THE PROCESS
PRELIMINARIES
After you contact me, I will send you a questionnaire to give me an idea about your project, where you are in it, and what you might need. Depending on how straightforward your editing needs are, we may end up exchanging some emails to help us identify the exact service for your manuscript.
You might want to look at my Terms and Conditions and my Privacy Policy.
Mentoring
If you decide you would like to be mentored, I will arrange for us to have one free consultation either in person or through a video or phone call. This is to let us both see if we are a good fit and make a note of the sorts of things might be discussed if you decide to engage me as a mentor. If we decide to work together, we will set up some meetings. Please see the pages for fiction and non-fiction mentoring.
Full developmental edit
If you decide on a full developmental edit, I will ask you confirm the size of the manuscript and to send me two 1000-word samples of your work. Using this, I will work out what the project might cost and how long it might take. Please see the pages for fiction and non-fiction developmental editing for more information.
Manuscript critique
If you decide on a manuscript critique, I will ask you to confirm the size and genre of your manuscript. Please see the pages for fiction and non-fiction developmental editing for more information.
Line and copy-edit
If it is line and copy-editing you need, I will ask you to send a 1000-word sample of your work, which I will edit and send back to you. This is a free, no-obligation service, which has the double purpose of allowing me to work out what the project might cost and how long it might take and allowing you to see my editing style. Please see the pages on fiction and non-fiction line and copy-editing for more information.
MAKING A CONTRACT
We agree on what service you want, what it will cost, and the time it will take. We put the dates when you will send me the manuscript and when I will return it. I prefer bank transfer as a payment method and ask that the first half be sent when you send the manuscript and the second half when you receive the completed manuscript or report.
Charges for full developmental edit and line and copy-editing depend on the size and complexity of the manuscript. I use the hourly guidelines from the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP) when working out costs, but charge per 1,000 words so that the client knows what to expect. Using this my rate can be from £13 to £30 per 1,000 words. The charge for my manuscript critique service goes by size alone. Below are the prices for an 80,000 word manuscript.
FULL DEVELOPMENTAL
EDIT
From £1,200
No longer than 6 weeks
MANUSCRIPT CRITIQUE
£640
No longer than 3 weeks
LINE AND COPY-EDIT
from £1,040
No longer than 3 weeks
SENDING AND RECEIVING THE MANUSCRIPT
SENDING ME YOUR MANUSCRIPT
At the agreed time you will send me your manuscript and the first payment, and I will begin work. I may contact you if there is anything I need to know about and to make sure I am giving you exactly the service you want. Otherwise, I will be working on your manuscript. Hopefully I won’t need to bother you. When it is finished, I will send it to you along with any other elements of the package and with an invoice for the rest of the amount.
RECEIVING YOUR REPORT AND EDITED MANUSCRIPT
Now it is over to you. Spend time going through the report and the edits. Look at the suggestions in the manuscript and accept or reject them. If there are any points in need of clarification, I will be there to answer any questions. Remember that part of the package for editing services is one hour of zoom or one email to clarify anything that is troubling you or discuss any issue you want.