Emona Literary Services Writing & Editing Rates

I do words good, and could do words good for you.

So, once again, I am making a reference to that Bernie Sanders meme posting under my real name to promote by writing, editing, and publishing business, Emona Literary ServicesTM — of which Realmgard is itself a publication.

The Emona Literary Services logo.
(c) and TM Emona Literary Services.

Long story short, since I don’t actually blog on the Emona Literary website itself, I’m going to post some of my Emona Litetary business-related stuff here to try to get more eyes on it.

All of which is to say, if you need an editor or writer, I know a guy. Whom you should get in touch with my sending an email to info@emonaliterary.com.

Also, I do offer discounted rates to small businesses and non-profits.


Considerations

Prices listed in Canadian Dollars. Services over $100 require a $35 deposit.

International clients will be billed in US Dollars.

Canadian clients can make payments via e-transfer or PayPal. International clients can make payments via PayPal.

I am comfortable work with fiction, non-fiction, as well as copy for businesses and organisations. Although most of my experience in editing fiction comes from Fantasy and Science Fiction, I am open to all genres.

If your manuscript contains significant mature content such as graphic depictions of sex or violence, please let me know when giving me your summary. This kind of content isn’t a dealbreaker, but I do appreciate knowing what I’m getting into.

Writing Services

I am happy to offer copywriting services for both web and print publications.

I have extensive experience writing blog posts and other web copy, ad copy, social media posts, articles, news, reviews, lists, narrative non-fiction, and even more specialised topics like backstories for Dungeons & Dragons characters.

Up to 500 words — $35 flate rate
500-1000 words — $45 flate rate
More than 1000 words — $30/1000 words

Consultation Services

Zoom Consultation Session — $60 flat rate for one session up to one hour

While I offer complimentary preliminary Zoom sessions to my clients, I also offer paid Zoom consultations for clients to discuss their writing in more depth with me. In these sessions, we can brainstorm your ideas or discuss any issues you may be having with your current projects.

Beta Reading — $45 flat rate up to 100 manuscript pages, then $1 per additional page

Addresses a manuscript from the perspective of a casual reader, highlighting what did or didn’t work for the reader in terms of plot progression and characters. A Beta Read doesn’t provide editorial feedback, but may also recommend next steps in terms of what sort of editorial services will most benefit the manuscript.

A Beta Read is one of the first steps necessary to begin a completed draft’s progress towards publication, as it will highlight any preliminary issues that need to be addressed by future edits.


Editing Services

The Process

The first step is to send me a brief summary of your writing. Simply tell me what it is (i.e. a novel or a short story in what genre, an article, a blog post) and what exactly you’re looking for in a genre

Before we move forward with a full edit, you can send me a 1000-word selection of your work and I will provide a complimentary sample edit to help you determine if you want to proceed with a full edit.

When we agree to move forward together with my editorial services, I will send you a checklist of the editorial considerations you want me to keep in mind as I work on your manuscript. This includes things like the use of Canadian, American, or British spelling, which specific style guide, if any, you want me to follow (in general, I will default to Chicago Style if the style guide is not specified), as well as any specific instructions you want to be aware of.

Then, I will ask you to send me your manuscript either as a Word document or via Google Docs. I will make my edits with the Track Changes feature activated, meaning that you will be free to accept or reject any changes I make when you receive the edited manuscript back from me. I will also make annotations throughout the document with my editorial suggestions.

Manuscripts will be returned only after I have received payment. The edited manuscript will also be returned with a brief editorial letter highlighting anything I think needs to be brought to your attention in the manuscript and recommending next steps for your manuscript.


Copy Editing — $10.50 per page

Less than 5 pages (approx. 1500 words) — $45 flat rate

The most barebones editing pass of a manuscript, this is generally for authors who are confident with the tone, language, and flow of their work and want to address any potential spelling, grammar, factual, or style issues with their writing — for example, typos, wrong words, em-dashes vs. en-dashes vs. hyphens, -ise vs. -ize, Oxford commas, and other rules that may vary based on the style guide being used.

This is the sort of Editing I’ve done for WhoWhatWhy‘s Covering Climate Now reposts, looking over articles originally published on other outlets and reposted to WhoWhatWhy as part of the international, multi-outlet collaboration on climate news and making sure they adhere to WhoWhatWhy’s modified version of the Associated Press style guide.

This is a particularly important stage for Canadian writers, since a Copy Edit is when a manuscript is checked for following the rules of Canadian English. Luckily for those Canadian writers, following the rules of Canadian English is literally my job.

Line Editing — $14 per page

Less than 5 pages (approx. 1500 words) — $45 flat rate

This is the big brother of a Copy Edit, and where most of my personal experience as an editor has been, primarily working with Renaissance Press to prepare manuscripts for publication. In addition to catching the same technical errors as a Copy Edit, a Line Edit also looks for issues with how the writing communicates its ideas, editing for things like more natural or clearer phrasing, better word choice, reducing overused words, and internal consistency and logic.

A Line Edit is best for authors looking for feedback to improve how their writing communicates itself at a paragraph-by-paragraph level.

Developmental/Substantive editing — $17 per page

A Development Edit is the most big-picture form of editing and the most involved and probably consequential edit a manuscript will receive. This is the stage that turns your first draft — and there are no good first drafts — or even just your preliminary idea into something that better reflects your ideal vision of the project.

As a long-time literary and academic writer myself, I’ve gained lots of insight into the process of reorganising and refining a work in progress into the best version of itself I can make use of that extensive experience to help you do the same.

A Developmental Edit is can happen at any step of the writing process. However, Developmental Edit is necessary before the small-scale technical and style issues can be addressed.

Because of how involved and in-depth (and important) a Development Edit is, my packages include up to three Zoom check-in sessions to discuss my feedback and suggestions at regular intervals throughout the process.

Proofreading — $8.50 per page

Less than 5 pages (approx. 1500 words) — $40 flat rate

Proofreading is the Quality Assurance stage, a final check of a completed manuscript before publication to catch any lingering errors in its text or layout. This stage doesn’t offer editorial suggestions but will note anything that needs to be fixed — for example, typos, missing or improper punctuation, paragraph indents and spacing, issues with typesetting or font, missing or incorrect page numbers.

This is for authors who want one last set of eyes on the final, fully formatted draft of their work before it’s published.

For Renaissance, I have proofread final drafts of novels and other works of fiction. In my various projects for local non-profits, I have proofread newsletters, technical documents, and other publications intended for both the wider community and for use within these organisations.

For other services not listed here, feel free to contact me so we can discuss how I can best help you.

Again, if you think I can help you with your various literary projects, feel free to reach out info@emonaliterary.com and we can work something out.



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