Editing Fees and Guidelines

As many know, I provide editing. What I do is line editing and proofreading, which means I check for grammar, sentence structure, misspellings, watch for plot inconsistencies, etc. I do not do content editing at this time. (1)  I strongly recommend before your manuscript comes to me that it has been through a writing group, at least one beta reader, and a content editor. I then recommend a final polishing proofread after I'm done.  I can recommend writing groups, content editors, and proofreaders if needed.

Please note! Due to my cancer and chemotherapy treatments I'm taking a bit of a hiatus from editing. I have manuscripts to work on when I finally find the energy (I think it ended up under the sofa cushions and Goddess knows I do not want to rummage around in there!), but for now I won't be accepting any new manuscripts until I feel more ambitious. This grieves me, as I love editing, but I just cannot guarantee the sort of timely service I've provided in the past right now.

Effective July 1, 2013: At this time, I charge $0.003/word, with a minimum of $75 for 5,000 to 25,000 words, payable via PayPal. If your manuscript is less than 5,000 words--short stories and flash fiction--please let me know and we can work out pricing for editing your short piece. If the current price is more than you can afford, please don't let that deter you; I have worked heavily with independently published authors right from the start, and I know you don't necessarily have the budget. I am willing to work out a barter arrangement with you, where you can buy books for me from my Amazon wishlist. You will often find this arrangement to cost 25-75% less, depending on whether you buy new books or Marketplace books, or select from my large number of 99-cent e-books. Don't worry--we can work it out!  I am usually booked well ahead, but can provide references to other editors if you need your work done sooner.  I can probably add in a few work-in manuscripts, so please feel free to contact me,  I try to keep my rates low so I can continue to help as many people as possible have quality editing, but my rates are significantly less than industry standard.  Other editors often charge $40 to $60 an hour.

I prefer to set up appointments for your manuscript, but always encourage authors to send their manuscripts to me as early as possible, for I can often work them in sooner than they are scheduled. I am also willing to do a "work-in" manuscript, where you send it and I'll give you a rough estimate as to when I might be able to start it, with the understanding that, due to my health, sometimes circumstances interfere.

I have access to both Microsoft Word and OpenOffice programs for document processing.  I have found that Word is a bit easier to work with utilizing the Track Changes application.  I usually turn on Track Changes while I edit and leave the decision as to whether or not to accept those changes to you.  I also tend to leave extensive notes outlining the reason for specific changes, noting uneven or awkward sentence or paragraph flow, or even if I noticed something that just doesn't feel right.  Please note that sometimes Track Changes will lump multiple changes together when they are close, and it also removes comments once you have rejected or accepted a change.  I recommend reviewing all comments before you start accepting/rejecting changes, and if changes are close together, it is best to accept them all and then go back and make changes if you wanted to revert to the original, so that other changes are not lost.

After I have edited a manuscript, I will send it back to you. Once you have made changes, you can always send it back to me for a second pass at no charge. On rare occasions--and I will usually tell you this as I'm sending it back to you--if it needs a great deal of work, I will reserve the right to charge half-price for the second pass, especially if I have recommended considerable rewriting on your manuscript.

For available books on which I have worked, please see my "i-edited" shelf on Goodreads. You may contact any of the authors with whom I've worked for a reference.  Most of my feedback consists of comments like those I received from Cheryl Rainfield, above.  I am also very willing to provide you a test edit, of up to 5,000 words, to see if we are a comfortable fit. I can be easily contacted through Goodreads or Shelfari, if you sign up for a free account, or by e-mail at katy.sozaeva@gmail.com

1 Please note: If your manuscript requires content editing, I will send it back to you and refer you to a content editor; due to the huge amount of time required for content editing, I cannot justify my time output for the amount I charge. If, in the future, I do decide to take up content editing, I will probably charge from 10 to 100 times as much, so if you're tempted to ask me to content edit for you, be prepared for me to outright refuse, or ask you for a much higher payment. I strongly recommend before your manuscript comes to me that, in order to ensure it is ready for me, it has been through a writing group, at least one beta reader, and a content editor. I then recommend a final polishing proofread after I'm done. I have other editors to whom I can also refer you, if you are not comfortable working with me for any reason. Keep in mind that many editors are better at different types of editing; I have made such a strong point about this because what I am good at is the nitpicking, not the big picture, and that is what I prefer to do.