Finally Write offers developmental editing, copyediting, and proofreading. 

What's the difference?

Developmental editing is the first stage of editing. This type of editing is conceptual and artistic. It involves understanding the expectations of the target audience and whether or not themes are clearly executed, as well as whether or not the story seems to 'work'.  Developmental editing is also called substantive or comprehensive editing.

Copyediting takes place after a developmental edit and before proofreading. In this stage, the editor polishes what you've written while retaining your unique voice and message.

Proofreading is the final stage before publication. A proofreader catches any remaining errors and formatting issues, such as typos, misplaced punctuation, and inconsistencies.

Packages

Developmental Edit ~ $500-800* 

(price depends on length of manuscript)

Developmental editing focuses on the big picture aspects of the story. It analyzes what’s working and what is not, and provides targeted feedback and suggestions for improvement. The goal of developmental editing is to help the author refine their vision, and improve the novel’s clarity and impact.

This package includes: 

• An in-depth (5 to 10 pages) editorial letter with detailed notes about the big-picture elements of the manuscript, including structure, plot holes, character arcs and character motivation, secondary characters, trajectory, pacing, world-building, theme, style, and more. 
• Line notes and chapter markup of the first 2 chapters, calling out more granular issues (editing, punctuation, sentence structure, and questions/comments on the big picture elements noted above, etc.) for clarification
• One 45-minute video call to discuss

Deluxe Developmental Edit with Full Manuscript Markup ~ $1,300-3,000* 

(price depends on length of manuscript)

This package includes:

• An in-depth (5 to 10 pages) editorial letter with detailed notes about the big-picture elements of the manuscript, including structure, plot holes, character arcs and character motivation, secondary characters, trajectory, pacing, world-building, theme, style, and more
• Line notes and chapter markup of the full manuscript
• One 60-minute video call to discuss.

*Actual price will be determined before committing to the project, and will involve an introductory 30-minute video call (no charge) and review of a two-page sample of your manuscript.

Copyediting ~ $50/hour*

 Copyediting identifies and corrects things like: 

• Uneven flow 
• Wordiness
• Tone and style deviations
• Clunky transitions
• Confusing syntax
• Problematic or misused words
• Grammar
• Spelling 

Copyediting is broken into two categories, 'light' and 'heavy', depending on the amount of editing needed per page. 

Light Copyediting: average pace 5-10 manuscript pages per hour

Heavy Copyediting: average pace 2-4 manuscript pages per hour

*We'll be happy to develop an estimate for copyediting your novel by reviewing a few sample pages. 

Proofreading ~ $50/hour

Proofreading is the final sweep for any remaining errors in a manuscript before publication. It looks at things like typos, spelling, punctuation, syntax, formatting, and consistency. 

Average pace: 10 pages (300 words/page) per hour