For editors who are charging pennies for what should be hours and hours and hours worth of work: I am saddened that you would ruin the market for those who have the expertise and ability to charge what it’s worth. You see, an author whose book needs a whole lot of help will see your rock-bottom prices and think that’s the norm. But the reality? That’s not normal. It’s not normal to charge sweat shop rates for something that requires top-notch quality.
I was recently directed to your excellent article from almost a year ago by a colleague at SouthWest Writers in Albuquerque, New Mexico. As a freelance literary editor of memoir, poetry, and novels, I offer authors guidance and support similar what you describe, but of course I cannot handle editing every genre. I was gratified to know that I’m doing the right thing by sticking to my specialties. By coincidence, someone who reached out to me last week on LinkedIn was looking for a children’s book editor and one of your readers in this conversation recommended one. That reminds me… Read more »
The book provides further support for the importance of government-sponsored R&D by documenting numerous historical facts that demonstrate how government investments created the modern world and fueled the prosperity the world has witnessed over the past 200 years. The book also explains the origin of major technology revolutions over human history in a very accessible way. It ends with an investment strategy and a plan on how our nation can continue its prosperity for future generations.
Open the book and start turning the pages until you see the title page. Some books will have a single blank page, while some will include marketing materials or quotes. Novels will often list an author’s other books. Turn pages until you find the title page, which will have the book’s title in large letters in the center or upper-portion of the page. Look underneath the author’s name at the bottom to see if there is an editor listed.[1]
I say “most of your desired criteria” because it’s rare to find an editor who will meet all your criteria. For instance, you may have to pay a few hundred to a few thousand dollars more for your top pick. Or, you may find someone at your precise price point, but their experience isn’t quite what you’d like it to be. You must be the one to assess what trade-offs you’re willing to make.
Working with a professional is always the best choice, so if possible, then save up to work with an editor. But of course, some writers can't afford this, in which case there are some other options. You can barter with other writers in the same genre, editing each other's work, or providing other services you might be more skilled at e.g. Marketing tasks.
The other thing I really like is your breakdown of the types of editing available. That’s what I find needs to be explained the most. Especially in business editing, you get scenarios when someone thinks a document needs “a proofread”, when it really needs a copy edit or even a heavy line edit, and you have to justify the cost or the time it takes to complete it.
The result will be a very clean and much improved manuscript, but with lots of comments and suggestions, which will probably require some rewriting and extra work on your part. Getting back a heavily edited manuscript like this can be challenging, but know that it will drastically improve your writing skills and help you identify your weaknesses. During the revision process, it’s possible to create new consistency issues, which is why we recommend a final proofread or at least some beta-readers to help finalize your manuscript.
If a book has an editor, you will be able to find their information in the opening pages of a book before the table of contents or first chapter. This information is often on the copyright information page, although the editor’s name may be listed in the acknowledgements or on the title page instead. If a book has no press or an editor is uncredited, you may need to do some research or contact the author to get editorial information. To contact an editor, contact their publishing company or use their personal or professional website to reach out to them. Remember to always be cordial if you’re planning on a getting a letter or phone call back!
OUR EDITORS are confident, calculated, experienced and ruthless. We tend to look for people with at least an MA in Literature and 2 years of full-time book editing experience, but will also give editors a chance if they’ve edited at least 10 books and can provide references from happy clients; or if they’re successful authors themselves who have published several books.
#1. ACCOUNTABILITY: Anybody can call themselves an editor these days, but even if they have the right skills, it doesn’t mean they’ll do a good job. I’ve heard too many horror stories of editors who ghosted clients or provided shoddy work, leaving writers out of pocket with no recourse for a refund. We have one of the best refund policies in the industry and take personal responsibility for every project, which means – if clients aren’t happy with the work, we’ll do everything in our power to fix it.
Grants are available to nonprofit organizations, for-profit businesses that qualify for government grants, and individuals who qualify for foundation or government grants. Hiring a good grant writer can help you gain funding in your chosen field. According to the American Grant Writers’ Association, grant writers can help you research potential grant opportunities; write grant proposals, create budgets, and build budget narratives; review written materials before you submit; prepare a business plan; analyze your organization for grant competitive qualities; prepare research grants; help with 501(c)(3) applications for nonprofits; and more. Investing in the right grant writer could result in a financial win for your organization. Generally no licenses or certificates are required to be a good grant writer, but you may want to find a grant writer who has been certified (not just received a certificate of completion) by a reputable organization such as the Grant Professionals Certification Institute. Qualities to look for in a good grant writer include:
Most editors in my genre charge from 002 to 007 per word. That’s for developmental and FLE, (Final line edit) – three rounds in all. The 10,000 fee you mention here would put off anybody from ever hiring an editor. I know few writers who could pay that, which is why Amazon is flooded with poorly written and badly edited books. I would encourage writers to contact other authors in their genre for tips on editors and to cultivate good beta readers.
While you may (or may not) be correct in your assumptions, your tone in general is rude, and disrespectful. If you are indeed a true editor of distinct taste and experience, you should not feel the need to bad mouth others for their thoughts and opinions. Show a little decency, and realize that you are indeed speaking to a human being, who probably has thoughts and feelings, and is in my opinion, a much more intelligent human for having the intellect to not attack someone verbally for their thoughts. No one needs you to be rude, or asked you for that matter.
EFA has an excellent reputation in the field, and their high annual membership fee keeps out the riff-raff and newbies merely flirting with the profession. For writers, EFA also has a very useful rates survey for the different kinds of editing, helpful for anyone shopping around: (the-efa.org/res/rates.php) For those keen to find a fully vetted editor, try Editcetera (editcetera.com). This group not only tests every applicant, they also supervise for a full year. Of course, their rates are higher. Another highly regarded editorial organization is Bay Area Editors Forum (editorsforum.org), with a searchable database of editors. I’m a member there.… Read more »
It’s best, if you decide to hire a freelancer, to figure out what the going rate is for the service you need, and expect to pay that amount. Otherwise it may turn out to be a waste of money, because the quality of the service will suffer. Sometimes there are payment plans to help with high costs! But it’s really a good investment to pay industry standard for editorial services; I agree with Shayla.
I was recently directed to your excellent article from almost a year ago by a colleague at SouthWest Writers in Albuquerque, New Mexico. As a freelance literary editor of memoir, poetry, and novels, I offer authors guidance and support similar what you describe, but of course I cannot handle editing every genre. I was gratified to know that I’m doing the right thing by sticking to my specialties. By coincidence, someone who reached out to me last week on LinkedIn was looking for a children’s book editor and one of your readers in this conversation recommended one. That reminds me… Read more »
I’m not sure why you said “ha” after Fiverr. I’ve been a proofreader (more like a line editor/copy editor, really) for 3.5 years and have worked on many book projects there and outside of Fiverr. (writerkerrie) … Yes, some editors on there are crap and I agree, but many of us ROCK! I only charge $5 for 1,500 words of text (I only receive $4) because I LOVE WHAT I DO and I love working from home and being able to homeschool my kids. I am also an author myself and want to help other authors by not overcharging them. I have received MANY book projects from authors who paid the rates you describe above and I ended up finding DOZENS more mistakes and GLARING errors that for $70/hour … well, they should have been caught. Please don’t write off Fiverr. Some of us care about what we do and we do it well and you can tell from my almost-1,600 great reviews that this is true. Don’t hire someone if their gig is written poorly and they barely have any reviews!
No other word to describe this company besides UNMATCHED! I was having trouble finding someone to do my cover design for both my ebook and my paperback covers until I came across Dane and the team at Ebook Launch. I have not for a single second regretted hiring them for ALL of the work I needed done in order to self-publish my first book! My cover was (no lie) 20 times better than I was hoping for expecting! The team is helpful, knowledgeable, friendly, and professional. If you need ANYTHING done for your book, I could not recommend them more. Work with them and you will not be sorry. Guaranteed. Thanks for everything you guys!
Open the book and start turning the pages until you see the title page. Some books will have a single blank page, while some will include marketing materials or quotes. Novels will often list an author’s other books. Turn pages until you find the title page, which will have the book’s title in large letters in the center or upper-portion of the page. Look underneath the author’s name at the bottom to see if there is an editor listed.[1]
A very helpful article, thanks! I’ve been trialing editors for my current romance WIP, including industry stalwarts from The Big Four, to freelancers and hobbyists, *budget* options and the gurus who cost a pretty penny. From 9 to 5 I’m an editor myself, so it’s been great experiencing the process from a writer’s perspective. I’ve documented some tips below on what to look for in an editor (and what should send you running) , which you might find interesting.
Thanks for this article! I have been freelance editing for several years now, and I have never been able to find something that gives such a succinct and clear summary of the different types of editing services and going rates. I got my start on UpWork, and most of my clients have expressed how difficult it is to find good editors and how thankful they were for my work.
After writing some of the book or a first draft of a book, some authors decide that they need more than an editor; they need a writer to take their writing to the next level, in order to get published or reach the level of sales they aim for. I can refer aspiring authors to excellent, experienced co-writers, book doctors and ghostwriters, some of whom have worked on New York Times Bestsellers and other award-winning books. Find out more about ghostwriting services.
Blake, that’s wonderful info. Thank you. I completely understand the response about guaranteeing the work. That was just something that popped in my head as I read a book written by a screenplay consultant I hired years ago and he wanted a review so I read it to help him out but found maybe 5 or 6 error’s myself in the 200 page book. I felt like it was unprofessional but didn’t have the heart to tell him. But the errors stuck out like a sore thumb so I was curious if that is normal or not.
