Fees
It varies by project. I’ll need more information from you. Please contact me for a quote.
Yes. You can pay with your Visa, Mastercard, Discover, and American Express credit card through PayPal. You don’t need to have an account with PayPal to pay me.
No.
Jobs and Freelancing
I’m a one-woman shop. I don’t have employees. When projects come up that I can’t handle, I refer prospective clients to people whose work I know and trust.
No. If you’re looking for freelance work, these links may be helpful:
- National Writers Union
www.nwu.org - Editorial Freelancers Association
www.the-efa.org - Bay Area Editors’ Forum
www.editorsforum.org - Editors’ Association of Canada / Association canadienne des réviseurs
www.editors.ca
I recommend starting with on-the-job experience, if possible. While working, build your reference library — dictionaries, style manuals, business books.
Lots of good books cover how to get started in far more detail than I can answer here. I found this book helpful: How to Open and Operate a Home-Based Writing Business by Lucy V. Parker. It may be outdated now. You can search online for books of interest and then request them at your library.
- Editor Katharine O'Moore-Klopf maintains an extensive set ofresources in the Copyeditors' Knowledge Base.
- The Bay Area Editors' Forum defines common editing tasks and the stages of publishing.
- Editors’ Association of Canada / Association canadienne des réviseurs provides their editing definitions.
- An excellent resource for learning and networking with other copyeditors is the Copyediting-L e-mail discussion list and its archives.
Self-Publishing
Yes. I’ve worked on all stages of book production: copyediting, designing the interior, scanning and adjusting interior photos, designing the cover, writing cover copy, obtaining the PCN, obtaining the ISBN bar code, coordinating with the indexer, converting the print book to an e-book, and registering copyright.
I don’t draw, I don’t index, and I don’t handle marketing and distribution.
If you plan to sell your self-published book, the first thing you should do is read Dan Poynter’s Self-Publishing Manual or another comprehensive book about publishing. I’ve written more about self-publishing here.
Yes, I will work directly with authors. If you’re self-publishing and want to produce a professional product, having your manuscript edited for grammar, punctuation, and style is a necessary step.
If you plan to submit your manuscript to a publisher, you don’t usually need to have it edited first. The publisher should handle the editing, including selecting the editor and paying for editing.
If you have doubts about whether your manuscript is ready to be published, I suggest running your manuscript through a tough critique group.
The time required depends on the length of the manuscript and the services that are required.
A book of 100,000 words with multiple rounds of editing can easily take six months. When there are extensive changes to be made, I prefer that the author not be rushed into accepting my suggestions.
Allow at least four weeks after work begins. Please note that I may need to finish another client’s project before I can start yours.
The time needed depends on your book’s size and complexity, how many jobs are ahead of yours, and whether you provide all the information required to finish the layout.
Allow at least a month for book design and layout. This time includes client review and subsequent changes or corrections.
Absolutely! You’ll a sample layout of the preliminary design. After you approve the design, the rest of the project goes forward.
Writing and Editing
Yes, I will work directly with authors. If you’re self-publishing and want to produce a professional product, having your manuscript edited for grammar, punctuation, and style is a necessary step.
If you plan to submit your manuscript to a publisher, you don’t usually need to have it edited first. The publisher should handle the editing, including selecting the editor and paying for editing.
If you have doubts about whether your manuscript is ready to be published, I suggest running your manuscript through a tough critique group.
If your audience is the public, you may find that someone outside your industry can present your material so that it’s easy to read and understand. For highly technical documents targeted at other professionals, you may wish to find someone who specializes in that field.
For a list of editors and writers who specialize, go to the Freelancers’ List.
No, not any longer. Getting your press release to the right news sources is as important as writing it well. Public relations specialists subscribe to up-to-date databases of news outlets, and they also have made personal contacts. You’ll get the best results by finding someone who specializes in public relations.
No.
I can usually complete editing and proofreading jobs of 10 or fewer pages within three business days, depending on other projects currently in progress. There may be a surcharge for rush work.
The time required depends on the length of the manuscript and the services that are required.
A book of 100,000 words with multiple rounds of editing can easily take six months. When there are extensive changes to be made, I prefer that the author not be rushed into accepting my suggestions.
Allow at least four weeks after work begins. Please note that I may need to finish another client’s project before I can start yours.
I recommend working with a critique group. Not only will you get valuable feedback from fresh eyes, you’ll also improve your skill in evaluating manuscripts — including your own! — for pacing, characterization, language, and so on.
Can you afford thousands of dollars in writing fees before the book is even submitted to publishers? Your book then, if published, must compete with the other hundred thousand titles published that year. You might get rich faster and more easily by playing Lotto.
Design for Print and Screen
Designing a website involves several steps: determining the information your website should include, organizing how the information is presented, designing the template, presenting the design for your approval, creating the actual pages with content.
Allow at least two months for website design and production. This time includes client review and subsequent changes or corrections.
The time needed depends on your book’s size and complexity, how many jobs are ahead of yours, and whether you provide all the information required to finish the layout.
Allow at least a month for book design and layout. This time includes client review and subsequent changes or corrections.
Absolutely! You’ll a sample layout of the preliminary design. After you approve the design, the rest of the project goes forward.
I can create an attractive custom-designed template that you can use to produce the newsletter issues yourself. It would be valuable, but it wouldn’t be free.
For design ideas and tips, try Dynamic Graphics Magazine or Smashing Magazine.