You’ve finished your manuscript (MS), and now you are looking for an editor. Congratulations! The first step you need to take is to have a professional editor evaluate your MS. Once you’ve confirmed that you have a solid story structure, a sound plot, and well-rounded characters through an evaluation, you’re ready for copyediting.
Punctuation, word usage, grammar, spelling (aka “PUGS”), capitalization, and formatting are all part of mechanical editing. It’s black and white, the standards are set (if not by the style guides, by the author’s preference, or publisher’s house style), and your editor will conform the text to these rules. But your MS might need more than this. The areas of editing that change with the levels deal more with the ideas that are conveyed in the text and the techniques used to create the readers’ experience.
Light Copyediting
If your MS needs a light copyedit, that means it doesn’t have any peculiarly worded phrases or sentences. You’ve conveyed your ideas with concision, and you don’t have any wordy and repetitive sections. The ideas are presented with clarity and there’s nothing there to confuse your readers. Sentences use strong verbs and fresh descriptors. And you’ve kept details consistent throughout. However, manuscripts that haven’t already been professionally copyedited rarely need only a light copyedit.
Medium Copyediting
In a medium copyedit, you may have some awkward or repetitive content, minor point-of-view issues, long paragraphs that need to be broken up for more comfortable reading, or transitions that need a bit of work to flow better. If you have unnecessary dialogue tags, weak writing, or purple prose, a medium copyedit will also take care of these.
Of course, it’s likely that as the author, you may not realize theses awkward or repetitive phrases, otherwise you would have corrected them yourself. But a trained professional will be able to pinpoint issues like this right away.
Heavy Copyediting
If this is your first book, and you’ve had no training in self-editing, I can almost guarantee your MS needs a heavy copyedit. Your editor will resolve inconsistencies in voice, diction, setting, point of view, and chapter titles. They will break up paragraphs where appropriate for more comfortable reading, eliminate unnecessary dialogue tags, add action beats where appropriate, and generally strengthen the writing. If you have areas that “tell” where you should “show,” your editor will fix these. And your editor will ensure appropriate levels of description for settings and characters, rewriting a bit if necessary, cutting a lot if necessary. This level of editing takes the most amount of time, which translates into a higher cost. So what should you expect when it comes to paying for a copyedit?
Copyediting Pace
As you’ve probably concluded, the cost of editing depends on the amount of time it takes to complete it. That’s why editing can get so expensive. So it’s helpful to have an idea of how much time your editor is investing in your MS. Here is a general guide I’ve found to be pretty accurate, taken from The Copyeditor’s Handbook.[i] Keep in mind that a manuscript page is equivalent to 250 words.
Standard Text Difficult Text
Light copyedit 6–9 pages/hour 4–6 pages/hour
Medium copyedit 4–7 pages/hour 2–4 pages/hour
Heavy copyedit 2–3 pages/hour 1–2 pages/hour
How does this translate into cost? A 50,000-word manuscript is going to cost anywhere from $800 to $4,000, depending on the level of copyediting it needs and time it takes to complete it. Knowing this will help you better prepare to hire a quality editor who will give you a great experience for the money you pay.
As you move forward to greater heights of writing and editing, remember that your voice is significant, your life is valuable, and your contribution is unique.
[i]. Amy Einsohn, The Copyeditor’s Handbook (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2000), 22.
Rachel E. Bradley holds a BS degree in paralegal studies from Northeastern State University in Oklahoma and graduated summa cum laude in 2006. She is a gold member of the Christian PEN: Proofreaders and Editors Network, is an established freelance editor with the Christian Editor Connection, is an instructor with the PEN Institute, is a judge for the Editors’ Choice Award, and has served as faculty for PENCON, the only conference for editors in the Christian market. After serving nine years in the legal field and becoming an advanced certified paralegal, Rachel started her business as a freelance editor and indexer. She now owns Revisions by Rachel Inc. In 2018, Rachel lost her first husband, Matthew, after an intense battle with brain cancer. This life experience carried over into her editing and gave her a new understanding and a fierce compassion for people who feel broken and hurt. In celebration of continued life and hope, Rachel became a licensed skydiver and takes to the skies with her rainbow canopy, “Promises,” any chance she gets. In early 2021, she asked God to choose her next husband. In an incredible tale of trusting God and giving him her yes without exception, Rachel is now joyfully married to Alexander Bradley. They have been assigned the awe-inspiring and continually humbling task of raising two incredible children. Beyond reading, Rachel enjoys Bible studies, dancing during church worship, skydiving, swing dancing, rock climbing, reading, teaching, discussing important issues, watching Star Trek, sewing, cooking, Pilates, horseback riding, water sports, playing guitar, and snow skiing.
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