Editing Prices
A quote costs nothing and commits you to nothing. Send the document, or a representative sample together with the total word count, and we will come back with a firm figure.
Editing is charged by the word rather than by the hour, so the cost of a piece of work is settled before any of it begins. There is no setup fee and no account to open.
What a document costs depends on how much work it needs. Every level is aimed at a document ready to publish or submit; the level describes how much the draft needs doing to it, not how finished the result will be. A manuscript already in good order may need nothing more than a proofread. There are four levels.
Each one is set out below with its rate, followed by what a full-length manuscript comes to at each. After that you will find the same paragraph edited at all four levels, so the difference between them can be seen rather than described.
The rates
| Level | Per word | What is done, and who it suits |
|---|---|---|
| Proofread | 3¢ | A final read for error: typography, spelling, punctuation, grammar and consistency. The wording is left as you set it. A draft you consider finished, where what remains is mistakes rather than writing. |
| Light edit | 3.5¢ | Everything a proofread covers, and attention to the wording itself: what is vague is sharpened, and anything thin or unsupported is marked for you. A draft that holds together, where the writing needs a closer look than a proofread gives it. |
| Medium edit | 4¢ | Sustained work on sentences and paragraphs: order within sections, tone, transitions and consistency. Where a point needs making more fully, we say so. A draft that needs work throughout rather than in places. |
| Heavy edit | 5¢ | Sentences reshaped and sections reordered where the argument or the story calls for it. Material is added, moved or cut as the document needs. A draft where the shape and the order are not yet right. |
Minimum charge $50, which covers anything shorter than a few pages.
What that means for a real manuscript
Standard turnaround, fiction, no citations to check.
| Length | Proofread | Light edit | Medium edit | Heavy edit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20,000 words Novella, or a long report |
$600 | $700 | $800 | $1,000 |
| 50,000 words Short novel |
$1,500 | $1,750 | $2,000 | $2,500 |
| 80,000 words A typical novel |
$2,400 | $2,800 | $3,200 | $4,000 |
| 120,000 words A long novel or a full non-fiction book |
$3,600 | $4,200 | $4,800 | $6,000 |
Those figures are arithmetic rather than a quotation. A word count tells us how long a document is, but not what condition it is in, so the firm price always comes from reading the work itself.
What moves the price
Three things sit on top of the per-word rate.
How quickly you need it back
| Turnaround | Effect on the price |
|---|---|
| Standard (5-7 days per 20,000 words) | no change |
| Rush (2-3 days per 20,000 words) | 50% more |
| Next day (24 hours per 10,000 words) | double |
| Same day (12 hours per 10,000 words) | triple |
Standard turnaround suits most projects and is what we assume unless you tell us otherwise. Rush and same-day work is charged at a higher rate because it moves ahead of other commitments; the editing itself is the same.
What kind of document it is
| Document | Effect on the price |
|---|---|
| Fiction | no change |
| Biography | 10% more |
| Academic paper | 20% more |
| Scientific document | 30% more |
| Literary manuscript | no change |
| Business or corporate document | 10% more |
| Thesis or dissertation | 20% more |
Technical and academic work carries terminology, conventions and reference styles that have to be checked rather than read past. That is the difference.
References and citations
| Effect on the price | |
|---|---|
| No citations | no change |
| Citations to check | 10% more |
The whole sum, in one line
words × rate for the level × document type × turnaround × citations , with a $50 minimum. That is exactly what the calculator below does. There is no other formula.
What changes at each level
The level you choose makes more difference to the price than anything else on this page, and it is the hardest of the choices to make from a description alone. The same paragraph appears below, edited at each of the four levels, with every change marked.
One paragraph, four levels
One paragraph from a novel, at each of the four levels. Everything a level changed is marked, so you can see the size of the job rather than take our word for it.
The draft
The old house on Carrow Street had been standing empty for nearly thirty years, it’s windows boarded and the garden gone completely wild. Nobody in the village could remember who had actually owned it last, and the few people who claimed they did remember, gave answers that contradicted each other. Martha had walked past it every single day of her childhood and she had always felt that there was something about the place that seemed to be watching her back.
As the author sent it. Three mechanical errors, a good deal of padding, and a last sentence that explains a feeling instead of delivering it.
Proofread
The old house on Carrow Street had been standing empty for nearly thirty years, its windows boarded and the garden gone completely wild. Nobody in the village could remember who had actually owned it last, and the few people who claimed they did remember gave answers that contradicted each other. Martha had walked past it every single day of her childhood, and she had always felt that there was something about the place that seemed to be watching her back.
Mistakes out, nothing else touched. Three changes: it’s becomes its, a comma that split a subject from its verb is removed, and a missing comma is added before and she had always felt. The author’s sentences are untouched.
3¢ a word — $2,400 for an 80,000-word manuscript.
Light edit
The old house on Carrow Street had stood empty for nearly thirty years, its windows boarded and the garden gone wild. Nobody in the village could remember who had owned it last, and the few who claimed they did gave answers that contradicted each other. Martha had walked past it every day of her childhood, and she had always felt that there was something about the place that seemed to be watching her back.
The mistakes, plus the words that are not earning their place. Completely, actually and single go; had been standing becomes had stood. Same sentences, same rhythm, roughly twenty fewer words.
3.5¢ a word — $2,800 for an 80,000-word manuscript.
Medium edit
The old house on Carrow Street had stood empty for nearly thirty years, its windows boarded, its garden gone to seed. Nobody in the village could say who had owned it last, and those who claimed they could contradicted each other. Martha had walked past it every day of her childhood, and every day she had felt it watching her.
Sentences rebuilt where they are working too hard. Note the last one: she had always felt that there was something about the place that seemed to be watching her back becomes every day she had felt it watching her. The sentence stops describing the feeling and starts producing it. This is what most finished manuscripts need.
4¢ a word — $3,200 for an 80,000-word manuscript.
Heavy edit
For thirty years the house on Carrow Street had stood empty, windows boarded, garden gone to seed. Ask in the village who owned it last and you got four answers, none of them the same. Martha had walked past it every day of her childhood. Every day, it watched her back.
The order changes. The image moves to the front, the throat-clearing goes, and the villagers’ contradiction becomes something the reader does rather than is told about. For drafts where the material is right and the shape is not — and only for those.
5¢ a word — $4,000 for an 80,000-word manuscript.
Not sure which one your draft needs? Send it over — we will tell you, including when the honest answer is the cheaper one. Full rates and worked examples.
Those are four prices for four different pieces of work. A heavy edit on a manuscript that is already well structured pays for work the document does not need, while a proofread on a draft with structural problems will leave those problems in place and correctly punctuated. If you are unsure which level fits, send us the document and we will tell you, including when the answer is the less expensive one.
Estimate your own
Estimate your own
Move the pieces around and the estimate follows. Nothing is sent anywhere — this works entirely in your browser.
Our rates:
Proofread 3¢ · Light edit 3.5¢ · Medium edit 4¢ · Heavy edit 5¢ a word.
Minimum charge $50.
How the price is worked out
This is a rough estimate, not a quote. Send us the document, or a representative sample and the total word count, and we will confirm: 1) the level and type of editing it needs, 2) the price, and 3) the delivery date before any work begins.
What you get: three passes
- First passYour editor works through the whole document, then returns it for your review.
- Second passYour editor makes the changes you asked for, plus anything else the document needs, and returns it again.
- Final passA complete proofread of the finished document, returned for your final review, then checked once more by your editor afterwards.
Then get a firm quote
Send the document, or a representative sample and the total word count. You get back a fixed price, the level of editing it covers, and a delivery date — before anyone starts work. The quote is free and nothing is owed if you decide against it. Your writing is read only by the editor working on it, is never published, and any file you send is removed from our server automatically.