I charge a flat rate of $35.00 per hour.
I believe that a flat-per-hour rate is the most straightforward pricing method. My pricing compares very competitively with the per-page or per-word pricing that many editors use. If you compare my pricing with most other editing services, you will be pleasantly surprised to find that my services may cost you less, but certainly without sacrificing quality.
Editing is a vital process for writers, but it is also time-consuming, and costs can add up. I choose to charge a conservative fee so that my services are accessible and my clients can feel comfortable with their expense.
I also feel that the per-word or per-page pricing doesn’t address the fact that some manuscripts need a lot more or a lot less work than others. Why should a client with a very well-written manuscript pay the same fee as another client whose writing requires much more editing and revision? Per-word and per-page pricing doesn’t reflect the critical time factor involved in editing.
I always offer a free, no-obligation time and cost estimate for working on your project. I will sample edit a few pages of your manuscript at no charge to give you the opportunity to evaluate my editing style. This also provides me the opportunity to assess your work so that I can be accurate with my estimate.
This free sample edit allows me to calculate the amount of time it will likely require to edit a given number of words. The cleaner your manuscript, the more words per hour I will be able to cover, and vise versa. Once I’ve determined my editing pace for your manuscript, then I use the total word count of your manuscript to extrapolate the total cost.
Finally, I guarantee my estimates. By this I mean that even if it takes me more time than my estimate indicated to complete the editing you have hired me to do, you will still only pay the estimated amount. However, if it takes me less time to complete the work, I will only charge you for my actual time spent. I am honest about this and I offer this guarantee in order to provide my clients with a sense of control over their costs, with no surprises other than pleasant ones!