And How Your Sample Edit Helps Us Determine What Services You Need

If you’ve never worked with an editor before—or even if you have, but we’re new to you—then you might be wondering how we approach pricing. When we say that we like to do a sample edit first, there’s a good reason for that. You see, one author’s (or editor’s) proofread might be another’s copyedit. Your line edits might be light, medium, or heavy. You may benefit from a thorough developmental edit, or maybe you’d be better off with a critique. Every book is unique, and its needs are unique too.

We pinpoint our recommendations based on an examination of your existing manuscript, so we can craft a specific set of services to fit you like a glove. Here’s a little more insight into how this process works.

We take a sample from the middle of your manuscript.

Why not just have you send in any old set of pages? Well, look… We understand that you want to show off your best writing, and you’re likely to send us the pages you’re most proud of, the ones you’ve worked on the hardest. And while we appreciate the skill and time you put into those pages, we really need to see the stuff you need the most help with.

Think of it this way—the reason you’re hiring an editor is to improve the areas where you need improvement and ensure you publish a great book. We need to see the chapters that are at their messiest, so we can identify clearly what would best serve you.

So, send us pages from the middle of your manuscript—or better yet, send the whole manuscript so we can skim through it and pull a section to sample edit for you.

We evaluate the amount of work needed.

Let’s not mince words. Some projects require more time, effort, and back-and-forth than others. We weigh this aspect into how we determine pricing. A simple proofread that only requires us to check commas and grammar isn’t as intensive as a proofread that is really a copyedit or line edit because the author didn’t create paragraphs, format dialogue properly, check spelling, work on phrasing sentences clearly, or verify they’ve named characters consistently from chapter to chapter. 

In our sample edit, we’ll notice what’s working and what isn’t‚ which makes it easier for us to know how much work is involved in getting your manuscript in shape. Plus, this also helps us determine the time it’s going to take. Which leads us to…

We consider the page count and complexity.

Longer manuscripts obvious take more work and require more time than short pieces. But it’s not just literal word count that we look at. Complexity also factors in here. A straightforward contemporary romance with all the tropes at 85,000 words is a lot different than book 2 in a six-part sci-fi series complete with three alien races, dozens of new technologies, and multiple viewpoint characters involved in military action in several different planets. 

Yes, that book is probably 102K words or more, but it’s also going to require us to read through a series arc summary, character and place bibles, and more. And so, your editor’s word is going to be intense. And it’s definitely going to demand more time spent to complete your edits thoroughly.

We look at going professional rates, as well as the current self-publishing environment.

Like many editors, we rely on industry standards such as the Editorial Freelancers Association to determine what is within the range of professional rates for our services. We also periodically check in with fellow authors and editors to gather insights, and we also pay attention to what’s happening in the book world at large. With team members who are actively publishing widely, we stay in-the-know about self-pubbing’s ins and outs. These industry realities factor into what we offer to our authors.

We update our rates regularly.

We love what we do—love reading, love coaching, love editing and bringing books to life in the best ways. We also have to be practical, because we’re a business too. When we win the lotto for $10 billion, we’ll probably do this for free. But until then, we have to approach things realistically by paying our bills and taxes.

What this means is that we bump up rates a little every 6-12 months to keep up with the economy, while staying aware of author budgets too. Striking a balance is not easy, but we’re committed to that, because at the end of the day, we want to create win-wins for everyone.

Have questions about the editing process? We’d love to chat with you and help you figure out your next steps. Contact us to set up a free sample edit.

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