What is Comprehensive Editing?

There are a few different levels of the editing investment an author can choose from, ranging from free to the need to put a second mortgage on your home. 

Here they are in that order:

• Beta Reading – This is usually free and a simple plea put out on Goodreads can accomplish this for you. Make sure you get someone who knows their stuff, though. If they just like to read free books this option may not be worth your time. Some beta readers charge a small fee. Free or not, this is absolutely 100% necessary for all authors everywhere, at the very least. 

Why? Because even though you’re awesome, your prose are tight and beautiful, your grammar is spot-on and your plot kicks ass – you’ve missed something. You’re too intimate with your work. Even taking the recommended 2 week break between draft revisions doesn’t put enough distance between you and your work. A second set of eyes will invariably find something you would swear wasn't an issue. Keep in mind though; you get what you pay for.

• Copy Editing – This cost varies wildly. Some charge per hour, some charge per page, some charge per word. Basic edits, not a lot of rewriting suggested. Pretty much just proofreading. 

• Line Editing – Basically just copy editing with closer scrutiny to word usage and story flow. Cost varies wildly here as well, with some confusion over whether this is included in copy editing or not. 

• Content Editing – “Fine-toothed comb” editing. This is examining aspects such as style, character believability and consistency, dialogue, plot arc. If you’re going to pay for editing, I think it’s wisest to choose this option at the very least. Books don’t fail because of typos, they fail for a variety of reasons and this editing option has a good chance of helping identify if those issues exist in your manuscript.

• Comprehensive Editing – Everything above rolled into one and, generally speaking, this option breaks the bank. Kirkus charges $99 + 6.5 cents per word. For the standard 100k word manuscript that’s $6,599. If that figure seems daunting, you’re not alone. I think it’s worth every penny but because it’s so prohibitively expensive, most indie authors never get the opportunity to put their manuscript through such a high level of professional editing. I aim to change that. This level of editing is my specialty and I’m nowhere near that price. 

My comprehensive editing package will perfect your manuscript and the work it entails is extensive. We will discuss tone, voice, dialogue, cover copy, formatting, in-depth plot analysis, in-depth character analysis, missing elements, accuracy, and an overall review. In addition, when your edited book is published I will purchase your book and review it on Goodreads and Amazon as well as my blog for free.

My current price for the comprehensive editing package is $20 per chapter. If your book is 30 chapters, that’s only $600! The best part is that you can pay as you go instead of shelling it all out at once. 

I hope you’ll give me the opportunity to work with you soon! Just click here to choose your editing package.