Inspiration happens in relationship.
You wrote your first draft. It has glimmers of profundity. It has heart and curiosity. It also has eighty-seven non sequiturs, at least one riff where you’ve wandered into a whole other story valuable but not relevant to this one, and probably one recursion best for your therapist.
I know. I’ve been there. I made all the mistakes so you don’t have to. Whether you’re fighting with your query or doubting if your draft will ever be a published book, I’m here to ask questions that help you feel your way to the best writing you can create. The ways I love to work with writers are below.
I treat clients like friends, and writing like craft.
What we can do together.
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Developmental Editing is the eagle’s eye view. Are you clear on the heartwood of your book? Does your project, as a whole, grow from and uplift this core? How does your project’s current structure get to that heart, and where is the writing baffled? For developmental editing, we go back and forth until you’re satisfied. You’ll have a polished, skillfully shaped manuscript.
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“How even do I get published?” ~ Great question. And you have options. If you’re working on your query letter, I can help.
What Authors Say
Working with Bailey has been transformative for my writing. Her editing style feels like a conversation on the page—personal, engaged, and honest in a way that's rare among editors. Her candor comes from genuine care, offered with such love and kindness that her feedback feels nourishing and easy to receive.
Bailey brings both intellectual depth and spiritual insight to her feedback. She sees the micro and the macro simultaneously, both the sentence-level craft and the larger vision of what you're trying to create.
In working on my memoir, Bailey understood what I was trying to convey as a writer and where I was coming from as both narrator and protagonist. She gets it on a level beyond the surface, which allows her to provide feedback that's both detailed and deeply thoughtful. Her notes are so nuanced and carefully considered, far more extensive than most editors offer (and I've worked with a few!), that you can tell she invests tremendous time and heart into every comment.
You can feel that she genuinely loves the editing process itself, and that passion comes through in how she offers astute criticism wrapped in care.
Award-winning writer Summer Koester
Bailey is a skillful creatrix, genuinely wrapped in an offering of joy. They’re a real "makes you feel things" writer. This transfers well into their suite of editorial services.
The pace of our writer/editor journey was gentle… as if Bailey saw the timeline of my book more clearly than me. Without condescension, I had the support of a skilled writer and the felt sense that my project would continue to be my own.
Current Client, Jess Hench
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I am selective in which projects I choose to take on. I’m feeling for the potential for long term creative relationship: you can feel out if I’m the right editor for you just as much as I’m feeling whether I want to work on your project.
I specialize in memoir, because it’s what I love to read and my frame of reference is mighty. I do also work with select narrative nonfiction and literary fiction. Feminist and place-based fiction that reimagines the world is always welcome!
I am drawn to themes of empowerment, environmental justice, journeys of transformation, climate resilience, eating disorder recovery, and community. Oh… and please send me your witchiest!
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All projects are on a case by case basis.
Real talk: We live in a stressed out time. You may or may not be fairly remunerated for your labor, and may or may not have access to discretionary funding for the creative community required for us all to generate, revise, and ultimately share our writing.
True Cost: the Editorial Freelancers Association offers a rate calculator here.
If you are housing insecure, chronically ill, in medical debt, incarcerated or otherwise financially unstable: just tell me. If I’m a good fit for your project, we can figure something out.
If you are housing secure and have enough discretionary income to vacation at least once a year, I charge the True Cost.
If you own multiple homes, can vacation regularly, and feel secure in your financial future: I charge the True Cost and add a voluntary line item for an underwritten expense as a creative professional… for example, a month of kibble for my dog. This not only supports me, but also my ability to offer creative love and labor for folks who are not able to pay. In this way your support uplifts us all.