I work with a lot of first-time authors, and most of them don't realize that they don't just need copyediting. They need a specific type of copyediting.

Most copyeditors break down copyediting into categories that anyone who studies metaphor theory (including yours truly, here) would find fascinating. The categories are based on weight: light, medium, and heavy. Then there's developmental copyediting, which breaks the pattern, disappointingly.

Here's how I treat these categories in my own work. (My categories are an adjusted form of the categories from the Bay Area Editors' Forum, which I highly recommend you peruse for yourself.)

Light copyediting includes:

Correcting spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
Correcting usage (e.g., commas with non-restrictive relative clauses, using “there” for “their,” etc.).
Checking in-text cross-references (e.g., "Figure 5.6 indicates...").
Ensuring consistent spelling, hyphenation, numerals, fonts, and capitalization across the text.
Checking for proper sequencing in lists and other displayed material.

Medium copyediting includes light copyediting, plus:

Changing text and headings to achieve parallel structure.
Flagging inappropriate figures of speech.
Ensuring that key terms are handled consistently.
Ensuring that previews, summaries, and conclusions reflect content.
Flagging ambiguous or incorrect statements.
Eliminating wordiness, triteness, and inappropriate jargon.

Heavy copyediting includes medium and light copyediting, plus:

Smoothing transitions and moving sentences to improve readability.
Assigning new levels to heads to achieve logical structure.

Developmental (and sometimes just really, really heavy) copyediting includes all the above, plus:

Restructuring content across and within paragraphs to achieve greater clarity and logic.
Suggesting — and sometimes implementing — additions and deletions, noting them at the sentence and paragraph level.

You might have a sense of what you want, but the copyeditor (yours truly, again) will also have a say in what you're actually going to request. For example, I've had authors send me manuscripts and ask for, say, "light" copyediting, but when I return the sample edit of five or so pages, they say something like, "But I wanted you to make it make sense! Could you do some rewriting of transitions and headings?"

Yes, I can do that. It's going to take longer and cost slightly more. But never fear, because you're in good hands, and in most cases you can pay in installments. Or you can get just light copyediting and then rework your own transitions and headings.

But don't forget that I'm invested in your manuscript, too, because I want it to be as good a final product as possible (my reputation's on the line, too), so I want you to have the type of copyediting that will be most beneficial for your manuscript and that will also respect your vision for your project.

For more information about how each of these types of copyediting break down by price, you can check out the post about pricing and payment plans by clicking here.

No "Perfect Rate"

Before I started freelancing, I had no idea that so many people got so much help with so many different kinds of writing.

That's mostly because I never needed much help with writing. I hire out for things like taxes (I have never nor will ever prepare my own taxes), graphic design (looking at you, Wayward Broad Studio), and cello repair (not to mention lessons).

If you've ever needed help with editing or writing, you've probably thought to yourself -- probably late at night a few hours before your deadline -- "Can't I just pay someone to do this?"

The answer, obviously, is yes.

But the thought that no doubt followed swiftly on the heels of the previous thought was: "GETTING A WRITER/EDITOR WOULD COST A FORTUNE!"

That's just not true, though.

In a room of thirty different editorial freelancers, you'll find thirty different ways of arranging a contract. That's why flexibility is one of my company's values: ultimately, as long as the rate is fair and the time-frame for payment is mutually acceptable, there's no universally right way to arrange a freelancing contract.

What's the "Industry-Standard Rate"?

First, you should know that even though there isn't a universal rate scale, there are some industry-standard guidelines and minimum rates. The Editorial Freelancers Association website has a list of their minimum rates that you can peruse here.

Second, keep in mind that what counts as "industry-standard guidelines" for organizations like the EFA really are minimums: the EFA posts theirs as a way of being clear about the fact that no job that pays less than the posted rates will be allowed on the EFA website. Now, I've got a PhD in rhetoric and composition and an MA in literature, language, and composition from a research university, where my dissertation passed with honors, and not long ago I was a tenure-track assistant professor and writing-program director. I've got a decade of experience in teaching writing at the university level and six years of experience in administration, not to mention nearly a decade of freelancing experience. Nevertheless, it's part of my Christian business practice not to have my rates be so high that students, retirees, people going through job transitions, etc., can't afford our help. I try to keep our rates low so that LSE's services can be accessible to people who need them most.

So, what are LSE's rates?

Copyediting
- Light editing: $50-55/hr
- Medium editing: $55-60/hr
- Heavy editing: $60-65/hr
- Developmental editing: $70/hr
Business genres: rates by type of document
- LinkedIn profiles: $375 for an interview-based profile; $300 for a questionnaire-based profile.
- Other documents (e.g., whitepapers, reports, blogs, website copy): $70/hr

If you don't see the type of genre or service you're interested in here, contact us so we can provide you with details about pricing.

Other Policies/Fine Print

Flat rates are another option, of course. We base those on an estimate of what we think it would take me to complete the work in a set number of hours according to my price scale, above, so it's usually a wash, in terms of final cost.

If you are a new customer, please expect to pay a small deposit, even for short manuscripts. For longer manuscripts or anything that we estimate will be more than $1,000, we'll ask for a deposit of one-third of the estimate. When we send you the first half of a longer project (e.g., a full first-pass of a book or report) we'll invoice you for the second third of the estimate. Then when we deliver the final draft of the manuscript, we'll invoice you for the remaining actual cost (which may be more or less than the estimate).

We customarily expect payment within 30 days, but we often set up installment plans for students, unemployed persons, retirees, and just about anyone else who asks. I was a poor grad student once; I understand the struggle.

Last but not least: if you've had a contract arrangement with a copyeditor/copywriter in the past that worked well for you, let us know. We can probably work with that other editor's paradigm, or we can at least try to accommodate you.

The Next Steps

If you want to know if Laughing Saint Editorial can accommodate your pricing or billing preferences, it never hurts to ask.

Contact LSE today for an estimate and some free words of encouragement about your writing project!

Last updated: Sep 2019