Ms. Editing Services

Manuscript Evaluations and Editing

Alfred J. Garrotto
alfredjgarrotto@gmail.com

All inquiries are welcome. Free consultation.

Expert and Ethical
Entrust your manuscript to an experienced author of 16 books (both fiction and nonfiction).
I am a book reviewer, writing instructor, and manuscript editor, who has authored 16 books (both fiction and nonfiction) on a range of topics and themes.
In addition, I offer professional editing for other authors. I have covered all the bases as a writer: commercial and independent publishing.
As a veteran of the writing business, I see it from both the publisher’s and author’s viewpoint.

Editing Philosophy
Your work is sacred and primary. I will respect your original text, while offering positive critical recommendations in the margins or within the text itself when I see the need. I respect the author’s feelings and sense of pride and accomplishment.
Some authors request that I revise/rewrite their text, as needed
(fee structure upon request since no two projects are the same).

Fees
Every project is unique and needs to be discussed before a final fee is set.
The following schedule will help you estimate the approximate cost of evaluating/editing your work.

Reading & Evaluation (only)
You’ll receive an honest, objective, written evaluation of your work. (1-5 pages)
Initial reading and evaluation only: US$30.00 per 100 ms. pages.
Return postage required, if you wish your submission to be returned.
Partial ms. and first drafts accepted.
A ms. page is 25 lines, double-spaced. (Single-spaced pages count as 2 pages.)

Line Editing
My fee for in-depth line-editing a manuscript is US$2.25 per ms. page (25 lines, double-spaced).

alfredjgarrotto@gmail.com

Best Fiction
The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto
Mitch Albom

Best Historical Fiction
The Giant Awakens (Book 4 of the WWII series)
Lee Jackson

Best Mystery
The Brutal Telling
Louise Penny

General Nonfiction
Big Magic
Elizabeth Gilbert

Religious nonfiction
Turn on Your Brain Every Day
Dr. Caroline Leaf

Short Story
Everything My Mother Taught Me
Alice Hoffman

What was your favorite book read during 2022?

Thanks to the Columnist Jill Hedgecock and the Diablo Gazette (Contra Costa County, California) for featuring Inspector Javert: at the Gates of Hell in their December 2222 Issue.The book is available on Amazon in both Kindle and paperback format and in-store at Reasonable Books on Mt. Diablo Blvd. in Lafayette, CA. Also available through your local bookstore.

What do I see when I look out my window?

I see life…
a lemon tree alive…
offering year-round fruit…
only to watch its gifts return
to earth… unsavored

I see love…
in the squirrel who works all day…
pawing at our grass and dirt…
to find I don’t know what…
to feed its babies

I see houses…
just like mine…
writing their private histories
in the lives of strangers
who wave on passing… to be nice

What do you see when you look out your window?

 (c) 2022, Alfred J. Garrotto

I invite you to follow this link to my latest article, “To Be or Not To Be” on the work of professional writing. You’ll find it on the Reader Views website https://www.readerviews.com/tobeornottobe/

Did you know the novel, Les Miserables, has 365 chapters? Read a chapter a day and you’ll complete it in a year.

I thought I held the trophy for Most Passionate Les Mis fan. Well, I need to pass my trophy to Benjamin McEvoy. I invite you to watch the YouTube video below.

“How to Read Les Misérables” by Victor Hugo (10 Tips)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODZAUstSKJg
by Benjamin McEvoy

About McEvoy
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJPpE22GR3Tt8TJQmFtQjwQ

#lesmiserables #victorhugo #inspectorjavert

Inspector Javert: at the Gates of Hell (Wisdom of Les Misérables)

Alfred J. Garrotto

Andrew Benzie Books (2021)

ISBN: 978-1950562374

Reviewed by Tammy Ruggles for Reader Views (01/2022)

One of the “Wisdom of Les Misérables” books, “Inspector Javert: at the Gates of Hell,” by Alfred J. Garrotto, has Victor Hugo’s antihero, Inspector Javert, standing on the edge, where the River Seine calls below him. After a moment of hesitation, he takes a step forward, into… the ultimate unknown.

Does he truly die? Is there an afterlife? What does he find there? This is where the mystery begins to unfold, in Garrotto’s highly compelling and entertaining “what if” scenario. Javert is a moral character, and wants to do the right thing, even if he has to be harsh about it. Rules are rules. Order is very important to him, so it is within his nature to carry out justice and what he considers to be worthy and altruistic. The themes of love conquering fear are evident, as is forgiveness and its power over sin.

Garrotto has a wonderful way with phrases and with Inspector Javert, crafting a powerful piece of work that will immerse you from beginning to end. This intelligent and multi-faceted rendering shows depth and complexity, but it also allows us a peek behind the curtain at the end of our earthly lives. What happens next? Is it damnation? Heaven? Hell? Limbo? A new life in another body? A second chance? Javert was sure in some things, brutal in others, but had no inkling of how it affected human beings. He was all about honoring God and earthly authority, but lacked compassion for his fellow man.

Once on the “other side”, Bishop Myriel leads him to sift through uncertainty, until he finds something precious. His spiritual quest takes him back to a traumatic childhood, which led him on a crusade to always do the right thing and eliminate criminals and evildoers. Sad that it takes suicide to bring him to an understanding, but that is the angst, tragedy, hope, and healing of this unforgettable novel.

“Inspector Javert: at the Gates of Hell (Wisdom of Les Misérables)”, by Alfred J. Garrotto, is an impressive book examining morality, life after death, and the possibility of redemption.

Let me know what you think.

#lesmiserables #inspectorjavert #victorhugo #jeanvaljean

Inspector Javert: at the Gates of Hell has garnered all 5-Star reviews on Amazon so far. I hope that record stays intact as more readers chime in.