Rates and Services
Services and Fees as of June 2024
Introduction | Rates and services | Resume | Testimonials | Books I've edited
Please read these notes carefully before contacting me. In particular, please check to see if I do the kind of editorial work you seek. You can then email me to see when I am available. In general, I must schedule work ahead of time, due to other projects and prior commitments. And as noted below, my work at Kane Press places limits on what and how much I can do.
Services: Consulting on children's book publishing and manuscript coaching; all forms of children's book editing, including developmental editing (editing for structure, style, plot, content, etc.) and line-editing (editing at the sentence level). I do not do copyediting and proofreading except incidentally, as part of a larger project.
Due to my full-time work as an editor at Kane Press, I do not offer help with submissions or targeting agents or publishers, to avoid a conflict of interest. For the same reason, authors who I work with must understand that they may not submit any of their work to me at Kane Press while we are working together and not until two years after we stop working together.
I work with both authors and publishers, and provide strict confidentiality.
Fees: My fees are hourly (see below). My minimum fee for editorial work is $500; and my minimum for consulting is $350 (or two hours); multiple manuscripts or projects can be grouped together towards the minimum, if necessary. Plenty of people offer similar work for less than I charge: I set my rates at the levels I do because with my experience and skills I believe I am worth it--and because I am not willing to cut into my limited available time for less. Generally, I charge a higher rate for more substantial editing and for rush jobs.
Developmental and/or line-editing: My rate for both is $150 per hour. Developmental editing gives you detailed comments in the form of an editorial letter, specific suggestions, and on-manuscript notes and sample line-editing as needed. Line-editing involves line-by-line close reading and editorial comments, suggestions, and questions throughout a manuscript. This makes it extremely time-consuming, so as part of a developmental edit I do not do line-editing on every page unless this is agreed ahead of time. A manuscript that is nearly ready to go may only need line-editing, so I provide that as an option, though I typically do it only with clients I have worked with before.
Consulting: For work other than on manuscripts, such as help with cover and query letters, and general advice on where a manuscript fits in the market (as noted above I can not suggest specific agents or publishers), I charge $175 per hour; the actual consulting may be in writing, over the phone, or in person. This is subject to a two-hour minimum if a free-standing project; there is no minimum if this is included in a larger project.
Project editing: For publishers and self-publishers, I project edit books from acquired manuscript to production, performing all tasks normally done by an in-house editor. Normally, I charge a negotiated project fee for these services, payable half on signing and half on completion.
Other services: Editorial or writing work that doesn't fit in the above categories is generally subject to my $150/hour rate. Please also read my comments on the issue of recommendations and referrals.
For rush jobs, I charge a premium of 25 to 50% on top of my standard fee, depending on the deadline.
Estimated costs: I will provide a written estimate in a letter of agreement before starting work on a project. As a rule of thumb, more pages means a higher total fee, and more detailed work is slower. Developmental editing can be slow and therefore expensive work, as it may include notes on the manuscript, and my rule of thumb is that I will be able to read and take notes at a rate of no more than 30 pages per hour. I then need a few hours to write up my editorial letter. So, for example, a 180-page nonfiction project could take me 6 hours to read and 3 to write, or 9 hours at $150, a total of $1350. Line-editing may go at a pace of 10-15 pages per hour, so to line-edit a 150-page novel would take 10 hours, or $1500 (if I discover larger editorial issues while line-editing, I will comment on them as well).
Consulting projects will vary depending on the project; my hourly rate is higher, but consulting may only take up an hour or two, as a free-standing job or add-on to another project.
Conditions: Because being paid to evaluate children's books could lead to a conflict of interest with my present full-time job, I work on children's book manuscripts only under certain conditions: in the short agreement I send all clients is the stipulation that authors may not submit any of their work to me at Kane Press while we are working together and not until two years after we stop working together. Other expectations are negotiated before the job begins, and can be renegotiated by either party if circumstances change.
Getting started: Please contact me by email (see below) with a short description of your manuscript and an explanation of what you want me to do. If I am available and think that it sounds like a good match for me, I will ask you to send me the manuscript; I prefer to see the project before settling on terms. I then briefly evaluate it, and if I think I can be of help I propose terms and send a short contract to you, setting out what I will do and what I expect from you. I do not proceed until the contract has been signed, and, for new clients, a deposit has been paid.
Payment: Payment is due within 30 days of the completion of the project or at agreed-upon intermediate stages. Unless we have worked together before, I require partial payment at the beginning of the work, or payment in full for minimum fee projects. I will invoice: please advise of elements required by your accounting system. Payment can be made by via Paypal, or by check or money order in US dollars or UK pounds. I do accept other currencies, but payment must be made in full in advance, and include an additional 10% to cover bank charges.
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