How Much Does Book Editing Cost?

This is a pretty simple question, but search the web and you'll get a myriad of answers.

So, how much does it cost to get your book edited?

The Editorial Freelancers Association (EFA) has a rate sheet that they encourage freelance editors to follow. But as a writer, looking at this sheet can be frightening.

In her article The Real Costs of Self Publishing, Miral Sattar of BiblioCrunch lays out all the estimated costs for publishing a book. But, if you read the comments, you'll see there is much dissension about the REAL costs of editing.

Miral estimates the following costs (using the EFA as a standard):

• Developmental Editing: $2,520 - $18,200
  
• Copyediting / Proofreading: $840 - $7,000
  

Still with me? The high end costs can be a little overwhelming.

Here is a breakdown of editing costs, and how you can keep those costs low:

1. The more editing required, the higher your cost will be.
Some editors charge a flat rate, while others an hourly rate. But any rate is based on the amount of work required to whip your manuscript into shape. 

How to mitigate this cost? 

Edit, edit, and re-edit your own work. Then ask your friends, family, and anyone else willing to be a beta reader to read it and give you feedback. The less editing a professional editor needs to do, the lower this cost will be for you.

2. The kind of editing required will affect the cost.
There are several main types of editing: Developmental editing which helps you develop your book, copyediting which will go line-by-line to look for specific errors like confusing sentences, and a basic proofread which checks only for spelling and grammar errors. Other services include things like formatting and fact-checking. The type of edit you choose will affect the price, so consider carefully what you think your book needs. 

How to mitigate this cost? 

Make sure you understand what you will get from each kind of edit and consider carefully, using the feedback from beta readers, on whether or not you need a full developmental edit when your biggest problem is run-on sentences.

Remember, you get what you pay for. A new editor might be willing to charge less, but they also have less experience. And the less they charge, the less time they will have to dedicate to editing your book. 

What do you think the cost should be? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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