistent. I offer two types of services: polishing and feedback on the beginning of your story and comprehensive line editing of your entire manuscript.
Line editing the first pages
It is said that the first four pages of a novel can already tell you about the quality, which is why I offer to make your beginning as solid as possible. This option is for you, if you want to continue editing your novel yourself according to my guidelines and are maybe on a tighter budget. I will provide thorough feedback and instructions on how to fix the problems that I found in your writing, so you can continue on your own.
Line editing the entire manuscript
I also offer editing the entire manuscript for you, so you won’t have to do any line editing yourself. There is of course the option to combine the two offers in case you want to first get an idea of my work and if you feel that my services are helpful, you can come back and ask me to finish the manuscript. Either option includes a personal discussion about your story, the feeling you want to get across, and the style you have in mind, in order for me to stay true to your vision.
For science fiction writers: Ask an astronomer!
Through my background in astronomy and my years as a researcher, I can also offer feedback on scientific aspects in your stories when it comes to astronomy and physics. Although speculative fiction allows the imagination to run free, including realistic aspects can make your story more impactful.
I focus on fantasy and science fiction stories, but if you have a different genre in mind, just contact me and we can discuss. Through my background in astronomy, I also offer feedback on scientific aspects in science fiction stories, if you’re interested. I’m looking forward to reading your story.
When every word has its place, every sentence leads to the next, and your unique voice comes through, your story will reach others.
- Josie, your Line Editor
