I offer a range of editing services and, to be clear, here is what each entails:

• Developmental editing – when you have part of a draft, or a first draft, and you need help with developing it further, looking at characterisation, plot, theme etc. This is a discussion with lots of feedback and input from me, after reading and making notes on your work.
• Structural editing – when you have a draft (usually one you have revised) and you need help with structural issues, plot, characterisation, tension, pace and narrative arc. This will entail me reading the manuscript at least twice, writing notes for you and also providing comments directly onto the manuscript.
• Copy editing/fine editing – at this point, you have a manuscript you feel is as good as you can make it, but now you need an editor who can be encouraging but ultimately critical. I make comments and suggestions with the aim of lifting the manuscript to the next level. If you need grammar and punctuation edited/fixed (generally referred to as copy editing), be aware that this is extremely intensive work, especially if you have a lot of errors. It can take me an hour just to do four typed, double-spaced pages if they require many amendments.

As well as these three ‘categories’, I see manuscripts at all stages with different requirements. For example, your grammar may be great, but your characterisation and plot are not working well enough. Or you may be doing a lot of telling, or using dialogue too much to tell the story. There are dozens of ways that a manuscript can be improved.

For these reasons, every manuscript needs to be assessed first. I quote based on the level of work required, how many hours I think it will take me, and what you as the writer want me to do for you. Often I will ask you for a substantial sample so I can provide a more realistic quote. Where I see that a lot of work is required on grammar and punctuation, I will often suggest that I copy edit two chapters/20 pages to show you the level of errors and how to fix them, and then you can go away and try to do most of that work yourself. It will save you a lot of money!

My base rate at this time is AU$90 per hour. As an example, a typical structural edit of a 80,000 word manuscript will range from $880-1320. A longer manuscript or one with a number of issues identified from the sample will be $2000+. Copy editing on a manuscript with many errors could cost you more than $2500-3500, depending on word length. This is just a guide for you. NZ clients will have GST added.

If you would like to discuss working with me on your manuscript, please use the form on my Contact page.

If you require technical or scientific editing, which I do not offer, I recommend my colleague, Bronwen Scott. Her website.