Available Services

Before you get to the numbers...

I cannot emphasize enough that my services are bespoke--every aspect of the work I do for you should be tailored to you. That means that, while my services are outlined below at standardized (and competitive) rates, the services that I ultimately provide (and their price) will be determined by your needs. Consider this page a guideline--a starting point, from which I will build a package that is suited to you.

Three Categories of Service

The services I provide fall into three general categories. Right now, you do not need to know which is best for you; just let me know which seems the closest match.

Copyediting. I will correct all errors of spelling, grammar, punctuation, usage, and style.

Developmental Editing. I will correct all of the errors included in copyediting, with additional recommendations for content, flow, and structure.

Consulting. I will work with you to improve every aspect of your writing, at any stage of the writing process. Bring me a concept, and I will help you develop it from start to finish, guiding you through the writing process. Bring me a finished work, and I will go through every line with you, examining minor changes with an eye on the big picture of your overall work...and on your writing as a whole.

Pricing and Other Considerations

It would hardly be appropriate for me to offer customized service at one-size-fits-all rates, so the fees listed below should be taken as the most general of guidelines. As described in the next section, I will provide a more precise quote to you once I have assessed the scope of your project. However, here are some of the factors that I use to determine price.

  • Service. Your choice of service and desired level of consultation is the primary determinant of price. My hope, however, is that the higher cost of consultation will be offset in the long-term utility of understanding your weaknesses, that you may work to eliminate them in future.

  • Style Weight. I use this term to refer to the overall readability of your writing--writing that is more dense will take longer to edit (and will, therefore, be billed at a higher rate per word).

  • Technical Weight. Like style weight, technical weight slows reading speed as it increases. Nonetheless, I have familiarity with medical and academic texts in a variety of subjects, and I am prepared to meet the needs of your specialty.

  • Commercial Viability. Are you a graduate student who just needs to make sure there are no typos in your thesis? I don't want my services to be cost-prohibitive for you--or for anyone whose work is not intended for commercial uses. I believe that the value I can provide goes beyond the refinement of a single piece of writing, but I also want to make allowances where the cost of my services will not be recouped by the work itself.

  • Project Length. I am in a position to charge less per word for longer-term projects or projects with very high word counts.

I cannot emphasize enough that these considerations are just that--considerations: together, they describe how your initial quote will deviate from my base rates, which are as follows.

  • Copyediting. $.008/word.

  • Developmental Editing. $.016/word.

  • Consulting (finished work). $18-24/hour.

  • Consulting (development process). $30/hour.

Note that consulting fees are hourly, as the work is mostly performed in collaboration, and my time is the product in those cases. Nonetheless, I endeavor to keep consultation rates around $.02/word, and I will therefore be conscientious about managing collaborative time.

General Workflow

Once you have filled out the form and expressed your interest, I will reach out to you within a couple of days. After I have gathered some information about your project and goals, I will want to preview your writing, to make sure that I understand the precise needs of the project. After I have looked at your work, I will deliver a formal Assessment, which will contain customized project parameters and an initial price quote.

One of the advantages of my style is that I am flexible: if your project requires more work, beyond the provisions of the initial Assessment, we will discuss expanding my role accordingly. Likewise, if the work turns out to be less rigorous than I anticipated, I will adjust my quoted price to reflect the reduced labor. No matter what adjustments are needed, I will be in communication with you throughout the process, so you can be sure that I am taking your writing as seriously as you do.