There is no one-size-fits-all answer to this question. The time required to complete your project will depend on several factors:

• the length of your piece

• the level of service you require

• how polished your writing already is

• any other projects to which I'm already committed

I will give you an estimate of when I will be able to begin and complete your project as part of the proposal that I send to you. I will not be able to estimate a completion time until we've discussed your needs and I've seen a representative sample of the piece on which I'll be working. If you need the project returned more quickly than my initial estimate, I may be able to accommodate you by working overtime or weekend hours, but it will cost more.

My fees are project-based. That means that I can't tell you a specific price per word, per page, or per hour. Much like the estimated completion date, the fee depends on the project itself:

• the length of your piece

• the level of service you require

• how polished your writing already is

• how quickly you need the work completed

When you contact me to ask for an estimate, it will be most useful if you explain the work you would like me to do and any deadline you have in mind. I also will need to see a representative sample of the work to be edited, or the full piece if it's short. I do my best to keep my rates within industry norms, which tend to be $0.02-$0.05 per word for copyediting and proofreading or up to $0.50 per word for writing. However, some projects--particularly those with tight deadlines, that require more polishing than others, or that require a significant amount of research on my part--may be more. The best way to know the price for your project is to email me for a quote.

I will consider almost any writing or editing work. That said, there are some types of project for which I am particularly well-suited and a few types of project that I will not accept.  

I love to work on children's chapter books, both fiction and non-fiction. Books are gateways to other worlds--real and imagined; utopian and dystopian; past, present, and future. They are windows into the souls of writers. They provide relief from everyday life, as well as the potential to make everyday life better. Today's children deserve access to imagination-inspiring, knowledge-promoting, fun-creating books, just like I had as a child--and they deserve for those books to be well-crafted and error-free. I enjoy helping writers deliver those books to the next generation of readers and writers. 

I also have a soft spot for books (written for any age audience) that contain an international or cross-cultural aspect. Due to my many years living as an American outside of my home country, I have experience with the different patterns of speech that are common among those who speak English as a second language, or who are more heavily influenced by British English than by American English. I also understand the experience of expatriates, those who move frequently, and those who are influenced by more than one culture. This understanding helps when editing work that involves a cross-cultural or international aspect. That said, although I have learned bits and pieces of several other languages during my travels, I do not speak or read any language other than English well enough to edit it. If your work involves almost all English with just a few phrases here and there in another language, we can work something out; if your work involves a significant amount of a different language, however, I probably won't be the best fit for you.

Finally, I have experience with Federal resumes--resumes that are intended for submission to the Government of the United States. Federal resumes tend to be much longer and much more detailed than resumes submitted to private employers. I can edit your Federal resume to ensure that it contains all the required information, that your accomplishments are presented convincingly, and that your resume has correct grammar and spelling and good organization.

Those are my specialties: children's chapter books, works with a cross-cultural or international element, and federal resumes. There are also just a few types of work that I will not accept. I do not write essays that are to be submitted for a class project or for a college admission essay, although I will proofread and may edit such essays. I enjoy working on projects that are religious in nature, but I may not be able to accept all such work. If an understanding of the religion is needed, then I can only accept work that falls into the realm of Christianity; I do not have a nuanced enough understanding of other religions to provide the level of service that I require of myself. Finally, I do not write or edit projects that promote discrimination on the basis of age, sex or gender, race, religion or belief, sexual orientation, disability, or national origin. I reserve the right to reject work for any reason. 

Writing--no, I'm afraid I won't write your academic paper or college admissions essay for you. If I do accept a writing job and later discover that it's to be turned in for class credit or used as a college admission essay, I will immediately stop working on the project, will not send my work to you, and will keep any deposit you've already given me. Academic integrity matters a great deal. I believe that you should use the opportunity you have in school--whether that's high school, college, or graduate school--to learn all you can and to improve your writing as much as you can. That won't happen if I do the writing for you, and it would be unfair to your classmates who wrote their own papers.

Copyediting--maybe. Email me for a definitive answer. In general, I will copyedit college admission essays, dissertations and theses, and more technical writing in which your teacher will evaluate the content more than the writing style or mechanics. I am unlikely to copyedit writing in which the writing itself is the subject matter to be evaluated by your teacher, such as for an English composition course. I would be thrilled to copyedit your work that is being submitted for publication outside of your school, such as to an academic journal.

Proofreading--probably.  

I will write articles for websites or blogs that are posted without credit to the author, although I may ask for permission to include the work as a sample on this website. That sort of permission will be negotiated before I begin working. I do not generally write longer pieces that will be posted without attribution or pieces that will be published with someone else's name listed as the author.

Editing can be understood as a process that begins with a broad focus on the ideas to be conveyed, then works its way toward a narrow focus on specific elements of writing. Some editors provide the full range of services, while others focus on one or two levels. Sometimes the terminology for the different levels of editing is different, but in general, the editing process works its way through these stages:

1. Editorial assessment - In this phase, an editor will read a manuscript and offer a broad evaluation of the piece's strengths and weaknesses. Specific changes to the manuscript generally are not suggested; instead, the editor will provide a written document that critiques the piece in more general terms without offering solutions. In a novel, for example, the editor will evaluate the story arc and character development, giving suggestions of where problems are but not offering sample solutions.

2. Developmental editing, also known as substantive or content editing - This phase of editing is similar to editorial assessment, but it is more detailed. Rather than simply pointing out strengths and weaknesses, the editor will make specific suggestions about how to strengthen the writing. The editor may suggest changes in the broad organization of a work or point out inconsistencies. Comments typically will be made in the form of suggestions on the manuscript itself, and they also will be summarized in a separate editorial report.

3. Copyediting - This is where I come in! At this point, any big-picture issues should be resolved already. Copyeditors narrow the focus to issues that affect readability and understandability, such as sentence structure, grammar, and spelling. They look for anything that can disrupt the flow of a piece, such as unexplained shifts in point of view or verb tense, repetitive or unclear word usage, or discrepancies in characters' motivations and physical descriptions (it would be distracting for a character to shift from blond to brunette without mention of hair dye!). Writers and copyeditors should communicate clearly before a project begins, as some authors are confident in the mechanics of their writing and want copyeditors to focus on style and flow, whereas other authors may want full copyediting services. Some authors even need copyeditors only for the specific purpose of converting a work from British English to American English!

4. Proofreading - This is the final phase before a piece is submitted for publication. Proofreaders look for errors and inconsistencies that slipped through the previous phases of editing--ideally, proofreaders would not make any changes at all, although a few typically are required. Typographical, punctuation, and grammar mistakes commonly persist. Proofreaders also can check for formatting issues, incorrect captions on illustrations,  and inconsistencies in typography.

Copyediting is a more intensive process that occurs before proofreading. Copyeditors look for points where the writing can be made more clear, even if it's technically correct as it is. Therefore, copyeditors may suggest that a word be changed to one that's more precise, more descriptive, or more commonly understood, even if the original word is a correct option. They may suggest that a paragraph be restructured so that it's easier to understand, even if there are no errors in word usage, punctuation, or grammar. Of course, copyeditors also look for and correct errors. 

Proofreading, on the other hand, is the last step before publication. The author is assumed to be satisfied with--and have a reason for--the work's structure, tone, and word choice. The proofreader is looking only for typographical, spelling, or other errors or inconsistencies that slipped through the earlier editing phases. Even if another word clearly would work better in a given sentence, the proofreader will not suggest a change unless the original word is used incorrectly. 

Of course you can copyedit and proofread your own work! However, it's typically better to have someone else do it. You've been working on your project for quite a while already, and you already know exactly what you mean to say. It's best to get a fresh set of eyes on it before publication--eyes that aren't already familiar with the work, eyes that are connected to a brain that doesn't already know what you mean to say. They say that familiarity breeds contempt, but in the case of writing and editing, familiarity breeds assumptions. Someone who can approach your work without familiarity--without assumptions--is more likely to catch errors and other points of potential confusion for your readers.

Your work definitely should remain your own! As a copyeditor, I do not rewrite clients' work. I make suggestions to make your writing more polished, but I have clear reasons for the changes I suggest, and I will tell you those reasons. I suggest changes that will make your work more readable and more understandable, often by correcting errors or by suggesting words that are more precise, more descriptive, or more commonly known. I also will point out where you assume that readers will know certain words, phrases, or abbreviations that are very familiar to you, but that may not be familiar to your target reader. With all of my suggestions, the work should still sound like you--your voice should be heard clearly, and mine not at all. Ultimately, you decide which changes to accept and which to reject. An editor's job is to polish your words, letting your voice ring out clearly, while the editor herself fades into the background.