Editing Services
Copy
Editing
A grammatical glow-up before formatting
$42/h
Includes:
- Grammar check
- Spelling check
- Style guide
conformance - Consistency
- Understandability
Line
Editing
Polishing style so readers see your story like you do!
$46/h
Includes:
- Wording refinement
- Style suggestions
- Pacing and flow feedback
- Work shopping clarity
- Paragraph organization
Developmental
Editing
Work shopping the big picture of your story
$52/h
Includes:
- Plot development
- Character refinement
- Theme clarification
- World building
- Structure development
Editorial Assessment
Not sure what you need? Or maybe you want to self-edit but don’t know where to start. An editorial assessment gives you a complete look at the health of your manuscript. It will guide you on where you can improve, what skills you need to learn, and help you decide where you want professional support!
How Our Editing Works
1
Assess
Pick your service.
Do you need developmental and line edits, or just copy edits? What can you do yourself, and where do you need help? A free consultation will help you make that decision with confidence.
2
Begin
Start your adventure!
Your editor will provide your sample edit and discuss what elements of your story are most important to you! From there, they will make notes, comments, and suggestions on your manuscript.
3
Review
Review feedback.
You will receive your manuscript back containing the editor’s notes. Your editor will be available to troubleshoot these suggestions–whether that’s discussing how to apply feedback or proposing alternative solutions. This sets you up for success as you revise.
4
Revise
Implement the editing!
Make your story what you’ve always dreamed it could be! Sometimes this is as simple as clicking “accept” on track changes. Other times, this may mean some re-writing. As you revise your manuscript, your editor will remain available for questions. Second rounds of editing are available if desired.
This process repeats for as many types of editing as you need. Level by level, you’ll build up your writing until you’re ready to share it with the world. If you work with us for multiple rounds of editing, we include a Publishing and Marketing Overview of charge. We want you to have the tools you need to make your writing as successful as it can be!
Common Editing Questions
When do I need editing?
Editing typically begins after a complete manuscript has gone through at least one round of revisions—though some authors bring in an editor as soon as draft one is finished to direct the revision process.
Need help with an unfinished draft? That’s where a writing coach comes in! Check our Consultation page for more details.
Can I edit my own work?
Yes and no. Hiring an editor and learning to edit yourself are both valid strategies—only you can decide which is best for your process. But keep in mind, editing is a skill that takes years to master, and even the best authors need an outside perspective on their work. Beta reading and critique groups are particularly important for self-editors.
The non-negotiable is proofreading. When you’ve looked at a manuscript for months or even years, you lose the ability to spot tiny errors. Thankfully, proofreading is the most affordable kind of editing.
(We do not currently offer proofreading, but hope to in future.)
Do I need multiple types of editing?
Yes. There are four stages of editing, and each one refines specific elements of the manuscript. If any stage is skipped, the reader will feel the lack. However, you can learn how to do some editing yourself, or use methods like work-trades with other authors to lighten the financial load.
Scissors for Ink can fill in anywhere you have a gap in your editing process!
What Are the Stages of Editing?
The four stages of editing are: developmental editing, line editing, copy editing, and proofreading. Beta reading and formatting deserve an honorable mention as well—they are not types of editing, but they play vital roles in the publishing process.
For more details on the publishing pipeline and what these stages entail, check out our educational resources!
How do I estimate editing costs?
This is a hard question, even for seasoned authors. Each manuscript is unique, and a story can change a lot through editing.
The quality of a manuscript also matters, especially for editing charged at an hourly rate. A cleaner manuscript takes less time than a messy one, and a manuscript that goes through multiple rounds of editing usually takes less time with each consecutive stage.
We have an estimation tool in the works. In the meantime, our editors can give you a quote for your project.
Will Scissors for Ink edit any manuscript?
Unfortunately, no. We’re a small team with limited resources, and we focus on manuscripts we can serve with excellence!
As a rule of thumb, we are speculative fiction focused, cautious of explicit content, and prefer stories that don’t have a strong romantic focus. Odds of acceptance are lower outside of these guidelines; however, we do make exceptions.
If you want to work with us, we encourage you to ask! We don’t disclose why we choose which manuscripts we do. But we’ll never leave you hanging: if we can’t accept a manuscript for any reason, we’ll let you know.
What if I want to traditionally publish?
This can be a controversial take, but if you plan to be traditionally published, you should not hire an editor.
Publishers take the lion’s share of book royalties because they shoulder the financial risk of publication. Editing is one of the most valuable services a publisher provides an author. If the author takes on the financial risk of editing, the relationship between author and publisher makes much less sense.
Authors who hope to traditionally publish should still invest in their writing. In some cases, an editorial assessment can help. It’s significantly less expensive, and provides direction for self-editing and an amount of market analysis. But most often, investing in your writing will look like write-coaching, consultations, or writing classes! These resources will teach you skills you can apply to any manuscript you write.
Want to Work with us?
We would love to chat about any remaining questions you have. Our free consultation and sample edit will help you decide if we’re the right fit for you!
What our Authors Say
See what authors say about our work!
Scissors for Ink has a remarkable editing style that finds the artist’s and characters’ voices and sharpens both to make a story more effective.
Their feedback is open and direct and always keeps my original vision in mind. I’ve had the pleasure to work with them on prose and comics through character development, scene pacing, narrative themes, and both long-form and short-form structures. My editor’s input has always been thoughtful and invaluable.
Jordan Nova
/
Author and Comic Artist
I work as a screenwriter in animation, and the feedback and insights this team provides have been invaluable.
The editor I worked with had a keen sense of pacing, narrative payoffs, and how to make a story accessible without sacrificing the writer’s voice. Edits never felt like they changed my story—rather that they helped me find my story amid the chaos of the creative process.
Cooper Boss
/
Screenwriter
Scissors for Ink’s editing is responsible for me making the leap from determined amateur to professional. I refined my self-editing process with the help of other amateur authors. But when my critique group was unable to elevate my writing further, it was time to bring a professional on board.
I knew from my editing sample that Scissors for Ink was going to be my partner in making my work its absolute best. Once my editor and I started working together, the authors in my writers’ group wanted to know what I was doing differently because the quality of my stories skyrocketed. Readers also noticed — they began exploring my Kindle Unlimited catalog and joining my email list. I couldn’t be happier with the results.
R. L. Klara
/
Scifi Author
Working with my editor is an absolute pleasure. Her skill in editing is matched by her ability to come alongside an author’s vision and help to hone and improve it. When I read my work after her collaboration, I feel like I am reading the best version of myself!
Jeremy Jenkins
/
Nonfiction Author
Scissors for Ink’s developmental editor played a crucial role in my debut novel. Not only did she bring out the story I was trying to tell in the way I wanted to tell it, she played the role of a writing coach all along the way. It sharpened my skills to the next level.
Benjamin Walker
/
Fantasy Author
My editor is undoubtedly one of the best with whom I’ve worked. As a fellow writer, she shared my excitement in developing a character, twisting a plot, and building a world, and she could look past surface problems to address the wider scope of the story. These are incredible qualities for an editor!
Joyous Penn
/
Fantasy Author
You’re Still Here?
You should totally—