Finally, the day you’ve long been waiting for has arrived. You’ve finished the first draft of your novel or non-fiction book. If you’re like many of my previous clients, you’ve made a series of feverish phone calls or sent out a bunch of frantic e-mails, looking for an editor. There are just two problems with this approach. First, it is hellishly expensive to get a complete book edited, at least if you want to get the job done right. The last time I checked, Canadian Editors’ Association rates ranged from about $30 an hour to $100 or even more. (For your information, mine are somewhere near the middle of that range).
Editing is by its very nature extremely labour-intensive work-picky and detail-oriented. In my experience, the average, moderately-well written novel of 250 pages or so takes about 10 to 15 days to edit. If you do the math, using the hourly rates I just quoted, you will quickly see that the fee is likely to be well up in the four-digit range. That’s a lot more than most writers can, or in my view should, spend.
Secondly, while a complete edit will lead to a better book in most cases, it’s not necessarily the best and certainly not the most economical or time-efficient way to deal with problems of structure, tone, characterization, or even diction. The conventional edit is all about details. In the process, big-picture problems like those just mentioned can easily get lost in the shuffle. What to do, then?
Over the years, I’ve developed a quicker, more humane, and much more cost-effective approach to the problem. I will read your book carefully, taking note of its strengths as well as its weaknesses. I’ll make a few brief notes on grammar, punctuation, and the like, but I won’t even attempt to comment on detail on these matters. Then, I will prepare a fairly brief (2-4 page) comment outlining the book’s strengths and weaknesses, and telling you how close I think the book is to being ready for publication and what you need to do to get it ready for publication.
No, this service doesn’t amount to a complete edit. But most writers I’ve worked with have found that it gives them most of the tools they need to do their own editing job-and to do it more quickly and easily than they would have done had I not read their book. That’s why my “big picture evaluation” has become the service I provide most frequently. Quite simply, this approach works, and it doesn’t break the bank.
Fees
$10 per 1000 words, rounded to the nearest $5, with a $200 minimum fee. I’m willing to do a second evaluation of your edited version for half the initial fee at any time within one year of the initial evaluation. Please contact me to discuss your requirements.
Jon Peirce Editorial Services 