Frequently Asked Questions |
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Q. Do you offer any discounts? A. Yes. See Discount tab Q. How is your fee decided? A. I have a table set up for each of the project types. Because I calculate either by page or by word, (This is useful because some documents have a large number of small words, others have large white spaces, such as in dialog.) it is difficult to tell you exactly how much a project will cost. I do go by the lowest amount (either word or page) for your project. Price per word depends on the scope of the project, where you'd like me to focus, how in-depth you'd like the edit to be, word count, etc. I guarantee that I will match any price you might find on another site. (If price comparing, please make sure their services also match what you are desiring for your project and that they are listed with the company's price.) As soon as I receive an e-mail request for a work order, I will send you an accurate quote. Once we have signed an agreement to pay (on manuscript length projects), and your payment method has been received, I will begin editing that day. Q. Do you charge for the words that you add in as suggested changes in a line-by-line edit? A. No. Fees are based off of the ORIGINAL number of words in your document. So if you submitted a manuscript of 50,000 words to me on day one, I would charge for 50,000 words only. Q. How will payment be handled? A. Through PayPal's secure system. I will send you an invoice with our agreed upon work order directly through PayPal. Once payment has cleared, I will contact you through e-mail to let you know I've begun editing. For students, I will work with you to return your paper before your deadline, as per arrangement. If you would like to edit manuscripts per chapter instead of the entire manuscript, this is acceptable, but the edit may not be as thorough due to time lapses between chapters. I can also send you comments on your work on a weekly basis, if requested, but I may not be able to make extra comments in the beginning chapters if this is the case. Also, chapter by chapter edits are NOT eligible for the Refer-a-Friend discount program. Q. Why do you ask for payment all up front? A. Often, editors that ask for partial payments along the editing process will fluff the first half of their comments to please the author so they will be assured final payment. You are paying for a critique. If you want to receive honest feedback, an editor can't be worried about receiving the rest of the payment for his/her work. If you have any questions along the way or would like help in certain areas, I am more than happy to work with you throughout the whole process. Q. What if I don't have a debit/credit card or don't like Paypal? A. I also accept electronic bank transfers, checks, and money orders. Keep in mind that these payment types could extend editing time. No editing will begin until payment has cleared. I will send a receipt when payment clears. Q, Do you charge sales tax? A. Not for US residents, other than in Idaho. Q. Do you require a minimum purchase? A. No. Anything you can dream up, I can help you bring to fruition. For some projects, there may be a minimum page number requirement, but not a minimum purchase. Q. I want to write this service off on my taxes. Can you send me an invoice when the work and payment have been completed? A. Yes. I keep records of all invoices for up to three (3) years. If you need a copy of an invoice or receipt, it will be a $5.00 charge if requested over 6 months from the project's completion date. |
Q. How should my project be formatted? A. I only accept Microsoft Word documents as electronic submissions at this time. Please start each project/chapter 3 inches down the page. Double-spaced with one inch margins please. Also make sure to include your contact information on the first page. This allows ample space for editing and ease in reading. Attach your work as an e-mail attachment with any notes for me in the body of your e-mail. Q. How do I know my project is secure? A. It is normal to feel concern about handing your manuscript over to your best friend, let alone to a stranger, but rest assured. My client's confidentiality is first priority. You are welcome to password protect your document before attaching it to your e-mail. Just send the password in a separate e-mail or even through a text message to my personal phone number. But if you are still concerned, by contacting the U.S. Copyright Office in their FAQ page, you will discover that your work is protected under the law without any formal registration. It is very rare for an editor to "steal" someone's ideas. I promise, I have more notebooks filled with ideas of my own than I'll ever have time to write in my lifetime. Q. Do you critique manuscript outlines, query letters, submissions packages, or resumes? A. Yes. See Umbrella Services under the page Manuscript Services. Q. Do you work with authors from other countries? A. Yes. But I only accept payment in US currency and through PayPal from clients out of the US. Taxes may also be applicable to the country in which you live and according to its laws. Q. Do you offer a money-back guarantee? A. No. Because critiquing is subjective, I can not guarantee that your project will receive an A or that a certain publishing company will accept your manuscript. But I can guarantee that you will be completely satisfied with your results. If you are not, we will talk about your project within 72 hours of receiving it back from me, and I will work to answers any questions you have about the suggested changes. I want to see you succeed. I'm not just here for the paycheck. Every one of my clients (students, businesses, and authors) have been extremely happy with their results. Visit the Reviews page or Yellow Pages to read their comments. My top priorities are: to help you grow as a writer and to insure your work stays true to your own voice. Sometimes, if a client has a concern or question after the editing process is complete and they want further clarification, on rare occasions I might revisit the project and make further comment for clarification purposes only. This is totally at my discretion. Q. What are your areas of expertise? A. My strongest areas reside in student papers and the young adult (YA) sci-fi, and high fantasy and urban fantasy realms. I have also written and edited manuscripts from the romance, nonfiction, children/juvenile fiction, autobiographical, and general fiction categories. I prefer not to edit highly sexual, dark, or violently graphic novels, so if this fits the description of your manuscript, you may prefer a different editor. Q. Do you accept hard copies of an essay or manuscript? A. Yes. If you mail the hard copy to me and provide a self addressed stamped envelope with the correct postage for return mail, I can edit from hard copy. Keep in mind that editing is harder to read on tight margins, so make sure to leave plenty of white space (1.5 inches on the left/right and 1 inch on the top/bottom as well as double spacing is helpful) and follow the formatting guidelines I will provide to you before we begin. Also, please include your last name, title of project, and page number in the header of each printed page. Q. Why don't you copyedit manuscripts for grammar and spelling? A. I did copyedit for a long time, but there are several reasons I chose to quit. Often, authors would ask me to edit their manuscripts for content, spelling, and grammar all at once. Copyediting should be the very last edit to complete before a manuscript is submitted to a publisher. If I made structural suggestions or requested that sections be rewritten in the manuscript, that could affect the sentence structure, grammar, spelling, etc. Often, authors would push for all-in-one edits, and 99% of the time would later realized that they had to hire someone else copyedit their manuscript AGAIN because of the errors they missed or created on their own while completing their content edits. Because of this, I offer only in-depth editing services for my manuscript clients. I have a list of several wonderful copyeditors that work for as little as $0.002/word with degrees in English Literature and other English fields. When your content edit is complete, if you would like suggestions for copyeditors, I would be happy to provide you with my list. |
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