Native French Romance Editor Needed to Polish DeepL-Translated Contemporary Romance Novels

I’m looking for a native French editor with strong experience in commercial romance fiction, ideally contemporary romance, steamy romance, sports romance, dark romance, or mafia romance, to edit French translations of my English novels. These manuscripts are first translated with DeepL, so this is not a translation job. Your role is to take that machine-translated draft and turn it into a fully natural, publication-ready French manuscript. I need someone who is comfortable making substantial line-level changes where needed. This is not a light cleanup. The final French must read as if it were originally written by a fluent French romance author, not as edited machine translation. What I need you to do: * Thoroughly edit DeepL-translated French manuscripts * Rewrite awkward, literal, or AI-sounding phrasing * Ensure the French reads naturally and idiomatically throughout * Preserve tone, chemistry, emotional nuance, pacing, humor, and heat * Make dialogue sound contemporary, believable, and native * Maintain consistency of names, terms of address, repeated phrases, and terminology * Correct grammar, syntax, punctuation, and register issues * Deliver a manuscript that is ready for publication, not just improved Important: I am specifically looking for someone who can identify where a machine translation is too literal and confidently rewrite, not just lightly edit. I do not want a cautious pass that stays too close to the DeepL phrasing if that phrasing is unnatural. Ideal background: * Native French speaker * Strong editorial experience in romance fiction * Comfortable with steamy content and emotionally intense scenes * Familiar with the expectations of French commercial romance readers * Experience editing AI-assisted or machine-translated fiction is a strong plus Please apply with: 1. A short note about your experience with romance editing 2. The subgenres you know best 3. Whether you have worked on DeepL / AI-translated manuscripts before 4. Your per-word or per-project rate 5. A willingness to complete a paid sample edit (1,500–2,500 words) Please note: I will be looking closely at whether your edit: * sounds genuinely native * improves flow and voice significantly * preserves the emotional and sensual impact of the original * results in publishable French prose This is ongoing work for the right person.