Rates
Line Editing
$0.025–$0.035
Per Word
- Polish content line by line
- Tighten paragraphs and dialogue
- Reorganize/rewrite sentences and paragraphs (heavy)
- Improve transitions
- Correct tonal shifts and unnatural phrasing
- Jazz up bland language and add precision
- Improve pacing
- Flag clichés
- Fix inappropriate use of passive voice
- Maintain author’s style
Copyediting
$0.02–$0.025
Per Word
- Ensure clear word choice and sentence structure
- Check for internal logic
- Maintain consistency in style (typeface, spelling, capitalization, hyphens, dashes, etc.)
- Reorganize/rewrite sentences and paragraphs (light)
- Ensure subject-verb agreement
- Make suggestions to improve readability
- Do light fact-checking
- Create a style sheet for future use
- Flag problems like lack of continuity, repetition, and vague or awkward phrasing
- Adhere to the style guide of your choice
Proofreading
$0.012–$0.018
Per Word
- Correct misspellings
- Fix typos
- Check for correct word usage
- Ensure proper capitalization
- Ensure correct punctuation
- Check formatting
- Correct typographical errors
- Adhere to the style guide of your choice
Book Typesetting
$50
Per Hour
- Upload the edited manuscript into Atticus (a typesetting software)
- Upload the cover and metadata
- Format any front matter or back matter provided by the author
- Create the epub and pdf files
- Deliver the source file, epub, and pdf file to the author
Beta Reading
$0.008
Per Word
- Read manuscript in completed/revised form (before formal editing)
- Provide honest verbal feedback from the perspective of a reader
- Give suggestions for improvement
- Address point of view, voice, characterization, story structure, plot, setting, pacing, etc.
Manuscript Review
$0.014
Per Word
- Read completed and revised manuscript (typically prior to formal editing)
- Provide multi-page written feedback from the perspective of an editor
- Communicate to the author what’s been done well and what elements need more attention
- Point out any problems with point of view, voice, characterization, story arc, thematics, consistency, redundancy, story structure, plot, setting, pacing, etc.
I base my rates off the Editorial Freelancers Association page HERE. The rates given on this site are considered standard for the industry. Take a minute to check them out, and you’ll see that I’ve kept my rates on the low end to remain competitive and fair. I also have a real soft spot for indie authors since I walk in those same shoes, and I know what it’s like to try to operate on a tight budget.
In most cases, I will require 50 percent of the project total as a down payment with the remaining balance due upon project completion. If you would like to get a feel for my work prior to making any financial commitments, please contact me, and I will provide you with a sample edit of a chapter of your book. I want you to feel completely confident with your decision to use Reliance Editorial Services for your editing needs.
Payments can be made by check or via PayPal. If payments are made by check, editing will begin once the check has cleared.
*Proofreading is reserved for authors whose manuscript has already been copyedited (either by the author or by an editor).
Services
You might ask, “Can’t I just do my own editing?”
The short answer is yes—you can and you should, but you’ll have more errors in your published book if you don’t bring a human editor into the process. I’m an author myself, and while it’s true that I do a lot of my own editing and use the AI tool ProWritingAid to help me, I still pay someone to look over my manuscript. In my opinion, it’s essential to have a second set of human eyes checking for mistakes. As writers, we are simply too close to our work to edit it perfectly, and while AI tools are very helpful, they have problems of their own.
Have you ever heard of typo blindness? Look it up—it’s a real thing! But here’s the gist: It is exceedingly difficult for writers to find errors in their own content. As they read over their work, what they see in front of them competes with the version they already have in their heads. This is why the most brilliant writer can completely miss the big mistakes (Susie’s brother’s name is Carl in chapter one and Bob in chapter seven) and the small mistakes (an error with there, their, they’re).
Every writer does need a good editor, but not all editing is the same.
I provide three different types of editing: line editing, copyediting, and proofreading. Each of these services is a separate and distinct step in the editing process. I am skilled at all three.
I also do manuscript reviews, book typesetting, and beta reading for those authors who do not yet have their beta team in place.
Below, you’ll find a further breakdown of each of my services for your review. Whether you are in a position of needing only one of these services or a combination (discounts apply), you’re in the right place! It may be that you’re not quite sure what type of edit your manuscript requires. Not to worry! I’ll help you get it all sorted out.
Line Editing
Line editing is sometimes confused with copyediting, but it really is distinctive and occurs at a very different time in the editing process. The line edit is done before the copyedit, but unlike the copyedit, its purpose isn’t to comb through your text for errors. Instead, the purpose of the line edit is to improve your communication on the whole, line by line and paragraph by paragraph. Certainly, if I find obvious errors on a technical level during a line edit, I will correct them. I am a perfectionist after all! Just know that the purpose of the line edit is not to correct grammar and spelling errors. That is the job of the copyedit.
Copyediting
The focus of copyediting is to address errors on a technical level, and it requires a deep understanding of the intricacies of English grammar and usage. The process of the copyedit involves looking at the text line by line in order to correct errors in spelling, grammar, usage, syntax, and punctuation. I provide light rewrites at this level to iron out any problematic wording or sentence structure. I will do a light fact check at this level as well. Additionally, I will create and provide clients with a style sheet to keep on hand for future writing. A style sheet is a list of the grammatical choices, characters, made-up words, unusual words, treatment of words, etc. that a writer uses and helps ensure consistency within a body of work.
Proofreading
This is the most basic level of editing. It should be reserved for a manuscript that has already been through a round of copyediting. Ideally, proofreading is done after the book has been typeset, but I can also proofread prior to that step. I will read your content backwards and forwards to catch any stray typographical errors, leftover formatting issues, or mistakes in grammar, spelling, usage, and punctuation.
Because a copyeditor is more focused on grammar and style, “little” mistakes like extra spaces, missing punctuation, font inconsistencies, and even usage errors can be missed. That’s where a proofreader comes in handy. A proofreader is reading to spot the smallest of errors or inconsistencies and is so important to making sure that no embarrassing mistakes remain in your published work.
Beta Reading
Beta reading is done once your revisions are completed and your story is as good as you can make it on your own. Typically (and ideally), beta readers can be found without having to pay for the service, but new authors don’t always have a beta team in place prior to launching their first book. Family members can work in a pinch, but I don’t recommend they be used exclusively. The problem with using family as beta readers is that they love you and don’t want to be critical of you or your work. You won’t get the most honest feedback from them as a result. Sometimes authors who write in the same genre will exchange beta reading services with one another, and that’s a good way to get some great feedback.
If you still prefer to use me as your beta reader, please know that my feedback won’t be written down for you. Rather, once I finish your manuscript, we would schedule a phone call to chat about your book. We could make it a virtual coffee date!
Manuscript Review
This service falls somewhere between a beta read and a developmental edit (the only editing type I don’t offer). When conducting a beta read, I’m reading your manuscript the way I would any other book, whereas with the manuscript review, I’m wearing both my reader hat and my editor hat as I go through it. I’m actively looking for problems and taking notes as I read, and I’m also noting which sections and patches of dialogue work really well and why.
Since developmental edits are so expensive, they are often out of the price range for indie authors. The manuscript review is a nice compromise. You’ll receive multiple pages of written feedback addressing your story’s strengths and weaknesses. I’ll give you my opinion on what works and what can be improved. Keep in mind that although the manuscript review is very detailed and specific, it is NOT an edit, so the Track Changes and Comments features will not be used within the pages of your manuscript.
Typesetting/Book Formatting
Typesetting software, such as Vellum and Atticus, can cost authors several hundred dollars to purchase. It’s a great investment if you plan to make authoring a career—or at least write more than one or two books.
If purchasing typesetting software isn’t feasible for you at the moment, you simply lack the time, or you only plan to write a few books, it might make more sense to pay someone else to do it. If you’ve taken the time to format your manuscript correctly by using headings, breaks, etc., then typesetting your book won’t take much time at all. On average, if the author has delivered a cleanly formatted manuscript, I can complete the typesetting in two hours or less. If it’s a long book, the formatting wasn’t done quite right, or you have more than one or two images within the pages of your book, it could take more time. We can work out a price quote ahead of time once I see your manuscript.
Once typesetting is complete, I will deliver the source file, epub, and pdf to the author.