Editing Services
Sentence-Level Editing (Full Manuscript) £16-£21/1,000 words
I combine line-editing and copyediting in a one-stop service which will ensure your manuscript is ready for the proofreading stage.
While I’m editing your manuscript, I will be looking at:
- General punctuation, spelling and grammar
- Point of view and head-hopping
- Overuse of stage direction
- The use of tentative language
- Lumpy sentences
- Overwriting
- Unnecessary adverbs
- Showing vs telling
- Excessive timeline nudges
- Character description
- Chapter and section endings and beginnings
- Action beats
- Tense
- Sentence length and rhythm
- Dialogue (and thoughts) formatting, punctuation, idioms, dialects and tags
- Conscious language, inclusivity and stereotyping
As with most editors, I use MS Word Track Changes. This means that you get to see each and every suggested change, and can choose to accept or reject each one individually (if you so wish!). I make changes directly to your manuscript, and I also use the comments function to explain, ask questions, or make suggestions.
At the end of the editing process, I send you back two versions of the file. The tracked version shows all my suggested changes. The second version shows you your manuscript as it would look if you approved all my amendments.
I’m aware that sometimes it’s a little overwhelming to see your lovely manuscript with lots of suggested changes, so I recommend that authors work from the clean file, and only use the red-pen version for reference. The comments are the same on both files.
Of course, you may be the sort of author who likes to learn from the editing process, to see all the changes and understand why they have been made. This is fine, and if you are someone who likes to do it yourself, you might also like to take advantage of my Line-Editing Coaching Call.
Sentence-Level Editing – what’s included in the price?
As explained on my home page, my fees are transparent, and are based on the word count. I prefer to work to a total cost, rather than an hourly rate, as that way we both know what to expect.
The total fee can be confirmed once I have provided you with a free sample edit. This allows me to have a proper look at your writing – meaning I can give you a clear understanding of the prices involved before you’ve committed to anything.
Style Sheet:
As well as the careful word-by-word edit, I also provide you with a detailed style sheet.
This is a document that records the major editorial decisions taken during the editing process (for example, -ise or -ize, double speech marks or single, etc.). This is particularly useful if someone else is going to work on your manuscript (a proofreader, for example), or where your novel is going to form part of a series.
Editorial Feedback:
For every manuscript, I include general editorial feedback which highlights your strengths and identifies areas that could be strengthened.
This feedback uses examples taken from your manuscript, offers supportive, constructive suggestions and, where applicable, details of further resources. The idea is that, at the end of the editing process, you feel encouraged, supported and empowered to continue writing more, even better books.
Agent Teaser – 10,000 words mini-edit £400
A “mini-edit” covers exactly the same aspects as for the full manuscript, but only applies to the first 10,000 words.
This serves two purposes. Firstly, it can provide you with a cheaper option, when compared with editing the entire manuscript. You can then see the types of suggestions I make during the first section of the book, and apply this information and knowledge to the rest of the manuscript.
This agent teaser also provides a clean sample for when you are querying editorial agents. Many agents request a 10,000-word extract before they decide whether to sign you up, and it’s important that this extract is of a high enough standard so they can see just how good your writing is.
As with the full sentence-level editing service, you will receive a style sheet, an optional conscious-language check and editorial feedback which will support your narrative craft.
Proofreading £11-£16/1,000 words
The biggest difference between proofreading and editing lies in WHEN it takes place. Put simply, proofreading is the final FINAL check before everything goes to print, or screen, or wherever the text will end up. It is not the time for fact-checking, re-writing for clarity, altering text for continuity or thinking about style. It IS the time to check:
- Spelling
- Grammar
- Capitalisations
- Typos (typing mistakes)
- Formatting (eg extra spaces, strange line-breaks, widows and orphans)
- Punctuation issues
- Inconsistencies
Manuscript Critique (Structural Editing) (£1750 for manuscripts up to 80,000 words)
As part of the manuscript critique, I will be looking at the big-picture elements:
- Plot
- Pace
- Conflict
- Voice
- Structure
- Tension
- World-building
- Tenses
- Tentative language and filter words
- Point of view and head-hopping
- Showing vs telling etc
I don’t make changes directly to the manuscript – instead, feedback will be provided via a 45-minute Zoom call, or as a written report.
(For manuscripts over 80,000 words, there will be an additional fee of £10 per additional 1,000 words.)
Unsure what type of editing you need?
It’s not always easy for an author to know which type of editing will be best for their manuscript and their writing.
The huge majority of manuscripts which land on my desk need sentence-level editing (see above). However, structural editing isn’t always necessary, and sometimes it’s difficult for an author to pick which level of editing will give them the most bang for their buck.
With this in mind, I offer a read-through service for a fixed fee of £300.
After reading your entire manuscript, I will let you know which level of editing will be of most benefit for you and your manuscript.
If there is one particular area of your book that you aren’t sure about (for example, do the characters feel real, are there any plot holes, was I invested) then I will also feed back on this one area too.
If you are still unsure about the difference between proofreading and editing, then please contact me. It may be that the best way to explain is to show you how the two different processes would apply to your manuscript, by doing a quick (free) sample edit.
