Our Team

Amy Cissell

Amy Cissell

Amy received her BA in English and MA in Applied Information Management. Although she's always been an avid reader across all genres, her first love will always be fantasy. Amy has been writing and editing professionally for 19 years in non-profit and academic medical settings. In 2017, she launched Cissell Ink, bringing her love of fiction, well-put-together plots, and semi-colons to indie authors everywhere. In addition to editing and proofreading, Amy is a writer with 30 books published as of October 2024.

Amy is currently taking clients.

Christopher Barnes

Christopher Barnes

Christopher has a Bachelors in Ancient History and Economics with specializations in Religion and Classics. He was also a few credits short of earning both Music and PoliSci minors. He is a 19 year veteran of the craft beer business and a Certified Cicerone. He has published stories about beer in publications around the world. He joined Amy in January of 2018 to expand Cissell Ink's reach and client base. As of June of 2025, he has published 21 books under the name C. Thomas Lafollette.

He specializes in Urban Fantasy, Fantasy, Paranormal Womens Fiction, and Paranormal Romance as well as other speculative genres. In the seven years he's been editing, he's worked with many clients on hundreds of books.

Chris is currently taking new clients.

About Cissell Ink

At Cissell Ink, our goal is to work with indie and self-published authors to create books that readers love. Since our founding in 2017, we've edited millions of words for a variety of indie authors whose genres range from urban fantasy, science fiction, high fantasy, paranormal romance, and any combination thereof. Although our passions are speculative and romance fiction, we have experience working with memoirs, personal essays, reference books, and academic papers and books.

Between us, we have a wide variety of knowledge bases, fandoms, hobbies, and areas of expertise ranging from finance, beer and cider, ancient and medieval history, music, and western folklore and mythology to provide added value to our edits. We look forward to working with you to bring your vision to light and helping you craft the best possible product to delight your readers.

Clients

Testimonials

  • It’s always a pleasure to work with Amy. Her insight and developmental expertise have been invaluable additions to my writing. She’s always prompt, always professional, and has a keen eye for both nuance and continuity. I’d recommend her editing services to anyone who is looking to take their writing to the next level of excellence.

    Elizabeth Hunter – USA Today Bestselling Author

  • Amy and Chris at Cissell Ink did a marvelous job copy editing and proofreading my book. I appreciate the attention to detail that they gave my manuscript. They caught discrepancies to the story timeline and world building aspects. Also, their suggestions led to two rewrites and a significantly tighter, better story. I am so grateful for their expertise

    Bex McLynn

  • I hired Amy to line-edit an epic fantasy novel. She made sure to read the first book before completing the edit on the sequel, which I greatly appreciated. I found her highly knowledgeable on medieval times (relevant to my book) and her edits were very thorough. Her rates are incredibly fair and affordable for the high-quality work that she does. Amy is a dream to work with, and I will continue to hire her for future projects and recommend her to any author looking for quality, affordable editing.

    Bree Moore

  • Amy is amazing to work with and she works easily with our schedule. She is thorough and efficient. We also recently worked with Chris, the other half of Cissell Ink, and we were very pleased with both of their edits.

    Tiffany Roberts

Services

Developmental Editing

Thorough and intensive overview of your completed or partially completed manuscript. We will review your outline and each chapter to ensure consistency of plot, world-building, and character development. We will assess the overall structure and writing style, identify plot holes, and look for problematic characterization.

Copy/Line Editing

Line: Writing consistency, phrasing, plot continuity, word repetition, clarity, language polishing.
Copy: Spelling, grammar, punctuation, syntax, style mechanics, internal consistencies, word usage.
Note: Does not include fact checking. Not all spelling or grammar issues may be caught during copy/line editing.

Proofreading

We will check spelling, grammar, punctuation, proper word usage, and subject-verb agreement. This does not include consistency, phrasing, continuity, or clarity issues.

Formatting

Manuscript formatting to fit several standard novel sizes with multiple internal styles that can include custom fonts, chapter header images, and ornamental section break images. All file types can be generated: Print, Kindle, Nook, Kobo, ePub.

Sample Edit

We offer a sample edit to prospective clients to determine the level of editing needed on a project and to decide if both parties will be a good match.

Multiple rounds

If you book multiple services, each service is a separate round of work. For example, if you book developmental and copy editing, you'll send your manuscript(MS) for developmental editing. After you implement the suggested changes, you'll send the edited MS back for its round of copy edits.

Rates

Developmental Editing
$0.012/word$1200/100,000 words
    Copy/Line Editing
    $0.012/word$1,200/100,000 words
      Proofreading
      $0.01/word$1000/100,000 words
        Developmental and Copy Editing
        $0.021/word$2100/100,000 words
          Developmental Editing and Proofreading
          $0.019/word$1,900/100,000 words
            Copy/Line Editing and Proofreading
            $0.019/word$1,900/100,000 words
              Developmental, Copy Editing, and Proofreading
              $0.03/word$3,000/100,000 words
                Formatting
                $50/hrBillable in 15 minute increments after the first hour
                  Down Payment
                  All projects require a non-refundable, 50% downpayment on estimated word count at the time the contract is sent.
                    Terms & Conditions

                    Contact

                    To give you the best possible response about your manuscript, please include the word count, genre, your timeline (both when ready to send and when needed), and any previous publications if applicable.

                    Amy & Chris

                    editors@cissellink.com
                    PO Box 11643
                    Portland, OR 97211

                      ©2019 Cissell Ink All Rights Reserved