New Editorial Services for Poets: Thoughtful, Close Reading for Your Manuscript

There comes a point in many writing lives when a manuscript exists, but certainty does not.

You may have a collection of poems that feels close, but not quite there. You may be receiving rejections without clear direction on what needs to change. Or you may simply want another set of careful, experienced eyes on work you’ve been living with for a long time.

I’m happy to share that I’m now offering editorial services for poets at various stages of the manuscript process.

As a poetry editor, my work is grounded in close, attentive reading. I look at manuscripts both line by line and as living, breathing wholes. My role is not to impose my aesthetic or rewrite your poems, but to respond honestly to what the work itself is doing — to help you see how your formal choices, language, and structure are working in service of what you’re trying to say.

Editing, for me, begins with listening. I take time with each poem and each manuscript to notice patterns, tensions, recurring images, and the emotional core that often guides a collection. An outside reader can sometimes see obsessions or strengths that are hard to recognize from inside the work, and my goal is to help make those visible so you can revise with intention.

I currently offer three types of editorial support:

Line editing on individual poems focuses on close, detailed feedback around structure, rhythm and sound, tone and voice, clarity of meaning, and word choice.

A “big picture” manuscript appraisal focuses on the collection as a whole: its themes, sequencing, coherence, and areas where revision or rethinking might be useful.

The complete editing package combines both levels of feedback and allows for a deeper editorial conversation over time.

If you’re working toward publication (or simply toward a manuscript you can stand behind), I would be glad to work with you. You can find full details and costs on my Editing Services page, and I’m always happy to answer questions before you commit.

If this feels like the right moment to bring another reader into your process, I’d love to hear from you.

You can reach me at:
connect@brankapetrovic.com