Why should I hire an editor?

Before you put your content out into the world, you’ll want to answer these crucial questions:

• Is it clear?

• Is it coherent?

• Does it get its point across?

• Does the writing flow?

• Is the style consistent?

• Do the sentences make sense?

• Have all the typos been cleaned up?

Imagine a professional editor as an advocate for your future readers. An editor helps you anticipate how your words will land with your audience and clean up anything that isn’t clear.

A professional editor will:

• help translate complex ideas into accessible writing;

• have an ear for the rhythm and flow of good writing and also respect for your writing voice;

• point out common problem areas that might confuse your readers or distract them from your ideas: repetition, overused phrases, clichés, shifts in tense or point of view, unclear phrasing, grammar errors, inconsistencies in word usage or spelling, and issues in continuity from one section of a piece to another;

• understand changing language trends and usage, and know which of the rules you learned in school are important, and which can—or even should—be broken;

• make sure you’re not unintentionally using problematic terms;

• know how to use appropriate style guides or create one specific to your project;

• have the tools and skills to clean up basic formatting issues, find and fix common errors, and do the work needed to get your document ready to share.

How much will it my project cost?

To quote on a project, I’ll need a draft or sample of your document (for editing) or a brief outlining your requirements (for writing), and an estimated date for when you need the work completed.

It usually helps to have a brief chat about project details and scope, especially if we’re working together for the first time.

I’ll base my quote on the length and complexity of the project, how much work it needs, whether we’ll need to book time for meetings and consultations, and when you need the work to be done.

My quote will be an estimate, and I’ll need to adjust it if the scope of the project changes while we are working together.

I will quote either an hourly rate or a project rate, depending on the nature of the work required.

I’ll always keep any documents and personal information you send me confidential.

What document formats do you edit in?

For longer documents or manuscripts, I’ll need your file to be in Microsoft Word, which gives me access to advanced tools and features that make my editing more precise and time-efficient.

For short pieces like articles or blog posts, or if there will be a lot of back and forth or multiple contributors on the project, Google Docs is a workable option.

For proofreading, I currently work on pdf files in Acrobat Reader using the comment feature.