Non-Fiction Manuscript Line Edit
Budget: $1,500 – $3,000 USD
I’ve completed the big-picture revisions of my non-fiction book and now need a sharp line and copy edit to polish each sentence. The focus is on clarity, rhythm, and flow while keeping my voice intact; grammar and punctuation tweaks are welcome but secondary. You’ll work in Google Docs or other with Track Changes so I can review every adjustment.
Deliverables
• Edited manuscript with all changes tracked, plus a clean version ready for layout
• Brief editorial memo (one or two pages) summarizing recurring issues and style decisions
I’m happy to discuss your timeline, preferred style guide (Chicago preferred), and any previous projects that show your knack for smoothing complex material without flattening the author’s tone.
I am interested in editing and design services. (Iine editing and structure/copy editing) Also looking for Book Design, Cover & Audio Book
Title:
Failing to Fail: The Forensic Pursuit of Business Mastery
Author: Tim Sjobeck | Advancing the Trades
Who I Am
My name is Tim Sjobeck. I'm a former trade contractor, two-time cardiac event survivor, and the founder of Advancing the Trades — an organization built to help trade contractors and small business owners systematize their operations and build companies that outlast them.
I spent 30+ years in the plumbing and HVAC industry — in the truck, running crews, building and selling a company, and training contractors at scale through ServiceTitan. This book is the system those years built.
The Project
Title: Failing to Fail: The Forensic Pursuit of Business Mastery
Subtitle tagline: The BUILD Protocol — a five-step system for converting failure into structural advantage
Genre: Business Self-Help / Trade Industry Nonfiction
Word Count: Approximately 65,000–75,000 words
Format: Print (paperback primary, hardcover TBD) + eBook
Target Publish Date: [2026]
Companion product publishing simultaneously:
Failing to Fail: The BUILD Protocol Field Kit — a companion workbook (approximately 80 pages) that requires matching interior design and a coordinated cover treatment. Both products need to feel like a unified brand family.
What Services I am looking for
1. Cover Design
A cover that speaks directly to the trade contractor and small business owner — someone who works with their hands, runs a crew, and has been carrying the weight of unprocessed failure for years. The cover should feel earned, not corporate. Bold, not academic. It needs to stop a contractor scrolling Amazon the same way a good job site catches your eye from the road.
The title — Failing to Fail — is the hook. The design needs to honor the tension in that phrase. This is not a motivational poster. It is a forensic system. The cover should feel like both.
2. Interior Layout
The manuscript has a specific recurring architecture across all 16 chapters that the interior design must support cleanly:
*Chapter openers with consistent header treatment
Pull quotes and callout boxes throughout
Key Takeaways sections (bulleted) at each chapter close
What's Next transition sections
Chapter Close sections
Five-phase BUILD Protocol step headers (REWIRE / EXTRACT / VALIDATE / ENCODE / EXECUTE)
Proprietary terminology used consistently throughout — BUILD Protocol, P.O.G., OTI — that may benefit from visual treatment
Three appendices with template layouts, tables, and reference lists
A glossary, A FAQ section. The interior needs to be clean and highly readable — this reader is a contractor, not an academic. No visual clutter. Strong hierarchy. Easy to navigate.
3. Line Editing
The voice in this manuscript is intentional. Short sentences. Paragraph breaks that land like punches. Conversational rhythm that reads the way a contractor thinks — fast, direct, no fluff. I need a line editor who sharpens that voice, not one who academicizes it. If your instinct is to smooth out the fragments, lengthen the sentences, and add transitional phrases — this is not the project for you. If your instinct is to tighten what's already working and cut what isn't earning its place — let's talk.
4. Copyediting
The manuscript uses proprietary terminology throughout — BUILD Protocol, P.O.G. (Prioritized Operational Guide), OTI (Opportunity to Improve), Biological Lockdown, Lead Detective, Battle-Tested Advantage, and others. These terms are defined, consistent, and intentional. Copyediting must preserve this terminology exactly as written. Standard grammar rules apply everywhere except where the voice requires otherwise — and the editor needs the judgment to know the difference.
Scope of Work
Full line edit of 65,000–75,000 word manuscript
Full copyedit of same manuscript
Consistency check — terminology, chapter structure, callout formatting, appendix cross-references
One revision pass after author review
Light consistency review of companion workbook against final manuscript (scope to be confirmed)
The Right Editor Has These Qualities
Understands the trades. You don't need to be a plumber. But you need to respect the reader — a contractor, a business owner, someone who works with their hands and runs a company and doesn't have time for academic padding. If trade language reads as unsophisticated to you, this isn't the right fit.
Respects self-help structure without being imprisoned by it. This book has a specific architecture — Ground Zero prologue, five-phase system, chapter closes, Key Takeaways, What's Next transitions, appendices, glossary, FAQ. That structure is intentional and complete. I'm not looking for structural feedback at this stage. I'm looking for someone who can work within the architecture cleanly.
Has edited business or self-help nonfiction. Experience with practical business books, trade books, or self-help nonfiction is required. Experience with the trades industry is a significant plus. Experience with AI-assisted manuscripts is a plus — this book was co-developed with AI and the voice has been carefully preserved throughout.
Can work with proprietary frameworks. The BUILD Protocol has specific terminology, a specific logic sequence, and a specific visual and written identity. The editor must be able to hold that framework in their head as a reference point throughout the entire manuscript.
Communicates clearly and professionally. I need an editor who flags questions, explains rationale for suggested changes, and respects the author's final authority on every decision. Track changes in Google Docs or Microsoft Word. Clear comments. Reasonable turnaround.
Brand & Voice Reference
The book's voice is direct, blue-collar, and punchy. Short sentences. Hard stops. The reader is someone who respects earned authority and has no patience for padding.
Visual direction I'm drawn to:
Bold typography — strong, confident, not decorative
Industrial or architectural undertones — think blueprints, site plans, structural elements
Dark and high-contrast OR clean and
Dark and high-contrast OR clean and minimal — open to both directions
The "forensic" and "protocol" language in the book suggests precision, process, and structure — the design should echo that
What I want to avoid:
Soft, inspirational self-help aesthetics — pastel, stock photo hands, sunrise imagery
Corporate consultant aesthetic — this is not a McKinsey report
Anything that looks like a generic business book from 2005
The Companion Workbook
The companion workbook — The BUILD Protocol Field Kit — needs a coordinated cover that reads as a family member of the main book, not a separate product. Same design language, slightly differentiated so it's clearly a companion. The interior of the workbook is worksheet-based and will need its own layout treatment — fillable fields, template tables, structured action steps.
AI Disclosure
This manuscript was developed with AI assistance for writing, editing, and structural refinement. All content, systems, stories, and frameworks are the author's own — developed from 30+ years of field experience. AI served as a writing and editing tool, not a content generator. I am transparent about this because it is consistent with the book's own message: AI is a force multiplier, not a replacement for real expertise.
Target market
Primary Target Market
Trade Contractors & Home Service Business Owners
Plumbing, HVAC, electrical, general contracting, roofing, landscaping — any owner running a crew-based service business. This is your bull's-eye. The language is theirs. The stories are from their world. The problems — cash flow, bad hires, blown estimates, owner-centricity, unsellable businesses — are their daily reality.
Size: 1–50 employees. Solo operator to mid-size operation. The person whose name is on the side of the truck.
Age: 35–60. Has been in business long enough to have real failures but young enough to still be building.
Pain point: They are exceptional at their craft and struggling with their company. They've been paying tuition for years and haven't collected the degree.
Secondary Target Market
Small Business Owners Outside the Trades
Restaurants, auto shops, cleaning services, landscaping, construction — any owner-operator running a hands-on business with a small team. The BUILD Protocol translates directly. The trades language is familiar enough not to alienate them.
Franchise Owners
Already operating inside a system. The BUILD Protocol gives them the personal failure processing layer the franchise manual never provided.
General Contractors & Subcontractors
Project-based businesses with thin margins, high failure exposure, and no formal system for extracting lessons from lost bids, project overruns, or subcontractor failures.
Tertiary Target Market
Business Coaches & Consultants in the Trades
They buy the book and the workbook for their clients. Nexstar, BDR, EGIA, Service Nation facilitators are your fastest channel to this group. One facilitator reaching 200 contractors is worth 200 individual sales.
Would love to talk to someone about taking on this project.
Deliverables
• Edited manuscript with all changes tracked, plus a clean version ready for layout
• Brief editorial memo (one or two pages) summarizing recurring issues and style decisions
I’m happy to discuss your timeline, preferred style guide (Chicago preferred), and any previous projects that show your knack for smoothing complex material without flattening the author’s tone.
I am interested in editing and design services. (Iine editing and structure/copy editing) Also looking for Book Design, Cover & Audio Book
Title:
Failing to Fail: The Forensic Pursuit of Business Mastery
Author: Tim Sjobeck | Advancing the Trades
Who I Am
My name is Tim Sjobeck. I'm a former trade contractor, two-time cardiac event survivor, and the founder of Advancing the Trades — an organization built to help trade contractors and small business owners systematize their operations and build companies that outlast them.
I spent 30+ years in the plumbing and HVAC industry — in the truck, running crews, building and selling a company, and training contractors at scale through ServiceTitan. This book is the system those years built.
The Project
Title: Failing to Fail: The Forensic Pursuit of Business Mastery
Subtitle tagline: The BUILD Protocol — a five-step system for converting failure into structural advantage
Genre: Business Self-Help / Trade Industry Nonfiction
Word Count: Approximately 65,000–75,000 words
Format: Print (paperback primary, hardcover TBD) + eBook
Target Publish Date: [2026]
Companion product publishing simultaneously:
Failing to Fail: The BUILD Protocol Field Kit — a companion workbook (approximately 80 pages) that requires matching interior design and a coordinated cover treatment. Both products need to feel like a unified brand family.
What Services I am looking for
1. Cover Design
A cover that speaks directly to the trade contractor and small business owner — someone who works with their hands, runs a crew, and has been carrying the weight of unprocessed failure for years. The cover should feel earned, not corporate. Bold, not academic. It needs to stop a contractor scrolling Amazon the same way a good job site catches your eye from the road.
The title — Failing to Fail — is the hook. The design needs to honor the tension in that phrase. This is not a motivational poster. It is a forensic system. The cover should feel like both.
2. Interior Layout
The manuscript has a specific recurring architecture across all 16 chapters that the interior design must support cleanly:
*Chapter openers with consistent header treatment
Pull quotes and callout boxes throughout
Key Takeaways sections (bulleted) at each chapter close
What's Next transition sections
Chapter Close sections
Five-phase BUILD Protocol step headers (REWIRE / EXTRACT / VALIDATE / ENCODE / EXECUTE)
Proprietary terminology used consistently throughout — BUILD Protocol, P.O.G., OTI — that may benefit from visual treatment
Three appendices with template layouts, tables, and reference lists
A glossary, A FAQ section. The interior needs to be clean and highly readable — this reader is a contractor, not an academic. No visual clutter. Strong hierarchy. Easy to navigate.
3. Line Editing
The voice in this manuscript is intentional. Short sentences. Paragraph breaks that land like punches. Conversational rhythm that reads the way a contractor thinks — fast, direct, no fluff. I need a line editor who sharpens that voice, not one who academicizes it. If your instinct is to smooth out the fragments, lengthen the sentences, and add transitional phrases — this is not the project for you. If your instinct is to tighten what's already working and cut what isn't earning its place — let's talk.
4. Copyediting
The manuscript uses proprietary terminology throughout — BUILD Protocol, P.O.G. (Prioritized Operational Guide), OTI (Opportunity to Improve), Biological Lockdown, Lead Detective, Battle-Tested Advantage, and others. These terms are defined, consistent, and intentional. Copyediting must preserve this terminology exactly as written. Standard grammar rules apply everywhere except where the voice requires otherwise — and the editor needs the judgment to know the difference.
Scope of Work
Full line edit of 65,000–75,000 word manuscript
Full copyedit of same manuscript
Consistency check — terminology, chapter structure, callout formatting, appendix cross-references
One revision pass after author review
Light consistency review of companion workbook against final manuscript (scope to be confirmed)
The Right Editor Has These Qualities
Understands the trades. You don't need to be a plumber. But you need to respect the reader — a contractor, a business owner, someone who works with their hands and runs a company and doesn't have time for academic padding. If trade language reads as unsophisticated to you, this isn't the right fit.
Respects self-help structure without being imprisoned by it. This book has a specific architecture — Ground Zero prologue, five-phase system, chapter closes, Key Takeaways, What's Next transitions, appendices, glossary, FAQ. That structure is intentional and complete. I'm not looking for structural feedback at this stage. I'm looking for someone who can work within the architecture cleanly.
Has edited business or self-help nonfiction. Experience with practical business books, trade books, or self-help nonfiction is required. Experience with the trades industry is a significant plus. Experience with AI-assisted manuscripts is a plus — this book was co-developed with AI and the voice has been carefully preserved throughout.
Can work with proprietary frameworks. The BUILD Protocol has specific terminology, a specific logic sequence, and a specific visual and written identity. The editor must be able to hold that framework in their head as a reference point throughout the entire manuscript.
Communicates clearly and professionally. I need an editor who flags questions, explains rationale for suggested changes, and respects the author's final authority on every decision. Track changes in Google Docs or Microsoft Word. Clear comments. Reasonable turnaround.
Brand & Voice Reference
The book's voice is direct, blue-collar, and punchy. Short sentences. Hard stops. The reader is someone who respects earned authority and has no patience for padding.
Visual direction I'm drawn to:
Bold typography — strong, confident, not decorative
Industrial or architectural undertones — think blueprints, site plans, structural elements
Dark and high-contrast OR clean and
Dark and high-contrast OR clean and minimal — open to both directions
The "forensic" and "protocol" language in the book suggests precision, process, and structure — the design should echo that
What I want to avoid:
Soft, inspirational self-help aesthetics — pastel, stock photo hands, sunrise imagery
Corporate consultant aesthetic — this is not a McKinsey report
Anything that looks like a generic business book from 2005
The Companion Workbook
The companion workbook — The BUILD Protocol Field Kit — needs a coordinated cover that reads as a family member of the main book, not a separate product. Same design language, slightly differentiated so it's clearly a companion. The interior of the workbook is worksheet-based and will need its own layout treatment — fillable fields, template tables, structured action steps.
AI Disclosure
This manuscript was developed with AI assistance for writing, editing, and structural refinement. All content, systems, stories, and frameworks are the author's own — developed from 30+ years of field experience. AI served as a writing and editing tool, not a content generator. I am transparent about this because it is consistent with the book's own message: AI is a force multiplier, not a replacement for real expertise.
Target market
Primary Target Market
Trade Contractors & Home Service Business Owners
Plumbing, HVAC, electrical, general contracting, roofing, landscaping — any owner running a crew-based service business. This is your bull's-eye. The language is theirs. The stories are from their world. The problems — cash flow, bad hires, blown estimates, owner-centricity, unsellable businesses — are their daily reality.
Size: 1–50 employees. Solo operator to mid-size operation. The person whose name is on the side of the truck.
Age: 35–60. Has been in business long enough to have real failures but young enough to still be building.
Pain point: They are exceptional at their craft and struggling with their company. They've been paying tuition for years and haven't collected the degree.
Secondary Target Market
Small Business Owners Outside the Trades
Restaurants, auto shops, cleaning services, landscaping, construction — any owner-operator running a hands-on business with a small team. The BUILD Protocol translates directly. The trades language is familiar enough not to alienate them.
Franchise Owners
Already operating inside a system. The BUILD Protocol gives them the personal failure processing layer the franchise manual never provided.
General Contractors & Subcontractors
Project-based businesses with thin margins, high failure exposure, and no formal system for extracting lessons from lost bids, project overruns, or subcontractor failures.
Tertiary Target Market
Business Coaches & Consultants in the Trades
They buy the book and the workbook for their clients. Nexstar, BDR, EGIA, Service Nation facilitators are your fastest channel to this group. One facilitator reaching 200 contractors is worth 200 individual sales.
Would love to talk to someone about taking on this project.