I’m Sam MacIlwaine, and I’m a professional book editor.

“Sam is a wonderfully sharp editor who delivers her thoughts with clear direction, compassion, and enthusiasm. She has a brilliant, story-oriented mind and is mindful of the entire shape of your novel while offering moment-by-moment feedback. Sam seamlessly fixed plot holes and brainstormed the perfect suggestions for clunky moments that I was having trouble with. Sam is the perfect editor to turn to when you need a fresh set of eyes to offer the shifts that will turn a book from ‘nearly there’ to a solid, finished product.”

— Tallen Gabriel, YA fiction author, 
represented by Stonesong Literary Agency

“Sam was an excellent resource for me and my manuscript. The feedback Sam gave me was thoughtful, clear, and showed a great attention to detail and care. Sam was excellent at communicating feedback and my manuscript will be better for it!”

—Abigail Franke, fantasy writer

“Sam was the perfect editor for the job and gave me outstanding feedback on my manuscript. Her quick turnaround time and brilliant insights truly blew me away. Sam's observations and big-picture suggestions allowed me to view my book with new eyes, and revise it to make it stronger and more compelling. She has a deep understanding of the art of storytelling and how to connect with the reader, which was evident in the helpful, concise ideas she communicated to me. Her feedback is invaluable and will give me the boost I need to further polish my book so it can reach its full potential. Thank you, Sam!”

— Fallon Rowe, adventure memoirist

Rhythm. Tension. Momentum. I love books that feel addicting enough to pull me away from my life as a rock climber and into their worlds.

My editing is a holy task. What keeps the reader obsessed with your story? Is there always something that you withhold from them, to keep them intrigued, hungry, feral for the answer?

Tension is a delicate magic that all bestselling authors know how to balance throughout their chapters. Those last-sentence revelations: Do they actually slap the reader in the face, or are they accidentally softened by the errant cliché?

Before you start another round of edits or move forward in the publishing process, you deserve to know your story’s strengths, its weaknesses, and how to fix what’s just not working.

Let’s get your book ready for publication.

  • In a full manuscript evaluation, you’ll receive a one-page report from me on the high-level elements of your story, with a focus on plot, pacing, beginning, ending, and character development.

    The goal of this evaluation is to identify structural weaknesses and provide solutions so you can make those changes before you move into more granular edits.

    This service will include a 30-minute video call to go over each part of my feedback and answer any lingering questions you have.

    This is the ideal service for an author who wants to regain momentum and get a fresh, professional perspective on their completed draft.

    Price: $0.03 per word

    Turnaround time: 6 weeks

  • Need feedback quickly? This includes everything in the Full Manuscript Evaluation, with a high-priority timeline.

    Price: $0.05 per word

    Turnaround time: 3 weeks

  • In a full developmental edit, you’ll receive in-depth comments and suggestions via a Google Doc on each page of your manuscript. The focus here is on style, pacing, and tightening up each scene and chapter.

    By the end of this process, your story will be polished and ready to submit to agents and publishers.

    This includes a 30-minute video call with me at the beginning of the process to identify what type of feedback would be most helpful to you.

    Price: $0.07 per word

    Turnaround: 6 weeks

Contact Me

Email: samantha [at] macilwaine [dot] com
Subject: Editing Inquiry

In your email, tell me about your book.

  • Genre

  • Word count

  • Age of your audience

  • 1-2 sentence synopsis

You’ll receive a message back within 3 days.