Editorial Services FAQ and Rates
What is developmental editing?
My goal is to get your best writing onto the page.
I evaluate the overall concept, delivery, and impact of your manuscript and provide specific feedback on how best to realize your vision and reach your target audience. I look at big picture issues like content, structure, plot, character development, continuity, and style, as well as suggest sentence-level changes to improve clarity and impact.
While I will correct grammar, infelicities, and such in passing, copyediting and proofreading are different steps in the process.
When should I contact a developmental editor?
Developmental editing can be very useful at any stage of the writing process.
Why should I hire an editor?
If you want to sell your work, you need the honest, careful, and thorough feedback of a professional editor.
If you want to take your writing to the next level, you need an ally who will be with you through the challenges ahead as you become a better writer.
What will it cost?
Initial consultation is free. Once we've agreed on the work to be done, fees can be billed by the hour or at a flat rate. Developmental editing generally runs about $50/hour, at a pace of 1–5 pages/hour.
(A standard page of prose has around 250-300 words. For reference, here are average fees from across the U.S.)
How do we get started?
Email me at LGH (at) lianaholmberg (dot) com. Please include:
Happy writing, and I hope to hear from you soon!
My goal is to get your best writing onto the page.
I evaluate the overall concept, delivery, and impact of your manuscript and provide specific feedback on how best to realize your vision and reach your target audience. I look at big picture issues like content, structure, plot, character development, continuity, and style, as well as suggest sentence-level changes to improve clarity and impact.
While I will correct grammar, infelicities, and such in passing, copyediting and proofreading are different steps in the process.
When should I contact a developmental editor?
Developmental editing can be very useful at any stage of the writing process.
- Beginning: You've got an idea and want to figure out where to start. I help turn your raw ideas into a writing plan that includes recommendations on organization, format, style, and target audience.
- Middle: You're well into a project but have gotten stuck. I help you find your way out of the weeds and get back on track.
- End: You've finished the manuscript and want to submit it to an agent or publishing house. I help you polish the work and create the pitch.
Why should I hire an editor?
If you want to sell your work, you need the honest, careful, and thorough feedback of a professional editor.
If you want to take your writing to the next level, you need an ally who will be with you through the challenges ahead as you become a better writer.
What will it cost?
Initial consultation is free. Once we've agreed on the work to be done, fees can be billed by the hour or at a flat rate. Developmental editing generally runs about $50/hour, at a pace of 1–5 pages/hour.
(A standard page of prose has around 250-300 words. For reference, here are average fees from across the U.S.)
How do we get started?
Email me at LGH (at) lianaholmberg (dot) com. Please include:
- Description of where you are with the manuscript/project and the kind of help you want from an editor.
- Your objective for the work, e.g., mainstream publication or self-publishing. Tell me what success for this book looks like to you.
- Contact information -- phone, email, and best time to reach you.
- Manuscript summary.
- Target audience, genre, and market. (E.g., Readers who will like your book will have also liked which books? Which bookstore shelf would the book belong on? )
- Summary of any feedback from readers, other editors, agents or publishers thus far.
- 5 pages from the work. (Send more if you like.)
Happy writing, and I hope to hear from you soon!