But hold on. Before we take this jump, I'm totally a stranger. How do you know you're going to get any worthwhile feedback after you send that precious attachment of your completed story? Wouldn't it be nice to test-drive this polishing service to see if you really wanted to pay for it? I think so too. I actually make this wishful test-drive a reality!
As long as your manuscript (MS) is not a first rough draft and you've had other people (Alpha and Beta readers) read it to give you some initial feedback for the draft rewriting you've done, you're in the right place, and we can set up the test-drive. I like to limit the free polishing sample to about 10 pages or 3,000 words, wherever there seems to be a good stopping point around there. So, if your MS qualifies, keep going to find out about pricing for complete services.
I've planned three tiers to the Poppins polishing service, each with its corresponding rate for services. What stage is your MS at? Yours may be practically perfect and needs only a light dusting—or it may need transplant surgery. I'm ready to polish and/or bring your project to life, but first I need to know what you need.
- Practically Perfect—proofreading: This is the light touch, the snap before the job is done. Proofreading is about getting rid of those cheeky cosmetic errors. It is usually the last (but always a necessary) step for your MS's editing. We don't intend to have you rewriting after this. We hope! I largely leave the content as it is and buff and shine each line. Proofreading is about doing a last run-through to catch surface problems with the words and grammar.
- Feed the Birds—copyediting: Here I reach into my bag of tricks and measure your MS's content against its potential. Might yours be "too wordy and tends to use passive voice" or "talks on and on without saying much; prone to exclamation points"? Your MS is complete, has been critiqued by peers, and has been through several drafts, but does it still slouch? Copyediting catches typos and fiddly grammar then adds the focus of improving style, format, and accuracy. It's about making sure that we eliminate inconsistencies and that the style flows well. During copyediting, I double-check accuracy and take care of grammatical issues, adjust awkward flow and rework some of the text, and restructure some paragraphs as needed.
- Chimney Sweep—content editing: We might be needing a spoonful of sugar to get this job done, because here comes the potentially bitter overhaul. But it's bittersweet, because things are about to improve supercalifragilisticexpialidociously. And with great improvement comes great disruption of your comfort zone. When content editing gets involved, your MS, though it's been through a few drafts and is complete, has been struggling and gasping for fresh air and needs a thorough cleaning. Plundering plot holes, bridging gaps, axing scenes or paragraphs...suffice it to say there will be another draft after this polish. You can read all day online about writing tips, but how often do you get the chance to have professional feedback on YOUR writing style, your story's plot, your characters? Does it all work together, and is it all there? I take liberties in this service to change your content to give you an example of what is possible with what you've brought to the table.
Remember, anything I add or remove is a suggestion, and you have reigning authority to make all final calls—though I'd highly recommend accepting spelling and grammar edits. But also remember that these suggestions are coming from a reader as well as an editor who knows that you have the best story ever in your heart and mind, and I'm just trying to help it reflect on paper. By the time you've made it through my review, I want your passion for your story to be renewed and your energy revitalized. Basically you'll feel so light and propelled in the right direction with this fresh gust of polished energy, it's like you could go fly a kite on it...yes, sure, that works!
I appreciate when you can give me plenty of time for the thorough review your story deserves (consider 1 week per 20,000 words), but we can also expedite. Whatever your needs, I'll do my best to find us a brilliant arrangement to get your story shining.
The total price will most often be estimated per double-spaced page. I count "a page" as 300 words. If you have illustrations or other such spacing in your story so that you have a number of pages without words, we wouldn't count those as pages. Essentially what we do is take your total word count and divide it by 300, and that number is your "page count." Then I times that page count by the rate of service you select, and you get your total.
Though individual circumstances may vary for each project, below is an average per-page pricing rate for my polishing services:
- Practically Perfect—Proofreading: $1.50 per 300 words
- Feed the Birds—Copyediting: $1.75 per 300 words
- Chimney Sweep—Content editing: $2.50 per 300 words
Pricing really is something I like to determine individually, consulting with each author about his or her specific editorial needs. I can do my best to expedite your project for an additional cost, ranging from 10%–20% of your total, depending on the deadline and the type of project. See the Polishing Plan tab to get an idea of the editing schedule best practices.
One last service I like to offer for follow-up after copyediting and proofreading is the option to have me read over the MS one last time to make sure no new errors were introduced after you tweaked here and there to complete the polish. That's 10% of the original total we agree upon.
So that's that! Check out the Sign Me Up page to see if you and your MS are ready. Spit spot, off we go.
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