We’re getting close to the announcement of the Word Weaver Writing Contest Winners, so I’m distracting you with this post.
And yes, I misspelled proofreading in the title on purpose.
Probably.
You guys always ask me what stuff like editing costs, so I looked up a few editors’ rates. This is not unusual for editing, and a clean MS (manuscript) costs much less to edit.
No that’s not a shameless plug for my Private Critique Group.
Check out these rates. You can decide for yourself if they’re worth it – oh, and by the way, this isn’t fixing your story so it’s a page turner, it’s mostly finding typos and missing commas and stuff. Maybe a little story doctoring but that’s not usually what regular editors excel at.
Person A
SAMPLE EDIT RATE
75,000 (300 pages) $405.00 – $675.00
100,000 (400 pages) $540.00 – $900.00
Person B
PROOFREADING
Dollars: $0.004 p/word (approx $300 per 75K word manuscript)
COPY/LINE EDITING:
Dollars: $0.004 – 0.007 p/word, depending on manuscript (between $300 – $525 per 75K word manuscript)
Definitions:
Copy editing is a process that ensures that text is correct in terms of spelling, grammar, jargon, punctuation, terminology, semantics and formatting. … They make sure any factual data in the text is accurate and that any potential legal issues are brought to the publisher’s attention.
Line editing refers to prose. It’s about the craft of writing, and that means paragraph structure, sentence flow, word choice, and language-related techniques. That also means voice, style, readability, and forward movement. And in fiction it means the difference between scenes and exposition.
Proofreaders read copy and transcripts and check to make sure there are no spelling, grammatical or typographical errors.
Do you see any of the descriptions that say they’ll help you trim your story so it reads at a terrific pace?
Or with emotion?
Or that’ll make it a page turner?
Kinda sorta but not really?
Shop carefully, my friends. There are good editors and bad editors out there, and you have to do your homework before hiring them. Look for referrals from the editors you’re considering and ask author friends who they used.
But usually the editor isn’t making your story read well, so don’t expect them to do that.
Have YOU had an experience, good or bad, with an editor? (No names, please.)
Dan Alatorre 
Reblogged this on anita dawes and jaye marie.
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Thank you!
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Just one question… who can afford any of that?
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To be honest, I’ve read those descriptions three times and I’m still not 100% sure what they do. And I think that’s on purpose. I think these people fix typos and tell you where a comma is/ isn’t needed and charge you a lot of money – and then say to make your story better you’ve got to spend more money with the next person.
At the end of the day you’re out $1500 in your story still sucks because they can’t help you write a good story, they can just make sure your bad story doesn’t have typos.
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I’ve had 2 developmental edits that were fabulous 😊!
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Reblogged this on Author Don Massenzio and commented:
Here’s a thought-provoking post from Dan Alatorre’s blog on Proofreading and Editing rates and definitions
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Oh, yeah, writing is more expensive than a lot of people think. Even putting together a children’s picture book can run on up there. Great post, Dan.
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Thanks.
I actually thought those prices were pretty reasonable. Many times people spend over $1000-$1500 on editing.
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I didn’t mean to imply the prices weren’t reasonable. It’s just that I think a lot of writers get sticker shock and as a result cut corners. That’s how so many badly edited books end up on Amazon.
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Right. I got that. No worries.
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Reblogged this on Plaisted Publishing and commented:
Proofreading and Editing….What do you do and think?
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Thanks for the reblog
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I had my memoir edited that at the time I thought it was ok. However, I since realised that in fact, it was far from good. However, by this time my book was published both online and in print. Therefore, I recommend that you get in touch with someone who has used the editor you intend using before paying for their services. There are a number of editors who will do a sample edit free of charge or will take the charge off their bill if you decide to use them. This method can save you both money and disappointment.
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Good tip!
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