Cassie is a pleasure to work with. She doesn't try to rewrite you, but does point out mistakes (which for a non-native speaker are almost natural, sigh) or unclear passages. She has also a reader's perspective on the author's work--unlike many writers or editors who want to kill the author's voice to make it "more marketable" (whatever that means). I'm sure other authors at Unicorn Productions will love to work with her as well in the future! - Barbara G.Tarn, Author
Without a moment's hesitation, I can say Cassie McCown with Gathering Leaves is one of the best editors I've had the privilege of working with. After such a wonderful experience, I'm confident she will be the first person contacted with the completion of each of my next books. I was most impressed by the way Cassie: 1) continued the editing process until I'd made every single change, 2) explained to me the rationale behind her perfect recommendations (without prompting), 3) offered praise when she read parts of the book that touched her or those too important to change, and 4) summarized general recommendations on ways to make the book even better. Her professionalism was amazing. My working relationship with Cassie felt like a partnership... like she had a vested interest in my book's success. For that (for her), I'll be forever grateful. - T. R. Graves, Author
As an indie author, I depend on having someone talented go over my work before I publish it. Ideally, when someone reads my book they should have no idea if I’m an indie or traditionally published author. Cassie did a fantastic job editing my work. I tried to have it as clean as possible when I sent it to her, but she still found several places where I’d seen what I’d meant to say, not what I’d actually typed. She’s done a wonderful job cleaning up those mistakes. I really appreciated the comments about her overall impression, too. Finding someone who is both a talented editor and who understands the genre in which I write is a rare and valuable find! Thanks, Cassie! - S.A. Archer, Author
Cassie, I really don't know why I'm finding this so hard to write. Clearly, I still need your editorial guidance :) I appreciated all of your inputs more than I can say. Throughout the process, your unbiased and impersonal critiques addressed the material and its issues and never once brought me, my writer's style or my voice into the discussion. That's a very hard line for most people to avoid crossing. In addition, when you were providing developmental inputs during the stage when I did the chapter-by-chapter reads in a public site, your remarks were designed to get me thinking about my plotting choices rather than praising or finding fault with the choices I'd already made. You never once told me this or that was right or wrong. Things you didn't think worked, you simply pointed out to me, telling me why they didn't work for you, and by inference, you trusted me to have the authorial skills required to fix the problems. That was a huge boost to my ego without your having to say anything directly. Like keeping the comments objective, this is also exceedingly hard for most people to do and you did it exceedingly well. There was only one other commenter who came close to your level of constructive and useful criticisms. I know my book is a far better piece of plotting and storytelling because you were a part of its early development than it would ever have been had you not been involved. I want you involved from the start for the next piece--and this one's starting to sell already, so hopefully, I'll be able to pay you what you're worth, which "ain't cheap" :).
To any authors considering hiring Cassie to do developmental edits for pacing, plotting and characterizations, I can only advise you to get onto her calendar early! She's sure to be booked solid just as soon as word gets out of how good she is! - Marjorie F. Baldwin, Author of Conditioned Response
I've had Cassie proofread two of my projects and am back again for the third. She's accurate, fast, inexpensive, and willing to work with the idiosyncrasies of the author. In a nutshell, she's that pearl of great price, an actual writing partner who will work with you to make your story as good as it can be. I am deeply grateful to have met her and anticipate a long and fruitful relationship with her. - Keryl Raist, Author of Sylvianna
As a first time author, I was oblivious to how the whole process of editing and publishing worked. Initially, I thought I would simply have a few friends read my manuscript and everything would be fine. Man, was I wrong! Thankfully, I found Cassie. From the first section she edited, I realized in order to take a good book to status of great, an editor is of huge importance. She did a wonderful job not only pointing out what she felt needed to be changed or tweaked but also took the time to explain why. This created an invaluable learning experience for me. Through her patience and guidance, Cassie helped me to create a book that I am extremely proud of! I would recommend her to all writers and will definitely use her again for future projects. - Leeann Smith author of Cat’s Eye Marble
