Pricing
Pricing for editorial, writing, and other wordsmithing projects can be figured in a variety of ways. It factors in such things as manuscript length, complexity, deadline timeframe, how long it takes to complete, services desired, etc. Sample prices appear below for some standard types of project that multiple people have requested. Custom pricing is also available for unusual or unique projects; just ask.
Small, Fast Editing Projects
This category concerns school papers, resumes, poems for a contest, press releases — anything short that you need polished in a hurry. You’re paying for speed and precision here, a fresh pair of experienced eyeballs to make sure you didn’t miss anything that would make you look bad on paper. This works up to about 50 pages, which is enough to cover most stories, articles, papers, or presentations.
Price here is based on the length of the document (that is, the number of pages), and how soon you need it done. There are three different services, based on the level of detail with which you want for reviewing your materials. The prices below are per page of your document.
Time ………. Proofreading …..... Editing ….. Commenting
7 days ……… $2.00 ……………... $4.00 ……… $6.00
5 days ……… $3.00 ……………… $5.00 ……… $7.00
4 days ……… $4.00 ……………… $6.00 ……… $8.00
3 days ……… $5.00 ………………. $7.00 …...… $9.00
2 days ……… $6.00 ………………. $8.00 …...… $10.00
24 hours …… $7.00 ………………. $10.00 …..... $12.00
Time refers to the length of time which you give for reviewing your document. There may be times when it’s possible to get your reviewed document back to you early, but the promise only applies to returning it to you by the deadline which you specify. Submitting your document well in advance can save you money!
PLEASE NOTE: This time frame refers to when the reviewed document will be delivered back to you, NOT when the document is due from you to a teacher, supervisor, publisher, or customer!When setting this deadline, please allow sufficient time before the REAL due date to review any corrections which may be made or suggested, and then turn in the finished document appropriately.
Big, Slow Editing Projects
Editing a novel or a nonfiction book manuscript takes a lot of time and effort, and it’s a large chunk of words. So this size of project is priced en masse.
The basic rate for editing and commenting on an average novel or nonfiction book manuscript is $500, which can be split into payments if necessary. If the material is really good and clean, requiring less time and effort, you may get a discount; if it’s clearly going to take a lot more than usual, that may cost extra. Same with length; a shorter book is likely to cost somewhat less than a huge one.
What this gets you is:
• An overview of the plot or nonfiction organization and any large or medium-scale problems that are apparent, plus suggestions on fixing them if possible.
• Feedback on how well the characterization, setting, and other aspects are working; plus suggestions on improving those if needed.
• Identification of any “pattern” problems where you keep making the same mistake, with examples and advice on how to fix them. (Most writers have a few of these, so you can apply this advice to most of your other writing.)
• Notes on how things develop throughout the manuscript, if anything jumps out — say, if all the how-to description is at the beginning, or if the characterization starts rough then dramatically improves.
• Extra attention to known flaws, questions, or other issues if you call attention to them.
• Best effort at proofreading; this should catch most typos, grammar and punctuation errors, and other small stuff. A proofreading specialist might catch more, but this will get a manuscript clean enough for respectable submission at an affordable rate.
• Whatever marketing ideas come up, such as “Military SF is worth sending to Baen,” “New Society Press likes green living books,” or “The originality of this manuscript means it will probably not appeal to conventional publishers; try small presses or alternative publishing models.”
• One more pass by the editor after you’ve made revisions based on the first suggestions, to see how much the revisions have helped. (Extra rounds cost extra, if they are desired.)
What does Elizabeth Barrette's editing work look like?
View covers of some published books edited by Elizabeth Barrette.
Read The Aphorisms of Kherishdar by M.C.A. Hogarth, edited by Elizabeth Barrette.
Bargain Bin
There is an “overview” option for authors on a tight budget, which is $100 per book. This is basically a condensed version of the full deal. It gets you the plot or nonfiction subject/structure overview with attention to large and medium problems, overall feedback on other aspects, pattern problems if spotted, and any marketing ideas that come to mind. However, it’s a one-pass reading, and you don’t get the proofreading, fine attention to detail, or targeted focus on known issues. This is also a good deal for people who simply want to know “Is this nearly good to go, worth fixing but needs work, or probably hopeless?”
Hourly Rates
For some writing and editing projects, research, and many tangentially related things such as beta-testing websites as a user and providing feedback, an hourly rate makes sense. This starts at $10 an hour for things that are reasonably straightforward, and goes up based on project difficulty.
Per-Word and Per-Page Rates
For some types of writing (such as articles or interviews) where the length will be several pages or more, per-word rates are useful. Prices start at $.03/word for straightforward material and may go up if the writing is complicated or needs a lot of research and other extra work.
Shorter pieces may be priced per page or project, usually starting at $20/page.
Poetry Composition Rates
Visit the Poetry Fishbowl landing page for information about monthly poetry fishbowls, when poems may be requested based on the month’s theme, with special sponsorship prices.
Fully customized poems in just about any form, on almost any topic, are also available:
0-10 lines: $10
11-25 lines: $20
26-40 lines: $30
41-60 lines: $40
Poems over 60 lines, or with very intricate structure, fall into custom pricing. That’s usually $1 per line.
What is Elizabeth Barrette's poetry like?
Browse a great many sample poems in The Wordsmith's Forge.
Find out about her book From Nature's Patient Hands: A Collection of Poetry.
Find out about her book Prismatica: Science Fiction Poetry Spanning the Spectrum.
Poetry Scrapbooking Rates
A chosen poem can be rendered in hardcopy format, on colorful paper, using archival materials for background and any embellishments. This will be suitable for framing or for adding to a scrapbook. Most poems fit on one page; a few turn into spreads of two or more pages. Background paper is typically scrapbook paper, both patterned and plain. Embellishments include stickers, rub-on decals, paper punches, and borders of contrasting paper cut with decorative scissors. If you want specific colors or motifs, please ask to see what's obtainable. Autograph available upon request.
Scrapbooked poems typically cost $5-$10 per page. $5 would cover poems that can be printed out onto a single matching sheet of 8 1/2" x 11" paper, or plain paper embellished with stickers or simple cutouts. $10 would cover poems that require more complicated cutting and piecing, laser cuts/stickers have to be specially purchased, premium paper like metallic or handmade pages, and 12" x 12" paper. Most poems could go either way, depending on how fancy a page you want. Some are an obvious match for easy-to-find paper, while others are just so exotic that they require a lot of piecing or stickering to make the presentation match the poem's content. Add postage for mailing in a large envelope, usually $2 via United States Post Office within the continental United States. Outside that range, postage will need to be estimated individually.
If you're interested in buying a scrapbook page, please get in touch to discuss details.
See samples of scrapbooked poems:
"Mental Iterations and others"
"Where Have All the Heroes Gone / Different Gifts & others"
"Autumn's Daughter & Chance Process"
Small, Fast Editing Projects
This category concerns school papers, resumes, poems for a contest, press releases — anything short that you need polished in a hurry. You’re paying for speed and precision here, a fresh pair of experienced eyeballs to make sure you didn’t miss anything that would make you look bad on paper. This works up to about 50 pages, which is enough to cover most stories, articles, papers, or presentations.
Price here is based on the length of the document (that is, the number of pages), and how soon you need it done. There are three different services, based on the level of detail with which you want for reviewing your materials. The prices below are per page of your document.
Time ………. Proofreading …..... Editing ….. Commenting
7 days ……… $2.00 ……………... $4.00 ……… $6.00
5 days ……… $3.00 ……………… $5.00 ……… $7.00
4 days ……… $4.00 ……………… $6.00 ……… $8.00
3 days ……… $5.00 ………………. $7.00 …...… $9.00
2 days ……… $6.00 ………………. $8.00 …...… $10.00
24 hours …… $7.00 ………………. $10.00 …..... $12.00
Time refers to the length of time which you give for reviewing your document. There may be times when it’s possible to get your reviewed document back to you early, but the promise only applies to returning it to you by the deadline which you specify. Submitting your document well in advance can save you money!
PLEASE NOTE: This time frame refers to when the reviewed document will be delivered back to you, NOT when the document is due from you to a teacher, supervisor, publisher, or customer!When setting this deadline, please allow sufficient time before the REAL due date to review any corrections which may be made or suggested, and then turn in the finished document appropriately.
Big, Slow Editing Projects
Editing a novel or a nonfiction book manuscript takes a lot of time and effort, and it’s a large chunk of words. So this size of project is priced en masse.
The basic rate for editing and commenting on an average novel or nonfiction book manuscript is $500, which can be split into payments if necessary. If the material is really good and clean, requiring less time and effort, you may get a discount; if it’s clearly going to take a lot more than usual, that may cost extra. Same with length; a shorter book is likely to cost somewhat less than a huge one.
What this gets you is:
• An overview of the plot or nonfiction organization and any large or medium-scale problems that are apparent, plus suggestions on fixing them if possible.
• Feedback on how well the characterization, setting, and other aspects are working; plus suggestions on improving those if needed.
• Identification of any “pattern” problems where you keep making the same mistake, with examples and advice on how to fix them. (Most writers have a few of these, so you can apply this advice to most of your other writing.)
• Notes on how things develop throughout the manuscript, if anything jumps out — say, if all the how-to description is at the beginning, or if the characterization starts rough then dramatically improves.
• Extra attention to known flaws, questions, or other issues if you call attention to them.
• Best effort at proofreading; this should catch most typos, grammar and punctuation errors, and other small stuff. A proofreading specialist might catch more, but this will get a manuscript clean enough for respectable submission at an affordable rate.
• Whatever marketing ideas come up, such as “Military SF is worth sending to Baen,” “New Society Press likes green living books,” or “The originality of this manuscript means it will probably not appeal to conventional publishers; try small presses or alternative publishing models.”
• One more pass by the editor after you’ve made revisions based on the first suggestions, to see how much the revisions have helped. (Extra rounds cost extra, if they are desired.)
What does Elizabeth Barrette's editing work look like?
View covers of some published books edited by Elizabeth Barrette.
Read The Aphorisms of Kherishdar by M.C.A. Hogarth, edited by Elizabeth Barrette.
Bargain Bin
There is an “overview” option for authors on a tight budget, which is $100 per book. This is basically a condensed version of the full deal. It gets you the plot or nonfiction subject/structure overview with attention to large and medium problems, overall feedback on other aspects, pattern problems if spotted, and any marketing ideas that come to mind. However, it’s a one-pass reading, and you don’t get the proofreading, fine attention to detail, or targeted focus on known issues. This is also a good deal for people who simply want to know “Is this nearly good to go, worth fixing but needs work, or probably hopeless?”
Hourly Rates
For some writing and editing projects, research, and many tangentially related things such as beta-testing websites as a user and providing feedback, an hourly rate makes sense. This starts at $10 an hour for things that are reasonably straightforward, and goes up based on project difficulty.
Per-Word and Per-Page Rates
For some types of writing (such as articles or interviews) where the length will be several pages or more, per-word rates are useful. Prices start at $.03/word for straightforward material and may go up if the writing is complicated or needs a lot of research and other extra work.
Shorter pieces may be priced per page or project, usually starting at $20/page.
Poetry Composition Rates
Visit the Poetry Fishbowl landing page for information about monthly poetry fishbowls, when poems may be requested based on the month’s theme, with special sponsorship prices.
Fully customized poems in just about any form, on almost any topic, are also available:
0-10 lines: $10
11-25 lines: $20
26-40 lines: $30
41-60 lines: $40
Poems over 60 lines, or with very intricate structure, fall into custom pricing. That’s usually $1 per line.
What is Elizabeth Barrette's poetry like?
Browse a great many sample poems in The Wordsmith's Forge.
Find out about her book From Nature's Patient Hands: A Collection of Poetry.
Find out about her book Prismatica: Science Fiction Poetry Spanning the Spectrum.
Poetry Scrapbooking Rates
A chosen poem can be rendered in hardcopy format, on colorful paper, using archival materials for background and any embellishments. This will be suitable for framing or for adding to a scrapbook. Most poems fit on one page; a few turn into spreads of two or more pages. Background paper is typically scrapbook paper, both patterned and plain. Embellishments include stickers, rub-on decals, paper punches, and borders of contrasting paper cut with decorative scissors. If you want specific colors or motifs, please ask to see what's obtainable. Autograph available upon request.
Scrapbooked poems typically cost $5-$10 per page. $5 would cover poems that can be printed out onto a single matching sheet of 8 1/2" x 11" paper, or plain paper embellished with stickers or simple cutouts. $10 would cover poems that require more complicated cutting and piecing, laser cuts/stickers have to be specially purchased, premium paper like metallic or handmade pages, and 12" x 12" paper. Most poems could go either way, depending on how fancy a page you want. Some are an obvious match for easy-to-find paper, while others are just so exotic that they require a lot of piecing or stickering to make the presentation match the poem's content. Add postage for mailing in a large envelope, usually $2 via United States Post Office within the continental United States. Outside that range, postage will need to be estimated individually.
If you're interested in buying a scrapbook page, please get in touch to discuss details.
See samples of scrapbooked poems:
"Mental Iterations and others"
"Where Have All the Heroes Gone / Different Gifts & others"
"Autumn's Daughter & Chance Process"
