One of the first questions every author asks is, "What's this going to cost me?" When it comes to editing, there's no single, simple answer. Think of it like building a house—the price depends on whether you need a full architectural blueprint or just a final coat of paint.
For a typical 80,000-word manuscript, you can expect to invest anywhere from $960 to over $3,200. This quick guide will walk you through the essential numbers so you can start planning your budget with confidence.
Your Quick Guide to Book Editing Costs
Figuring out book editing costs starts with understanding what your manuscript actually needs. Not every book requires every level of editing, and matching the right service to your book's stage is the key to a smart investment. You wouldn't hire a structural engineer to hang a picture frame, right? The same logic applies here.
Each editing stage tackles different issues and, naturally, has a different price tag. I like to think of the process like creating a piece of pottery. The developmental edit is like shaping the wet clay on the wheel—it’s all about getting the fundamental form, balance, and structure right. Later, copy editing is like trimming and refining the piece, and proofreading is the final glaze and firing that prepares it for the world.
Average Costs by Editing Type
So, let's get down to brass tacks. To give you a real-world idea of what to expect, we can look at industry-standard rates for an 80,000-word book, a common length for novels and many non-fiction titles.
For an 80,000-word manuscript, professional editing costs can range from under $2,000 to well over $4,000. It all hinges on the specific services you bundle together and the editor's experience.
To break it down even further, a high-level review of your book’s core ideas and structure, known as an editorial assessment, might run between $1,440 and $2,400. If you need a more hands-on developmental edit to really dig in and reshape plot, characters, and flow, you're likely looking at a range of $2,240 to $3,200. You can find more in-depth pricing breakdowns and see how different factors can shift these numbers.
To make this even clearer, here’s a table that summarizes the average costs you can expect for a standard-length manuscript. Use this as a quick reference when you start budgeting for your project.
Estimated Editing Costs for an 80,000-Word Manuscript
| Editing Type | Average Per-Word Rate | Estimated Total Cost (80,000 words) |
|---|---|---|
| Developmental Editing | $0.028 – $0.040 | $2,240 – $3,200 |
| Copy Editing | $0.019 – $0.031 | $1,520 – $2,480 |
| Proofreading | $0.012 – $0.024 | $960 – $1,920 |
As you can see, the more intensive the work, the higher the investment. These figures provide a solid baseline, but what do these services actually do?
Key Editing Services and Their Prices
Let's quickly define the most common types of editing so you know what you're paying for.
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Developmental Editing: This is the big-picture edit. The editor focuses on elements like plot, pacing, character development, and overall structure. It’s the most intensive and collaborative phase, which is why it costs the most, typically $0.028 to $0.040 per word.
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Copy Editing: Once the story is solid, a copy editor combs through your manuscript to fix issues with grammar, spelling, punctuation, and consistency. It’s about making the prose clean and professional. Expect to pay around $0.019 to $0.031 per word.
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Proofreading: This is the absolute final step before you hit "publish." A proofreader is your last line of defense against sneaky typos, stray punctuation, and formatting glitches. Since the heavy lifting is done, it's the most affordable step at $0.012 to $0.024 per word.
Having these price points in your back pocket gives you a powerful starting point. Later in this guide, we’ll dive deeper into each service to help you figure out exactly which ones your book needs to truly shine.
Understanding the Four Core Types of Editing
Before you can figure out what book editing will cost, you first have to know what you’re actually paying for. "Editing" isn't just one thing. It's a series of different services, each with a very specific job and its own price tag. Getting this wrong is the quickest way to either pay for something you don't need or, worse, skip a step your manuscript desperately needs.
Let's think of it like building a house. You wouldn't hire the final inspector to sketch out the floor plan, right? And you wouldn't ask the architect to go around checking every single electrical outlet. Each stage of editing has its own lane, and they usually happen in a specific order, starting with the big picture and working down to the tiny details.
This visual shows exactly how each editing phase builds on the one before it, moving from the broad, foundational work to the final polish.
As you can see, developmental editing is the foundation. From there, we move to line editing, then copy editing, with proofreading as the final touch.
Developmental Editing: The Architect
This is the big-picture edit—the very first and most critical stage. Your developmental editor is like your book’s architect. They focus entirely on the core structure and foundation of your story or argument.
They aren't looking for comma splices or typos. Not at all. Instead, they’re digging into the major questions:
- Does the plot actually work?
- Are the characters believable and consistent?
- Is the pacing on point, or does the story drag in the middle?
- For a non-fiction book, is the argument clear, logical, and backed up with good evidence?
A developmental edit is easily the most intensive and collaborative service, which is why it’s often the biggest chunk of your editing budget. This happens after you have a complete draft, but way before you start worrying about polishing sentences.
Line Editing: The Interior Designer
Okay, so the blueprint is solid. Now it’s time to focus on the feel of the place. A line editor is your interior designer, going through your manuscript line by line to make sure your prose has style, flow, and impact.
Their job is to make your writing sing. They're tightening up clunky phrasing, elevating your word choices, and making sure your unique authorial voice shines through consistently. This is less about hard-and-fast grammar rules and more about the art and craft of writing itself.
A line editor works at the sentence and paragraph level to sharpen clarity, improve rhythm, and boost impact. They are the ones who help turn good writing into great writing, ensuring your words land with the reader exactly how you want them to.
This step is what keeps a reader glued to the page, preventing them from getting tripped up by awkward sentences or a confusing tone.
Copy Editing: The Electrician and Plumber
With the structure and style locked in, the copy editor steps in to handle all the technical nuts and bolts. Think of them as the meticulous electrician and plumber of your house, making sure everything is up to code and works flawlessly behind the walls.
A copy editor's job is to apply a consistent set of rules to the manuscript. They’re on the hunt for errors in:
- Grammar: Nailing down things like subject-verb agreement, dangling modifiers, and other pesky slips.
- Spelling and Punctuation: Fixing typos and ensuring you're using commas, hyphens, and quotation marks correctly and consistently.
- Consistency: Catching those little details that can trip a reader up, like a character's eye color changing on page 100 or a term being capitalized differently throughout the book.
- Formatting: Making sure all your headings, lists, and citations follow a standard style guide (like the Chicago Manual of Style or AP).
This is a highly detailed, rules-driven process that makes sure your book looks and feels professional.
Proofreading: The Final Inspection
This is it—the last, crucial step before you hit "publish." Your proofreader is the home inspector who does one final walkthrough to catch any little blemishes before you officially open the doors to readers.
By this point, all the heavy lifting—the structural, stylistic, and mechanical issues—should be completely sorted out. The proofreader is looking for any typos, formatting glitches, or punctuation errors that somehow managed to slip through the cracks. It's the final polish that makes your book shine. While people often mix up the terms, our guide on proofreading vs editing breaks down their very different roles in more detail.
By understanding these four types of editing, you can get much more accurate quotes and build a realistic budget. You’re now equipped to look at your own manuscript and decide if you need an architect, an interior designer, a master craftsperson, or a final inspector—or maybe a combination of them all.
Comparing Editor Rates: Per Word, Per Hour, and Per Project
When you start gathering quotes from editors, you’ll quickly find there’s no single standard for how they charge. It can feel like you’re trying to compare apples and oranges. Getting a handle on the three main pricing models—per word, per hour, and per project—is the first step to truly understanding what your book editing will cost.
Each pricing structure has its own logic and works best for different types of projects. The right one for you really depends on the current state of your manuscript, how predictable you need your budget to be, and the level of collaboration you’re looking for.
The Per-Word Rate Model
Charging a per-word rate is probably the most common and straightforward approach you'll encounter. It’s simple: the editor sets a price for each word in your manuscript, say, $0.03 per word.
The biggest advantage here is total predictability. If your book is 70,000 words long and the editor’s rate is $0.03/word, you know upfront that the final bill will be exactly $2,100. No surprises. This makes budgeting a breeze.
This model is a fantastic fit for editing services with a well-defined scope, like copy editing or proofreading. An experienced editor can look at the word count and make a very accurate guess about the time commitment involved.
The Hourly Rate Model
Some editors, especially those doing developmental editing or deep, heavy line edits, prefer to charge an hourly rate. This model gives them the flexibility to tackle manuscripts that need a lot of back-and-forth and creative problem-solving.
If your book has some tricky plot holes or needs significant reshaping, an hourly rate allows the editor to invest the time required without being constrained by a fixed fee. The downside, of course, is uncertainty. A project you budget for 40 hours could easily stretch to 60 if unexpected issues pop up, driving your costs higher.
While less predictable, an hourly rate can sometimes be more cost-effective for a very clean manuscript. If an editor can fly through your text faster than the per-word average, you might actually save money. Always ask for a time estimate upfront.
The Flat-Fee or Per-Project Model
Finally, some editors provide a flat-fee or per-project rate. In this scenario, they’ll review your manuscript and give you a single, all-inclusive price for the entire job. This offers the same budget certainty as a per-word rate but is custom-fit to your manuscript's specific challenges.
This approach is popular for complex projects or when an author wants to bundle services, like a developmental edit followed by a line edit. It keeps the billing simple and lets you know your total investment from day one.
Of course, the type of editing you need heavily influences the price, no matter the model. Industry data shows a wide range in rates across different services. For instance, proofreaders might charge $37 to $54 per hour, while developmental editors—who do more intensive, high-level strategic work—can command $48 to $84 per hour. Likewise, per-word rates for copy editing typically land between $0.03 and $0.08, reflecting the meticulous, sentence-level focus required.
Ultimately, your editing cost is a major line item in your book's budget. Understanding these pricing structures is the key to planning your finances, which is a crucial step before you https://barkerbooks.com/how-to-price-your-book/ for the market. To see how these factors play out in other creative fields, you might find some interesting parallels in these insights into the cost of AI video ads production.
What Factors Influence Your Final Editing Bill?
So, you've started shopping around for an editor, and the quotes are all over the place. You might be wondering why one 80,000-word manuscript costs twice as much to edit as another of the same length. The truth is, word count is just the starting point.
Think of it like getting a quote to paint your house. The square footage gives you a baseline, but the final price depends on the condition of the walls, the number of colors you want, and how many tricky corners there are. An editor looks at your manuscript the same way, sizing up the real scope of the work far beyond just the word count.
The Current Shape of Your Manuscript
This is, without a doubt, the single biggest factor that will move the needle on your bill. A manuscript that’s been through a few rounds of self-editing and feedback from beta readers is a completely different project than a raw first draft still packed with plot holes, grammatical hiccups, and tangled sentences.
An editor's most valuable resource is their time. If they have to spend hours just clearing the underbrush—fixing basic punctuation, flagging continuity errors, and making sense of confusing paragraphs—that effort will be reflected in the cost. The cleaner your manuscript is when you hand it over, the less it's going to cost you.
A polished draft that only needs a final proofread might cost a fraction of what a messy manuscript requiring a heavy developmental edit would. Preparing your work can be your most effective cost-saving strategy.
The Complexity of Your Genre
From an editor's perspective, not all books are created equal. A straightforward romance novel or cozy mystery is generally a simpler project than a dense academic work or a sprawling high-fantasy epic with a world of its own.
Here's a quick look at why genre matters so much:
- Technical Non-Fiction: Books on science, finance, or history often need a specialized eye and serious fact-checking. That extra layer of expertise and verification takes more time, which naturally increases the cost.
- Literary Fiction: When prose is highly stylized or experimental, a line editor has to work carefully to polish the flow and rhythm without erasing the author's unique voice. It’s a delicate, time-consuming dance.
- Fantasy & Sci-Fi: Intricate worlds, made-up languages, and complex family trees demand an incredible level of attention to detail to keep everything consistent. An editor has to become an expert in your world, which takes time.
Many editing services are upfront about these differences. For example, nonfiction editing can run $41 to $45 per hour due to the research involved, while fiction might be closer to $36 to $40 per hour.
The Editor's Experience and Expertise
Like any profession, you pay for experience. An editor with a decade of experience working with bestselling authors from major publishing houses is going to charge more than someone who is just starting out and building their portfolio. It can be tempting to go with the lowest price, but a seasoned pro often works more efficiently and provides insights that can genuinely elevate your book from good to great.
This is a crucial part of your overall publishing investment. Understanding the whole financial picture, from editing to marketing, is key. If you're mapping out your budget, our guide on the full https://barkerbooks.com/cost-to-publish-a-book/ can give you a clearer view.
To help you see how these pieces fit together, I've put together a simple checklist.
Cost Influencer Checklist
This table breaks down the main factors that will determine your final editing quote. Use it to get a rough idea of where your manuscript might land on the pricing spectrum.
| Factor | Impact on Cost | Why It Matters |
|---|---|---|
| Manuscript Condition | High | A "clean" draft requires less time and effort; a "messy" one needs intensive work. |
| Genre Complexity | Medium to High | Technical non-fiction or epic fantasy demands more research and consistency-checking. |
| Editor's Experience | High | Top-tier editors with proven track records command premium rates for their expertise. |
| Turnaround Time | Medium | Rush jobs disrupt an editor's schedule and always come with a surcharge. |
| Type of Editing | High | A simple proofread is far cheaper than an in-depth developmental or line edit. |
| Word Count | Medium | Longer books inherently take more time, but this is a baseline, not the final word. |
Ultimately, a lower-cost option isn't always the best value. Weighing these factors helps you find an editor who is the right fit for your book's needs and your budget.
Your Turnaround Time
Finally, how fast do you need it back? A project with a flexible two-month timeline is very different from one you need back in a week. Rush jobs mean an editor has to rearrange their entire schedule and likely work late nights and weekends. That urgency almost always comes with a surcharge, often adding 25% to 50% to the final bill. Planning ahead is one of the easiest ways to keep costs down.
Managing creative costs is a universal challenge. For a different perspective on the same problem, this article on creating promotional videos on a limited budget offers some great parallel insights. By understanding what drives editing prices, you can walk into the process with confidence and make the best decisions for your book.
How to Find and Vet the Right Editor for Your Budget
Okay, so you have a budget in mind. That’s the easy part. The real challenge is finding a talented editor who not only fits that budget but is also the right person to elevate your manuscript.
It’s not about getting lucky. It’s about having a smart, systematic process. Think of it like hiring a contractor to renovate your kitchen. You wouldn't just hire the first person who gives you a quote. You’d look at their past work, check references, and make sure they understand your vision. You need to bring that same level of diligence to finding an editor for your book.
Where to Look for Professional Editors
Your search for the perfect editor has to start in the right places. A quick Google search might turn up some names, but you’ll have much better luck with platforms and professional organizations that are built to connect authors with experienced professionals.
These resources are where you’ll find editors with proven track records.
- Curated Marketplaces: Websites like Reedsy do a lot of the initial legwork for you. They offer a hand-picked roster of editors, complete with detailed profiles, portfolios, and client reviews.
- Professional Associations: Organizations like the Editorial Freelancers Association (EFA) are goldmines. Their member directories let you filter for editors who specifically work in your genre.
- Writing Communities: Never underestimate the power of a good referral. Hop into author groups on social media or online forums. The best recommendations often come from other writers who have already been through this process.
The Art of Vetting Your Candidates
Once you have a shortlist of potential editors, the real work begins. Your goal is to look past their rates and get a feel for their style, their specific expertise, and how they communicate.
Start by digging into their portfolio and testimonials. Are there books similar to yours? An editor who has polished a dozen sprawling fantasy sagas is going to have a much better handle on the genre’s tropes than someone who mostly edits business books. Pay attention to what past clients say—look for specifics about the editor's process and communication style, not just generic praise.
The single most important step in the vetting process is the paid sample edit. Asking an editor to work on the first 1,000 words of your manuscript is non-negotiable. It accomplishes two crucial things: it shows you exactly how they edit, and it helps them give you a far more accurate quote for the full project.
This sample is your crystal ball. It will reveal their editing philosophy, how they deliver feedback, and whether their suggestions resonate with your own authorial voice.
Questions to Ask Before You Hire
Before any contract is signed, you need to ask some direct questions. This is your chance to set clear expectations and make sure you’re both on the same page. Any good editor will welcome this conversation.
Think of this as your pre-flight checklist for a successful collaboration:
- What’s your experience in my specific genre?
- Can you walk me through your editing process, from start to finish?
- How will I receive your feedback? (e.g., Track Changes in Word, Google Docs comments, a separate editorial letter?)
- What’s your estimated turnaround time for my complete manuscript?
- How many rounds of revision are included in your quote?
- What are your payment terms? (e.g., 50% upfront, payment in installments?)
Asking these questions helps you find more than just an editor; it helps you find a partner who understands your vision. Taking the time to vet properly isn't a hassle—it's a strategic investment in your book's future success.
Your Top Questions About Editing Costs, Answered
Let’s be honest: budgeting for your book can be one of the most stressful parts of the journey. When it comes to editing, the questions (and the potential costs) can feel overwhelming.
I want to clear things up for you. Think of this as a straight-talk session, where we tackle the most common questions I hear from authors. My goal is to give you the confidence to make smart, informed decisions about where to invest your hard-earned money.
Do I Really Need All Four Types of Editing?
Not always. This is a huge one, and understanding it is key to managing your budget. The services your book actually needs hinge entirely on where the manuscript is right now.
If you’ve put your story through the wringer with critique partners or a sharp group of beta readers and you’re confident in the plot and structure, you might be able to bypass a full developmental edit.
However, nearly every book aiming for a professional standard needs, at the very least, a thorough copy edit and a final proofread. These are the stages that truly separate an amateur effort from a polished, published book. The best way to know for sure? Get a manuscript assessment or a paid sample edit. A good editor can diagnose exactly what your book needs, so you don't waste money on services that won't make a real difference.
Can AI Editing Tools Help Me Save Money?
Yes, but with a giant asterisk attached. Tools like ProWritingAid or Grammarly are fantastic for a first or even second pass of self-editing. They’re great at catching basic typos, grammar slip-ups, and repetitive words, which absolutely cleans up your manuscript.
When you hand a cleaner draft to a human editor, you might see a lower quote, especially if they charge by the hour. Why? Because they're spending less time on the small stuff and more time on the high-level improvements that truly elevate your writing.
Think of AI as a powerful assistant, not a substitute for an expert. It can't grasp the nuances of narrative flow, character voice, storytelling conventions, or the emotional heart of your book. Use it to prep your manuscript for the pros, but never mistake it for the final, professional polish.
Is It Cheaper to Hire a Freelancer or an Editing Company?
As a general rule, hiring a freelance editor directly is the more affordable path. Editing companies and agencies have more overhead—project managers, marketing teams, administrative staff—and those costs are baked into their pricing. You’re paying for a managed service and an extra layer of quality control.
That said, an agency can be a fantastic choice for first-time authors who want the security of working with a vetted pool of editors and a structured, guaranteed process. If you're comfortable vetting candidates, checking references, and managing the project yourself, a freelancer will often give you more bang for your buck.
How Can I Lower My Overall Editing Costs?
This is the best question to ask, and the answer is simple: deliver the cleanest, most polished manuscript you possibly can. The more work you do upfront, the less your editor has to do.
Here are a few practical steps to take:
- Self-Edit Ruthlessly: Go through your manuscript multiple times. Read it aloud—you'll be amazed at the awkward phrasing you catch.
- Use Beta Readers: Get feedback from people who actually read in your genre. Listen to their suggestions and revise your manuscript before you ever approach an editor.
- Book in Advance: Editors often have rush fees for tight deadlines. Planning ahead can save you 25% or more on the total cost.
It really boils down to this: the less time an editor has to spend fixing basic mistakes, the lower your quote will be. It's that simple.
Ready to turn your manuscript into a professionally published book? The expert team at BarkerBooks offers a full range of editorial services to guide you from draft to global distribution. Learn more about our publishing packages and get started today!