The type of content edit you need depends on your writing skill level, the amount of self-editing you’ve done, and if you’ve had critique partners work it over.
Content edits focus on the plot, character development, world building, and other critical building blocks of your story. But we offer more than content edits to our clients. If you’re unsure what level of editing you need, you can send over a sample and let us know what you’ve done so far on it, and we will advise based on that.
Sample edits are available for all of these services on request. Turnaround times vary based on length, but are typically one to two weeks, pending availability. You may also schedule ahead for future projects, and payment plans are available. We are happy to work out arrangements with clients to make our services as accessible as possible.
As of 2021, our rates are far below market medians, which you can find here. For more details, see our FAQ.
The different types of content edits we offer are listed below.
Big Picture Edit Letter
This is good for early drafts or when something isn’t working and you can’t quite tell what.
This editing style includes a one time read-through and a 2-3 page overall evaluation of the manuscript’s big picture issues.
Pricing: $0.01+/word
Projects 50,000 words and under are a flat fee of $500
Developmental Edit
Our most popular content edit, this is good for drafts that are almost finished, but need help reaching their full potential.
After finishing the full manuscript, an in-depth reader report (along the lines of those used by the publishing industry) will be provided.
This includes:
- In line notes and comments highlighting specific areas in the text that can be improved.
- A 4-6 page edit letter covering the plot, character development, pacing, style issues, and (as applicable) world building.
- In each section, we cover what works as well as what doesn’t, and suggest reasons and potential solutions to use as a guide during revisions.
Cost: $0.014-0.03 per word
Projects 50,000 and under are a flat fee of $1500
Line Edits
This is an extremely time consuming process and highly depends on the state of the manuscript being edited.
Not to be confused with a copy edit, a line edit addresses the creative content, writing style, and language use at the sentence and paragraph level. It focuses on the way you use language to communicate your story to the reader.
Some common aspects focused on in a line edit are the vividness of prose, the atmosphere it creates, developing the sensory elements for the world, and building chemistry between the characters. Overall impressions and persistent issues will also be addressed.
Please keep in mind this is not a copy edit, so not all punctuation or grammar errors may be corrected.
Cost: $250 for projects 5000 words and under.
For manuscripts longer than that, pricing switches to $0.04/word.
Line Edit Example – as exhibited in first page line edits.