This is all about the BIG picture. The editorial focus at this stage is on helping you develop and communicate your idea. Sounds simple, but it’s a lot of work. We’ll focus on the overall plot and/or structure of the piece, character development, voice and tone, clarity and coherence of the writing, consistency, etc. Basically, this is the deepest form of editing. Usually this takes a few rounds between the editor and writer. Rates range from $0.04-$0.07 a word.

In this phase of editing, you’ve completed your big-picture review, but you still think the manuscript could use a heavy editorial eye. I’ll edit line-by-line and look for structural issues at the chapter or paragraph level. Rates range from $0.04-$0.06 a word.

This is the final polish before the manuscript goes to the publisher or the designer. It avoids most structural issues and focuses on the line-by-line issues of clarity, correctness, coherence, consistency, and completeness. Rates range from $0.02-$0.05 a word.

This is the final edit of the publishing process, conducted after the manuscript has been full designed or laid out. The edit typically takes place in PDF form. The focus on finding any last typos or grammatical errors while keeping an eye out for formatting errors. Rates range from $0.01-$0.04 a word.