Work With Me
I read closely and I tell you what I actually see. Below is what I do, what you get back, and roughly what it costs.
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Beta read
from 0.5¢ per word a 80,000-word novel starts around $400
A reader's response, not an edit. I read the way your audience will and tell you where I was gripped, confused, bored, or unconvinced.
You get A letter of 1,500–2,500 words covering voice, pacing, character, and the places my attention drifted.
Right when You have a full draft and want to know whether it lands before you pay for an edit.
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Manuscript evaluation
from 1.5¢ per word a 80,000-word novel starts around $1,200
A structural read of the whole manuscript against what you are trying to do with it, including where it sits in its genre.
You get An editorial letter working through structure, pacing, character arc, point of view, and market positioning, with specific passages cited.
Right when The draft is finished but something is not working and you cannot name it.
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Developmental edit
from 3.0¢ per word a 80,000-word novel starts around $2,400
The evaluation plus in-manuscript work: comments through the text, scene-level notes, and concrete suggestions for revision.
You get A marked-up manuscript, an editorial letter, and a revision plan ordered by what to fix first.
Right when You know the book needs restructuring and you want a second head on it while you do it.
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Copyedit
from 2.0¢ per word a 80,000-word novel starts around $1,600
Line-level work for grammar, syntax, clarity, continuity, and consistency, to Chicago style unless you use another.
You get Tracked changes, a style sheet documenting every decision, and queries where a choice is yours to make.
Right when The structure is settled and the prose needs to be right.
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Proofread
from 1.2¢ per word a 80,000-word novel starts around $960
The last pass before it goes out: typos, punctuation, formatting, and the errors that survived every earlier round.
You get Tracked changes or PDF markup, whichever suits your production process.
Right when It is edited, typeset, and about to be published or submitted.
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Rewriting
Quoted per project
Hands-on revision of passages that are not working — openings, transitions, dialogue that has gone flat — in your voice, not mine.
You get Rewritten passages alongside the originals, with a note on what changed and why.
Right when You know what a section needs to do and cannot get it to do it.
On rates Rates start where the Editorial Freelancers Association 2026 chart begins for each service. Every project is quoted after I read a sample, so the number you get is based on your pages rather than an average.
On timing Turnaround depends on length and on what else is on the desk. I will give you a date before you pay anything, and I will tell you early if it slips.
Tell me what you are working on and roughly how long it is. I will come back with a quote and a date.