Nowadays, authors know they have to hone their manuscripts as near to perfection as possible to enhance their chances of being picked up by a publisher…or if they’re self-publishing, to enhance their appeal to readers.

Writer’s Resource was founded on the idea that authors should help authors. Part of that is helping with the financial investment. Occasionally the market is surveyed to ensure that costs are at the lower to middle range for comperable levels of experience and services.

This year, the Freelance Editor’s Association found that standard costs across the market are $45-65/hour based on the experience of the editor. A 70,000-word manuscript could take 56 hours for developmental editing. The result is a fee between $2,520 and $18,200. Copy editing, a much lighter form of editing, averaged $25-50/hour for a fee range between $840 and $7,000.

That’s quite an investment.After twenty years in  business, this shop maintains price structures that are on the lower and middle ends of the ranges quoted above. The higher level of editing used by the association is also divided into separate services called developmental assistance, consulting, rewriting and line editing.

Breaking things down ensures that each client is able to select only those items they truly feel will help…and the different options help them keep to a budget!

Standard copy editing ranges from $2.50 per page to $3.95 per page. Line editing ranges from $4.00 per page to $7.50 per page. Line editing includes everything offered under copy editing, of course.

Developmental work and rewriting fees are set based on each individual manuscript’s needs; generally, they are higher than the highest level of line editing.

Consulting is performed on an hourly basis.

Whether you’re aiming for a publisher’s attention, self-publishing or tackling both options at once, call or email for your editorial and developmental needs.