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Editing Rates & FAQs
For
editing, copyediting, and proofing:
Includes:
line editing, correcting typos, mechanical errors, pointing out word
and phrase repetition, correcting grammar, spelling, punctuation,
consistency of style, removing passive verbs, clearing out excess
adverbs, etc.
.01 per word.
5,000-word minimum, no maximum
Contact me first before sending a
submission. Use subject header:
Editing Job.
Tell me a bit about it: what genre, how many words, what your deadline
is if you have one.
This is
what writers need for a manuscript they plan to upload
to a digital hosting site or to self-publish through a Print On
Demand service like Lulu or CreateSpace.
They've worked hard, have it in the shape they want; it just needs
that final polish and a hard look from another set of eyes.
Author must include a STYLE SHEET, a list of all proper names used in the book, correctly spelled,
alien words (and their definition), any made up language phrases
or terms, any foreign words used in the story (I may not have a
French or Hindi dictionary handy!), and anything else you want to
make sure is correctly set out.
Example: if a character has
a Webley automatic revolver that shoots .455 bullets, makes sure
that's on the sheet or I might think you meant .45 bullets
instead.
The style sheet should be pasted into your email,
not the manuscript, or sent as a separate .doc file.
Your copyedited manuscript is
emailed back with the Microsoft Word TRACK CHANGES feature
enabled. If you do not have Word, they may not show. In
which case the corrections are in place.
If you have Open Office, it doesn't
play nice with my MS Word, and may not show the changes. It
sure won't show them on an .rtf file!
We'll figure something out.
Let me know what processing program
you use if you don't have Word. Word seems to be industry
standard, though.
Frequently Asked Questions
A penny a
word means my 90,000 word book will cost 900.00 to have copyedited?
Yes, a detailed
heavy edit by a highly experienced editor
who's worked with NYTimes bestselling authors. Check the names on that
opening page. You'll get the same level of work they got!
It's a bargain, too.
The Editorial Freelancers
Association
post their suggested rates here.
The industry sets the
standard manuscript page at 250 words per page.
A very fast editor, doing 5
pages an hour at $40-$60 an hour for the kind of heavy edit I do ( I am
nitpicky! ) would require 72 hours minimum for a 90,000-word book,
say 360-pages.
The estimate for the job at
their rates ranges from $2,880.00 - $4,320.00.
I'm charging less to give
me a competitive edge.
If all you want is a light
copy edit and proofing, I'll do that, too. We can discuss a lower rate.
I'll have to see a 10-page sample to judge whether a light edit is all
that's needed.
If you're curious, no I'm
not a member yet, but I do follow the EFA's Code of Fair Practice.
It's just good business!
Do I have
to count words in the headers?
No. leave those out.
The title of the book, page numbers, and your name, which are
normally included in a submission to a commercial publisher, are
not wanted for an ebook.
You'll need to remove them anyway. Do
so before sending it.
What's the difference between copyediting and copyrighting and copywriting?
Copyediting -- making corrections on
a manuscript.
Copy writing is the stuff you see in
ads that tells you about a product. A "copy writer" is a
person who writes the ad copy.
Copyright -- who owns the
manuscript.
You do not have to register copyright. In the US your work
is automatically copyrighted to you by law. If it makes you feel
better, you can put "Copyright" + your name and the date on the top
page. If you upload the book to a digital hosting site, you have to
have that information in the front matter of the book.
Don't mix these up. A sticky note about each placed
above your work area can help!
How
are payments handled?
Through credit/debit card via Paypal.
They keep a third party record of all transactions and
automatically make currency conversions.
Make sure your Paypal
information is CURRENT.
No checks, no
money orders, NO exceptions. No exceptions to
the no exceptions.
Once I
ascertain the type of job and the client approves of the bid, I
submit a contract and a Paypal invoice to the client. The client pays and sends me the
manuscript as an email attachment.
The work should be in standard manuscript
format, which is 1-inch margins all around, in a 12-point font.
I prefer Times New Roman over any courier font. NO Arial fonts.
Editors don't like them.
How do you correct a manuscript?
I use Microsoft
Word’s Track Changes feature,
which allows you to accept or reject changes.
It
is located in the TOOLS drop-down menu.
This
is the same tool I used for editing the authors in the collections shown on the
home page. For
a detailed example click here.
What's a STYLE SHEET?
It is a list of all proper names used in the work, correctly
spelled.
It
should include any words in a foreign or fantasy language or made-up
words or phrases.
The
style sheet keeps Sean from morphing into Shawn.
Is
my manuscript safe?
Yes. All content is confidential.
Once a
job is completed your file is deleted.
How
fast can I get the job done?
Let me know right away if you
are on a deadline.
5,000-10,000 words, allow 2 business days. If
it takes longer, I'll let you know.
Add one
day for every additional 10,000 words. I will likely work faster,
but this estimate gives me a comfortable time window. I want to be
thorough!
Will
you work for small press / E-press operations?
Absolutely yes.
That's what freelancing is all about!
Will
you critique my entire manuscript?
No. Only the first 1500
to 2000 words. I don't have time to read a whole novel and do
an in-depth critique.
I recommend a writer run
her work past a workshop or an online critique group instead.
Will you recommend me to your publisher / agent?
No. I consider
that a conflict of interest.
If you want to submit work to my agent's
company the address is on the contact page for the Vampwriter
site, but you're on your
own.
This service is aimed at writers choosing to self-publish
rather than submit work to the professional paying marketplace. If
that's your goal, then learn to edit yourself.
Will you write a blurb for my book?
No. That is a conflict of
interest. You're hiring my time and skill as an editor. Period.
Do
I REALLY need a copyeditor?
If you don't have the time to remember all this:
- The whole to-too-two / your-you're / sight-site-cite thing
- Where to use commas, colons, and semi-colons
- When to break for a new paragraph
- The diff between there-their-they're
- English is not your first language
- You are dyslexic / sight impaired
- Are wobbly on pronouns
- Hyphen vs. the em dash
- Where to use its and it's
- Discrete vs. discreet
- Word repetitions
- Malapropisms
- !!!TYPOS!!!
Then another set of eyes to check things
over might be right for you.
This is a
professional edit; you get the same focus and attention I give
to those bestselling authors mentioned on this site's opening page!
Publishing
Myths Or
Swimming
Safely in the Shark Tank
All writers are rich! I'm gonna
publish a book and retire on the income!
If only that were true. I'd have retired 20 years ago to my own
private island and have cute cabana boys to rub my feet and feed me
chocolate.
Most writers earn much less than your average minimum wage slave.
They keep their day jobs to support their writing habit and to have
health insurance.
Writers who make the big bucks are like the lottery winners of
publishing: few and far between. Few writers actually support
themselves with their writing, but the ones that do have dozens of
books in print and are busy writing dozens more.
Don't be a writer to get rich.
Be a writer because you love to tell
stories.
Getting paid for it is just a happy
extra.
A
publisher wants a completed work, polished and ready to print as-is.
That's a lie.
Usually perpetrated by
vanity houses as a scare tactic so their nice friendly (money
grabbing) "packages" look attractive to an inexperienced writer.
While
any acquisitions editor would be thrilled to have a manuscript in
perfect ready-to-go shape, they know better than to expect it.
No manuscript placed in a legitimate
commercial publishing house goes to print
as-is. They all go through a lengthy editing process to conform to
the house's own style.
This
doesn't mean you're allowed to be sloppy. You may be the next
J.K. Rowling, but better believe she used the spell-check on that first
Potter manuscript.
Publishers
/ agents will only read manuscripts that have been professionally edited.
That's
a lie. Again,
vanity/subsidy houses, some printing services, and some
self-publishing sites put that one out so they look more attractive
to neos. They want your business.
I'm
shooting myself in the foot here, but most writers don't
need a copyeditor for manuscript submissions to agents and editors.
They DO need to take the time to learn good grammar and
to use the spell-checker!
If you use a
professional editing service you will sell your work!
Your work will sell if your words are
worth something to a publisher. No edit job in the
world can persuade an editor to buy a book if the book is unsellable.
If
you sell your book to a print publisher you've sold your copyright,
too!
Don't confuse copyright with
print rights. They're two different critters.
Print rights--who has permission
from the author to publish a book.
A
commercial publisher pays an author an advance against
royalties for
permission to print a work. They are "leasing" the right to
publish/print it.
The
print rights automatically revert to the author when the book
goes out of print. (Usually sales drop below a certain point
and the publisher sends a letter to the author.)
A book can remain "in print" forever, thanks to ebooks, so a
smart writer gets a good literary agent to put in an escape
clause. A typical clause will state that the publisher has
permission to print the book for a set period of time. (This
is common for small Print On Demand (POD) houses.) At the end
of the period the publisher may opt to renew the contract or
revert the rights to the author, depending on sales.
A certain notorious reverse vanity operation ties
books up for SEVEN years. This is not normal. Avoid that one.
You don't need the hassle.
One or two years is acceptable.
Copyright--who owns the book.
Usually the author. In the USA, it belongs to the author for
his lifetime + 70 years. then a book either becomes public
domain or the author's heirs control the copyright.
In
any book you will find on the front matter page who owns the copyright, a writer or a company.
It will look like this: Copyright © 2011 Author's Name
Any contract
with an agent or publisher that demands you give up
your copyright as part of the deal is a BAD one. Run
away.
You
have to pay to get published; that's how you "break in."
That's a lie put about by vanity/subsidy
houses who want your money. Remember that none of them can get
your book into stores.
This is
Yog's
Law:
"Money
flows to the writer. The only place a writer signs a
check is on the back--to endorse it."
Repeat
that. Tape it over your desk.
Anyone
claiming otherwise is not your friend. Run away.
There are plenty of no cost
publishing venues now, many of them digital. The companies
host books and take a percentage of each sale as payment.
Cost to the writer: zero.
Reputable
Print On Demand (POD) venues like Lulu do not charge for uploading a
book, only for the printing cost, should you buy a copy.
Once I get my book
uploaded and make lots of e-sales I'll sell it to a legacy
publisher for lots of money. I'll be the new
Amanda Hocking!
Um, no. You won't.
Ms Hocking did something
outstanding with her ebook sales and more power to her.
But the deal she signed with
the publisher was for a set of NEW books.
Publishers are not interested in
"reprints". Once your book is posted online they consider it
to have been published and pass on it.
Writers who have sold reprints to
commercial publishers can be counted on one hand. The books
tend to be exceptional commercial properties or non-fiction.
Your hot new urban fantasy, once
it goes up on Kindle, is likely to remain there. Promote the
hell out of it. Make some cash if you can.
But if you want commercial
publication with hard copy books in stores, write a new
book and shop it. If you've made 5K sales with your digital
book, it's okay to mention that.
It's also okay to do what Amanda
Hocking recommends:
"My biggest word of advice to any
new/future writers thinking about diving into Kindle: Edit. I
don't care what you think, you didn't edit enough. Some people
won't care that there's errors, its true, but enough of them
will. And they paid for it, so they have a right to. So edit
more. And then again. Really."
Hey, I can get
behind that!
Do NOT be taken in
by scammers!
A little research can save you big bucks.
Be
safe and check them out first.
When
in doubt, walk away!
Pro's tip:
Instantly check out any publisher or agency
by googling their name + "complaints" or "rip off" and see what
comes up. If they've been bad, other writers will have warnings up.
Heed them. This trick works great on just about any
business you can name.
Do not look for a publisher online.
99% of the results of a search for "book publishers" will be scams
and pay to publish operations.
Go to the library.
Check out a copy of WRITER'S MARKET.
RESOURCES
Preditors and Editors:
http://pred-ed.com/
Author Cathy Clamp
on
TP,
SP, SMALL, POD Presses, Vanity and Subsidy Publishers
This
is AbsoluteWrite's Bewares and Background Checks Forum.
www.absolutewrite.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=22
Additional
information on writing: SFWA.org
on Writing Writer
Beware 10
Myths About Copyright Explained
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