How Much Does Editing Cost?
This is the first question most writers want to know. The truth is, the cost of editing is dependent on many factors, such as the strength of your writing, how much development the project has already gone through, and more.
While there is a good reason why editors like me want to do a sample edit before giving you a quote, I’ve done enough editing work to give ballpark figures, so I’ve created the price estimation calculator below to give you an idea of what to expect each round of editing to cost.
Why previous feedback matters:
The reason receiving professional feedback is a factor in this form isn’t because that matters to me as far as taking on your project… my favourite stages of editing are early in the process, and I love working with authors to take their projects from diamonds in the rough to sparkling gems worthy of a bookstore shelf.
Professional feedback is simply an indication, for the purposes of this estimator, of how polished your work is likely to be already.
“Professional feedback” might be a previous round of editing, feedback from a critique group of experienced authors, or an experienced beta reader. If you’re an experienced author who writes very clean, and you’ve already done revisions based on your prior knowledge but you haven’t had an editor go over your work already, you may still fall more in the range of someone who has received professional feedback. We won’t know for sure until I do a sample edit.
Most queries I receive are from authors who have never worked with a developmental editor before—or an editor of any kind. For new and developing authors, going through the full process of editing will not only save you money on subsequent rounds of editing (and future projects), but—and this is important—you’ll end up with a better story overall in the end, and I promise that you’ll be a better writer.
For more about the editing process, and when and how you could consider skipping steps, please see this post on my Author Alchemist blog.
Important Caveats:
This is an estimate only. You will still need to get a sample edit done to receive an accurate quote.
Your work may not be ready for the level of editing you request. In that case, I will recommend you start with a different type of editing. I will not do a type of editing work on your project that it’s not ready for, because I lack the ability to pass over things that need to be fixed. I will always give you an honest assessment of what I believe your work needs. You can make your decisions from there.
I can sometimes do rush work. If the project needs to be done in a shorter length of time than the estimator gives, let me know when querying, and I’ll let you know if I’m able to accommodate your needs.
I have options for lower budgets. While I need to charge a certain amount for my time in order to pay my bills, I also understand the needs of authors on a budget. (I’m one of those, too!) If you want to improve your story and writing but can’t afford a full edit, consider a partial edit. You can learn an astonishing amount from having only part of your work edited, and it will still improve your entire work as you apply your knowledge—and you’ll reduce the costs of future editing. I have premade partial editing packages on my Editorial Services page, or you can choose the number of words you want edited and I’ll quote you for that.
Also, sign up for my Word Wizard Academy newsletter for a free lesson about plot structure you can read in an hour or less and use to help you improve your story now.
My Editing Values
If you only want someone who will polish up your punctuation and spelling, use an AI-driven editor such as ProWritingAid to help you with that. (This is something I recommend anyway. The more polished you can make your prose before you send it, the more money you’ll save in other editing.)
If you want an editor who cares deeply about not only the story you’re telling, but about your success as an author, I’m your girl.
When you’re ready, I’d love to see how we can make your story and writing better, together.