Tag Archives: editing

Open Call Ends August 31, 2020

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Sunspot Literary Journal is dedicated to amplifying diverse multinational voices. We offer an Editor’s Prize of $50 for the annual edition. Artwork selected for a cover will be paid $20. Visit SunspotLit.com to download digital editions for free.

All types of prose from flash fiction and poetry to stories and essays, including scripts and screenplays, are welcome. We also accept long-form, novelette, and novella length works up to 49,000 words. Translations welcome, especially with access to the piece in the author’s original language.

One piece per prose submission; two works of visual art per submission.

Use the correct form according to the length of your prose and poetry. Works longer than allowed by the form used will be declined unread.

The Fast Flux options offer a two-week turnaround, with most responses going out within one week.

All submissions must be unpublished (except on a personal blog). Simultaneous submissions welcome. Submit as many times as you like.

Submissions must be sent through Sunspot’s Submittable page.

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How Much Will a Written Analysis of My Book Cost?

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A written analysis is one of the most popular services authors request. This examines the structural and storytelling elements of fiction and memoirs such as opening chapters, the
ending, primary events, character development/history, point of view, use of narrative and dialog, and other critical components. When the work is nonfiction, the structural and writing elements of that category are considered.
The write-up for a manuscript of average length is usually between 10 and 15 single-spaced pages. This is all narrative text; no tables, charts or graphs are used as filler. The commentary points out major and minor issues that should be addressed. It also makes recommendations for how to correct the issues along with discussions of how specific changes might resonate with other areas of the manuscript.
The usual turnaround time is 3 to 4 weeks.
The rate for a manuscript of standard length is $6.50 per double-spaced page. Short story or article/essay collections have a slightly higher fee if each piece is short.

There is a minimum fee for shorter books; if the project is longer than average, a flat rate is applied because the per-page rate would become prohibitive.

If you decide that you do not have the time to implement the recommendations or would like the work done for you for other reasons, this can be accomplished as the second step. A price quote will be created at that time based on the amount of work to be done. If the work progresses within 30 days of delivering the write-up, 60% of the write-up fee will be credited to that price quote.

Another way to approach this issue is to work with only the first 100 pages, including a synopsis. This allows me to see how you are handling the primary structural elements on the page. Since so often the primary issues appear in those first 100 pages, the mini-analysis can help you take a big step forward in a more affordable fashion. The write-up you receive averages 4 to 6 single-spaced pages. Once you see how certain issues impact those opening pages, you can extend the lessons learned to the rest of what you’ve already written.

Turnaround for a mini-analysis averages 2.5 to 3 weeks. The rate is a flat fee of $985.

How Much Does Editing Cost?

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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.

Writing Tip

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Writer’s Digest recently had this up as a recommendation for rewriting that first draft:

Pare down or eliminate scenes that don’t further the story. Examine plot points, characters, description, dialogue and exposition, until you have precisely what you need to tell your story, and not a character or subplot more. Then apply this same philosophy to your work at the sentence level, killing your darlings and eliminating excessive adjectives and adverbs, along with verbose descriptions. Bring out the flavor of both your story and your style, but stop short of overseasoning.

Many projects I work on have to be trimmed in some way. A close line edit can, word by carefully selected word, trim away as much as 15% of a manuscript’s word count. Books that need higher level work with plot points, dialog and the like, can be reduced further.

The result: Faster pacing, higher suspense, greater emotional impact, condensed tone…and a much better read.