When, Why, and How Much

“As I wrote, I kept coming back to your advice, and a few instances in particular were commented on by agents as especially effective...Not only that, but one of the points I neglected a bit (immediately orienting the reader in time and space in new chapters/scenes) was brought up in editorial discussions as a revision suggestion (my bad). Your feedback proved to be spot on and invaluable! ”

-D, literary fiction

When to Hire Me

If you’re here, I’m assuming you have a full novel written. Congratulations! Generally I work with writers who have completed at least one draft of their novel. (If you don’t have one but still want to chat, please send a message anyway!)

 

There’s a timeline sweet spot for getting a developmental edit. If you haven’t sent your book to beta readers or even done a few drafts on your own, then it’s probable the issues I would find would be issues that you or your beta readers could have found without me. And you don’t want to pay someone for edits you could have done on your own!

 

On the other hand, if you have combed through your book on your own, over and over, and you find yourself absolutely set on things like chapter order and on each specific character, you may find it much harder to accept any big suggestions from me.

 

So that’s why I always suggest looking for a developmental editor when you have been through your book a few times but are still able to hold things like character development and plot loosely. That will enable you to be able to take suggestions with an open mind.

Why to Hire Me

I have a BA and an MA in Creative Writing from the University of Nebraska, and am trained by the Editorial Freelancer’s Association. I have been working with authors for just over five years now, with many of them going on to self-publish with great reviews, land contracts with indie presses, and sign with agents. (See the stats for my authors from last year on the home page!) I have had 100% positive reviews, and you can check some of those out throughout the website.

 

I’m also happy to provide a free sample edit so you can get a sense of how I work. You can send me a 1,000 word excerpt and I’ll get it back to you quickly.

Prices

As you go through my website, you’ll see that I offer two services, manuscript reviews and full edits. I talk on the “Things I Believe About Editing” page about what is included in each one of those, but essentially my prices always depend on the length of your book. 

 

For books between 40,000 and 60,000 words: 

-Manuscript Reviews are $400

-Full Edits are $800.

 

For books between 60,000 and 80,000 words:

-Manuscript Reviews are $500

-Full Edits are $1,000. 

 

For books between 80,000 and 100,000 words:

-Manuscript Reviews are $600

-Full Edits are $1,200.

 

My turnaround time for most full edits is three weeks, while a manuscript review takes ten days. 

If you want an additional read-through and short essay after you’ve made revisions, that will be an additional fee of between $100-$300, (depending on the length of the book, as before mentioned!). 

And of course, if your book doesn’t fall within these “typical” book lengths, please contact me. You can probably intuit what the prices will approximately be, but, quite frankly, I’ve run out of room! 

What I Don't Do

My preferred genres are: Literary, Romance, Fantasy, and Mystery. While I have the most interest and experience in these genres, I am happy to work in almost any genre, but I won’t edit Erotica, books with sexual abuse triggers, or academic work.

 

I consider myself to be more of a comprehensive editor (you can read more about that on the ‘Things I Believe’ page), but I am not a copy editor. (And you wouldn’t want me as one, I promise!) While I will occasionally correct a misspelling or grammatical error if I see it, my focus will always be on the bigger issues in your book.

 

If these seem like things that would help you and your book, fill out the contact form and let me know how I can help you!  I offer 15 minute consultation calls for free and would love to talk to you. 

“I sent a huge file to Dana and she was able to complete the order very quickly. And she was so thorough. Her line edits were numerous but that's a good thing. She took the time to go through the entire story and every suggestion she offered made the story stronger and more cohesive.”

-N, cozy mystery