Trim the excess.
Let your story bloom.
I’m Dayna Day Riley, the editor behind Pen + Prune—a boutique editorial studio for writers who care deeply about their voice. I specialize in emotionally rich fiction (romance, LGBTQ+, literary, horror, and speculative), as well as voice-driven nonfiction like memoir, blogs, and personal essays.
Whether you’re preparing a book for publication or polishing a piece that matters to you, my job is to trim back the noise so the heart of your work can shine.
Services
Starts at $0.01/word
Every story starts with a seed, but it can be hard to tell what’s taking root and what still needs work. The Seedling Critique offers a high-level editorial assessment of your manuscript, giving you a clearer sense of its strengths and the areas that could use more attention.
You’ll receive a detailed analysis of your manuscript, along with in-line comments with thoughts and suggestions throughout.
The Seedling Critique
Manuscript Critique | Editorial Assessment
The Petal Polish
Proofreading
Starts at $0.01/word
The Petal Polish is your manuscript’s final walk through the garden. This is a precise proofreading pass that is done after your manuscript has been copyedited. Its purpose is to catch typos, punctuation slips, and small inconsistencies before your book goes out into the world.
The Root Work Edit
Developmental Editing
Starts at $0.025/word
This is where the real work begins. The Root Work Edit is a deep, structural dive into the bones of your manuscript. examining the story's shape, emotional core, pacing, and depth.
We will work together to explore what’s growing strong and what needs untangling. I’m here to help you shape your manuscript into its most resonant form.
The Chapter Snip
Sample Critique (up to 1k words)
FREE!
The Chapter Snip is a free sample edit for up to 1,000 words. You choose the section; I’ll give it a close read with feedback and a line-level polish. It gives you a chance to see my feedback style in action to make sure we’re a good fit before diving into a full project.
The Line and Bloom Edit
Line Editing | Copyediting
Starts at $0.02/word
The Line & Bloom Edit is a sentence-level refinement of your manuscript—preserving your voice while shaping every paragraph to bloom with clarity. This edit smooths clunky phrasing, trims redundancies, strengthens emotional impact, and ensures consistency in style, tone, and grammar.
The Pitch Patch
Polishing Materials
Starts at $50
The Pitch Patch covers query letters, blurbs, back-cover copy, and other short-form pieces that need to shine. I work through the language carefully, making sure it flows well and draws readers or agents in so they’re curious to see more.
Get to
know me
I’m Dayna Day Riley—editor and head pruner here at Pen + Prune. I work with writers who care deeply about their voice and vision.
Whether you're writing literary fiction, romance, memoir, or something uniquely your own, I’m here to help you strengthen what matters and leave the rest in the weeds.