My editing schedule for 2025 is full.
Please email if you wish to be placed on my waiting list or check in here on January 5, 2026!

I offer developmental editing, line edits, and proofreading for single poems, chapbooks, and full length books. I am an experienced poet and editor with years of experience critiquing and editing poetry, both formal and free verse.

As chief editor and founder of Autumn Sky Poetry DAILY, I have over ten years of experience with editing and interpreting poems. As Site Administrator of Poets.org’s online forum from 2006-2012, I have experience guiding online workshop critique. For more information about my writing credentials and awards, please see my About page.

What do I offer?
… a personalized experience
… close attention to detail
… knowledge of poetic forms, both free verse and formal

I usually do both line edits and developmental editing at the same time. Line edits include a detailed read of each poem with comments on word choice, line breaks, meter, grammar, punctuation, etc. Developmental edits include comments about the collection as a whole and suggestions for improvement.

If I believe a poem is well-written, I will not write criticism simply for the sake of commenting. My value is the experience I bring to the table.

I am available to edit using most online editing tools (Microsoft Word, Text Edit, Apple Pages, Google Docs, etc.). If you prefer the old-fashioned mode (i.e. paper and pen) we can discuss that in the initial inquiry.

My editing philosophy — I edit to make your poems your best work, not to rewrite them. To that end, I offer suggestions and clear guidance. I believe that editing a work of poetry involves a dialogue rather than criticism.

Client testimonials — “I could not possibly be more pleased with both the process and the results of working with you. My manuscript is all the better for it.” -Dale A. Lombardi, author of Cloud and Bone

“It’s been absolutely fantastic working with you. Your editing has been so insightful and really elevated the collection; I’m incredibly grateful.” -Melanie Knight, author of Free to a Bad Home

“Thank you! Your insights and your beautiful foreword have exceeded my hopes for this collaboration. I agree 100% with your gentle feedback and am enthusiastically making every change you suggested because all your suggestions are spot on!” -Tracy Rittmueller, author of Still Life, Broken and Repaired

“Thank you for your astute reading and diligent editing of my poems. Your insight and precision have strengthened my work, and your encouragement has given me the confidence to submit them for publication. I can’t thank you enough for your critical yet generous commentary!” -Catherine Rogers, author of Major Arcana

“I am so excited with the work you have done. It was a masterclass. You did it with such gentleness and kindness that I never felt anything but love in your suggestions for my poetic lines. ” -Bill Quinn

“It’s a bit unsettling at first to have someone take your writing as seriously as you do. But sometime during the multiple rounds of revision and Christine’s expert comments, you get over it. You learn to trust her eye for the ill-fitted phrase, her ear for your favorite line’s rhythm. Her guidance on line and stanza breaks, on cohesive imagery, point you toward a more polished draft. Just what I needed.” -Ken Hines

“I was delighted and energized by your keen and charitable scrutiny of my early draft. Your editorial guidance steered my poem, with alert eyes and steady hand, to a place where it could flourish and thrive. You perceived and respected where my poem was coming from: in form, in idiom, and in over-all tone. You always kept the good of the poem in mind, and coaxed it toward a sharper focus, a livelier phrasing, a fresher word or cadence. Thank you so much!” -Thomas DeFreitas, author of Longfellow, Tell Me

“Exactly what a developmental editor should do with a work and poet in their hands. You will be rewarded by her sensitivity, her process, her diligence, and excellence as I was. Your poetry, and your skill and understanding of its composition, will be the primary benefactors of the experience.” -Skinner Matthews, author of Anno Domino

Rates/Pricing — If you’re interested in working with me as your editor, please direct all inquiries to Christine.Klocek.Lim@gmail.com:

Single Poems & Lyrical Short Essays, 1 page/70 line max/500 words max: $25 USD each
Chapbooks, 25-40 pages/40 poems max/3000 words max: $600 USD
Full length book, 40-80 pages/80 poems max/6000 words max: $800 USD
Creative nonfiction/Memoir: $0.07 USD per word

For chapbooks and books, after we come to an agreement via email, I will email an invoice to you for half the fee prior to receiving your book, and editing will not commence until I receive payment. After edits have been completed to your satisfaction (each client can receive up to three rounds of edits, depending on complexity), I will email an invoice to you for the remainder of the fee.

For single poems, I require payment before editing. Each poem can receive up to three rounds of edits, depending on complexity.

In order to see if my skills are a fit for your writing, I may ask for poem samples prior to editing.

Page updated 08/25/25.