Helen Woodhouse | Fiction copyeditor and proofreader | Romance | Women's fiction | Mysteries | Thrillers

I love a good story. And I love words and how the different ways you can put them together can alter the tone and voice of a story.

I am also that person who will flick back in a book to check a family tree, map or timeline.

After 25 years as a lawyer (where a keen eye for detail was a necessity), and better late than never, I discovered that the things that I love are the ideal complement to the creative work produced by authors like you.

I’ll not judge you by any mistakes or inconsistencies – we all make them, and by looking for someone to go through your manuscript and check for those before you commit to printing it, you’re taking a sensible step.

Fiction editing

I specialise in editing at a sentence level, which could be:

• Line editing or copyediting – the stage after you’ve got your story straight and are happy that you’ve dealt with any big issues that may have been raised by beta readers. I’ll look at spelling, grammar and punctuation, and also check for consistency in language, style, plot, characterisation and timeline.
• Proofreading – the final step before you commit to printing, after you’ve dealt with any issues raised in the previous rounds of editing.  I'll check for anything that may have been missed and go through any changes you needed to make.

To chat about what you might need, you can contact me through my website. My rates are aligned to the CIEP’s suggested minimum rates, so you could have a look at those while you’re on this site.

Training

I love to learn. I always have a dictionary, thesaurus and style guide to hand, and my natural curiosity will send me off googling all sorts of details (which will no doubt have confused the algorithm), all in the interests of helping you present a polished novel and ensuring that your readers stay immersed in your story.

I’m also a keen follower of reading, writing, editing and publishing podcasts and YouTube channels, and I enjoy a good webinar.

The formal courses I’ve taken so far are:

• Becoming a Proofreader (Distinction) – Knowadays
• Introduction to Fiction Editing – CIEP
• Proofreading 1: Introduction – CIEP
• Proofreading 2: Headway (Merit) – CIEP

Genres

My bookshelves and Kindle account (other eBook services are available) carry an eclectic collection of genres – a story well told in any genre is a good one. I do, however, find myself drawn to cosy crime, mysteries, thrillers, historical fiction, women’s fiction and romance, which is mostly what I’ve worked on. If you’ve written a thrilling historical whodunnit set in a small village with a strong female lead and a will-they-won’t-they subplot, then I want in!

Testimonials

I've certainly enjoyed the work I've done for my clients – indie authors and publishers, including Stratosphere Books and the award-winning Boldwood Books – so it’s wonderful to hear that it’s been appreciated:

I've long since lost count of how many copyeditors I've worked with in my career but I've never come across anyone as good at her job as Helen Woodhouse. She is absolutely outstanding!... What struck me most was that she can not only 'hear' an author's voice, she can make editorial suggestions that are actually in tune with it. In my experience, that's quite extraordinary.

Alison Roberts, romance author

Helen was incredibly thorough and thoughtful in her comments. They were framed with queries where needed to clarify what was/might be needed. Her contributions really improved the flow of the book.

Kate Dulson, contemporary fiction author

You are a fantastic editor with a great eye for detail and you're a mine of information.

Chrissie Walsh, historical saga author

I very much enjoyed working with you and I hope our schedules align again on future books in the series.

Sarah Bennett, romance author

Thanks so very much for all your hard work. I really did find it very useful. And particularly your advice re the timeline. That was important.

John Nicholl, thriller author

It was a pleasure to work with Helen. Her keen eye and thoughtful comments have really helped to improve the manuscript. Her approach is very much to enable the story to be told clearly and in the writer’s own voice. I was also hugely grateful to her for picking up a location error, and I’m now very confident with the finished book. I do hope to work with her again.

Kate Galley, women’s fiction author

Helen's proofreading goes far beyond expectations! Her work on my drafts has been excellent, her attention to detail is superb and I don't think I've ever disagreed with any of her suggestions, which are always phrased courteously and always definitely improve the text, and the story itself. Thank you, Helen!

Sheila Norton, women’s fiction author

• Editor
• Proofreader

• Fiction
• Crime, mystery & thriller
• Historical fiction
• Romance

• Book publishers
• Indie authors

• Content marketing