I recall once getting an inquiry from what I surmise was a young writer. He was taking me up on a free offer I had to take a look at a portion of work and give my opinion on it. The gentleman sent me a 7,500 word document that was all one paragraph with no punctuation or capitalization.
When I wrote back asking what was his thinking on such a submission, he responded that since an editor will make corrections he decided he didn't need to do anything himself.
As best I could, I told him an editor edits and doesn't rewrite an entire book and that no one will look at his book in this condition.
I never heard back.
It is important to have two distinct edits on a manuscript. One should be a check of grammar, syntax, cleaning up dangling participles and all those types of mistakes that we just don't see.
The other type of edit, which I prefer to call coaching, is where your work is looked at to see if the words make sense, if they flow well, if there are enough descriptions and if character relationships are developed enough to make the read enjoyable.
I recommend both be done. But the grammar edit is essential whether self-publishing or trying to catch the eye of a major publishing house.
A good rule of thumb as to how much edits should cost should depend on two things: First your word count and secondly how polished your submitted draft is.
I find it unbelievable that some editors just have a set price for a manuscript. How can editing a 150,000 word book take no more time than a 70,000 word one does?
Personally I don't do basic grammar edits but prefer coaching. I determine my price by looking at a portion of the manuscript and seeing how good the author is. A better writer will take much less time than one who is struggling with technique and so I have no menued price. I notice many of the professionals also work this way and it is the fairest to someone who has worked hard to bring a cleaner work to the table.
In the event I see a manuscript with a great deal of promise but much work to be done, I explain the weakness and offer to look at it again when changes are made. Otherwise the amount of money I would ask for would be too much to make sense when looking at the book as a business venture.
A good way to tell how much an edit should cost and what is fair is to first determine the reading time it takes to read your piece from cover to cover.
You now know the minimum amount of time someone will spend on the work. You then can double that time frame for a grammar edit and triple or quadruple it for a complete critique with changes and recommendations for changes.
Most editors charge per hour and this will give you an idea when someone tells you how much they are asking to edit your book. Simply take their price divided by the reading time and you know what they are asking per hour. Some are upfront about their per-hour fee but most are not.
A cursory look at copyeditors shows the industry norm is around 1.5 to 2.5 cents per word. That means a 100,000 word manuscript would cost $1500 to $2500 per edit and means the editor is asking for between $50 and $75 per hour. Some have no problem asking for $100 an hour and I'm sorry but in this day and age asking to make $4000 a week as a copyeditor is a bit much.
One thing I noticed in many of these sites is they all said, "Our editors" without any names or chances to check these so-called professionals out. I'm sorry but if I am going to spend a couple grand just for a grammar edit, I want to know exactly who I am paying.
Part of the craziness in all of this is we are all Internet people and as such a person in the big Apple would think $50 an hour is dirt cheap but someone in central Illinois would think $30 was more than enough.
I don't want to belabor the point but edits can cost a good chunk of money. I recommend that in the event you are doing a book to check with staff and employees at local schools and colleges to see if someone there who is obviously qualified could use some spare money. As I have said before, an editor just asking for a couple hundred should be a red flag that the proper time won't be spent on your work.
Now I have been fortunate enough to have friends who are retired teachers. One taught English for many years and on a large work I can rely on her to make the words right for a two or three hundred dollars plus a gift certificate to a local eatery. Even though I went through my manuscript dozens of times, the teacher still found dozens of mistakes. It is because I am a writer, she is an English teacher. Sometimes you just don't see a mistake but it is there for a trained eye to see immediately.
I can give you this recommendation that I have found worked with one of my clients. The local high school English teachers also were the speech team coaches. He offered to give a $500 donation to the speech team if the teachers edited his work for grammar.
They were delighted to find the money for a poorly funded school program, he had face to face contact with his editors and he was perceived as a great guy for helping out the school. The manuscript was 124,000 words by the way so he also saved a serious chunk of change. I like this idea over dealing with an unknown company that simply says their editors are highly qualified pros.
Next I think we should talk about what you should expect from a POD or vanity publisher and whether you need to use them or not.
Freelance writer, columnist, author and writing coach, ex-Chicagoan Mike Fak presently resides in Central Illinois. More information about Mike's services are available at his home website www.mikefak.com
Mike currently writes primarily humor columns for searchwarp bi-weekly and is the managing editor of www.lincolndailynews.com
Mike now offers a 26,000 word e-book on making money as a freelance writer for only $10.00 at this page. http://www.mikefak.com/id45.html
Thanks, again, Mike, for another very useful article with real-money implications. I am learning a lot from this class, as you give a sort of behind the curtain peak into the world of authorship and publishing. Come to think of it, I have an English major at church; now I know how she can be a part of my writing team! ~mogama~
Mike, there are great tips that you make here...some that I never though of to be honest. That is a great idea, to donate funds, for our hurting teachers that have the expertise to do these things, I am sure that in the day and age, the would appreciate any help they can get with what school funding is like. I do know an English teacher, and I am going to check with him to see if he would be interested. I could use some help in that area like any other wrtier...Thanks for the great article, and most of all, the great ideas!!!! Your fan, and friend in pen.....Gary
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