Although I am just starting out as a professional editor I have plenty of experience after years of workshopping other student’s work at Curtin University. I particularly enjoy supporting fellow writers and always approach the work of others from a considerate and constructive perspective.
Types of editing
There are different scales of editing depending on the purpose of the item, the word length, how polished it is and the experience of the author. Writers also have varying expectations about how comprehensive the edit needs to be and what they would like to gain from it.
Types of editing include a quick proofread for errors in a polished work, or a more thorough check for grammar, format, clarity and structure. Developmental editing is usually performed on longer works (like novels or non-fiction books), looks at the overall structure, style and focus of the work and provides insights about how it could be improved on a conceptual level.
How does it work?
The standard format I work with is the track changes function in Word. For those unfamiliar with this, documents are marked up so that annotations and changes can clearly be seen in the text. You can then either manually change the original document or accept and reject changes in the edited file. Other formats may be considered but Word makes the process quick and easy.
How much will it cost?
The time required to edit a document varies depending on length and condition of the writing and on the depth of editing desired by the writer. For this reason I don’t name a standard price per word but offer a quote based on an hourly rate after viewing the document. For example, it might take one hour for a thorough edit of a 1000 word piece of writing with numerous errors and room for improvement, or one hour for a light edit of a more polished 2000 word piece.
Drop me a message if you’d like to discuss your project and I will supply a no-obligation quote.
Feature image from Trove: The West Australian 29 August 1882