Greetings & Saluations!
I'm Raven Oak and I wear a dozen hats these days. Whether it's writing my own speculative fiction works, doing developmental or line edits for a colleague, painting the cover to the next book on your TBR list, or publishing a new story by a new author, I'm there.
I love everything about this business, but I especially love helping other authors bring their ideas and stories to life by ensuring that pacing makes sense, characters' names stay the same through the entire story, and commas remain unspliced. With the rise of indie publishing, more people are putting proverbial pen to paper to release the story of their heart, and I am here for it!
I'm currently scheduling editing and cover art projects for tail end of 2026 and for all of 2027.
I primarily work in the following genres: fantasy, science fiction, mystery, and horror.
EDITING WORK
I love working with novels, but I'm equally happy working with novellas and short stories. Most of my editing has been for books that were traditionally published, while my cover art has been almost exclusively for indie authors.
Whether you are trad, hybrid, or indie, my job as an editor is to ensure your story makes it out to your readers in a manner we all can be proud of. And no, I don't believe the old adage that you can't end a sentence with a preposition or begin a sentence with a conjunction! Though if you want me to follow those rules, I can. That's my job as an editor—to make your words shine without changing your style or voice. I do not use AI in my editorial work, and no, the use of an em-dash does not mean a text was written with AI.
As far as my background, my Bachelor's Degree is in English Education, and I spent 13 years as a public school teacher. I've taught young kids and teens how to read as well as how to write novels. I've developed state writing tests for the Texas Education Agency and taught large scale workshops to students and teachers regarding writing. Beyond the realm of education, I've held over 150+ lectures, workshops, and panels to help other writers hone their craft at a variety of conventions, conferences, and events. I created and taught older teens how to write novels as part of the Barnes & Noble Summer Teen Fest, and have tutored every age group on the topic. I wrote my first novel when I was 12, a 350 page monstronsity that will never see the light of day, and joined my first professional critique group at 16, so I've been writing and editing for a very long time.
My editorial rates fall on the lower end of the Editorial Freelancers Association's professional pay rates for 2026. With developmental editing, I focus on your story's blueprint, meaning I focus on the structure, plot, character arcs, themes, pacing, the stakes, and point-of-view. Sometimes I'll recommend chapters or scenes get moved, fleshed out, or shot altogether. Lots of writer and editor work happens here. With line editing, I focus on the story's clarity, imagery, rhythm, transitions, and voice. Your voice and style remain, but the text is elevated as images sharpen. I also check for consistancy to ensure that character names and descriptions remain the same throughout the work. If I see a grammatical, spelling, or mechanical error, I'll note it, but please note, line editing is not a copy edit or proofreading.
As a disabled, queer, nonbinary creator, I understand how important diverse representation is and as such, I consider myself a safe space for any writer seeking to hire me as an editor. (I can also do sensitivity reading on these topics, as well as being Autistic.) You can feel secure in the knowledge that your voice is important to me and that your voice deserves to be heard.
If this sounds like what you're looking for, please shoot me an email or message at raven [at] raven-oak [dot] com. Write on!
COVER ART WORK
We say never to judge a book by it's cover but that's exactly what we do when we pick one up. As a cover artist, my job is to ensure that your ideas are represented on the cover in a manner that helps readers identify what genre and type of book they're holding. Cover art sells a book.
I've been painting since childhood and when you hire me to do your book cover, you aren't getting a cover slapped together using the same stock photos used by a dozen other books. You aren't getting a bad Photoshop job or GenAI slop. You're getting a work of art that is painted by a real human, sometimes at 2 AM when I can't sleep. ;) You can see some of the book covers I've painted at: https://www.theartofravenoak.com/covers/ Again, I do not use AI in my paintings. Ever.
My book cover rates can be seen here: https://www.theartofravenoak.com/commissions/ and are on par with most painted cover art for publication. If you're looking for discount covers, hand painted is not where you'll find it, but what you will find is art created to your vision.
Interested? Let's chat! Shoot me an email or or message at raven [at] raven-oak [dot] com.