Pricing

The exact price of a service is different for every document, so please contact me for a precise quotation. Listed here are some general figures that can help guide you.

Please note that each document is unique, so these figures may not reflect your actual estimate.

For more information about what each service includes, visit Services.

If you are working with a tight budget, please contact me and we can work out a service that suits it. I aim to be as flexible as I can to accommodate your needs.

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Pricing guidelines

Service	For	Price	Time measured in
Full service	All authors	$40 to $70 per 1000 words	Weeks
Formatting	All authors	$300 to $400 per day	Days
Reference editing	All authors	$50 to $60 per 1000 words	Days
Copyediting	All authors	$40 to $55 per 1000 words	Weeks
Substantive editing	Non-students only	$50 to $70 per 1000 words	Weeks
Manuscript assessment	Non-students only	Dependent	Please contact me for more information
Proofreading	All authors	$40 to $50 per 1000 words	Weeks
Rushed	All authors	Additional per 1000 words	Dependent
Weekend	All authors	$400 per day	Days
Rushed weekend	All authors	$500 per day	Days

Please note that these are guidelines only.

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Full service

Includes formatting, reference editing (if required) and language editing.

I assess your most recent draft and give you an estimated price per 1000 words. This often falls between $40 to $70 per 1000 words, but this can change depending on the needs of your document.

Formatting

Formatting on its own is calculated per day, generally $300 to $400 per day. Formatting generally takes 1 to 3 days, even for long and complex documents.

Reference editing

Reference editing on its own is calculated per 1000 words based on the word count of your reference list or bibliography.

For author–date styles (e.g. APA), the price per 1000 words will include the in-text references and cost a little more to account for this.

For referencing styles that include both notes and a bibliography or reference list (e.g. Chicago’s notes-bibliography and AGLC), I will include both the list and the notes in the word count.

Numbered styles (e.g. AMA and IEEE) are reference list only.

Language editing

Language editing is calculated per 1000 words. If you choose language editing on its own, it will cost less per 1000 words than the full service.

Copyediting

As copyediting takes less time, it costs less per 1000 words and will fall on the lower end of the spectrum, generally $40 to $55 per 1000 words. Students are restricted to copyediting.

Substantive editing

Substantive editing takes longer and is therefore on the higher end of the spectrum per 1000 words, generally $50 to $70 per 1000 words.

Manuscript assessment

Assessing a manuscript can mean many things depending on your needs and the document itself, so there is no real way to generally estimate the cost. Please contact me for more information.

Proofreading

Proofreading is a second, independent pass over the whole document and considered a separate service. It is priced independently per 1000 words. It generally costs less per 1000 words than language editing and takes less time.

If you would like a language edit and a proofread, I will give you estimates for each service.

Rushed or weekend work

I have the capacity to take on rushed or weekend work if you have a tight deadline. It requires me to sacrifice my personal time, so it attracts a higher fee.

Rushed work will cost more per 1000 words, and around $400 per weekend day. Rushed weekend work will cost $500 per day.

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Why is editing so expensive? Is editing worth the money?

If you are feeling shocked by these prices, that is perfectly understandable. Editorial services generally aren’t well understood, so it can be shocking to learn how long it takes and what it costs.

The Institute of Professional Editors has a thorough explanation of editors’ pay rates, so you can learn more about what an editor’s rate represents.

You can contextualise the rates based on what you might expect to earn in a day, week or month. For comparison, minimum wage in Australia is approximately $200 per day.

Whether these services are worth your money really depends on your circumstances and what money and time you can afford to set aside. Always being the editor on the side of the equation means I can’t definitively say one way or the other. My only indication is the testimonials my authors have sent me; they frequently describe the relief they have felt and the time and sanity they have saved.

Isn’t AI much faster and cheaper?

Using a large language model (LLM) to do a first edit of your work is indeed faster and (at least for now) cheaper, but whether it is worth your money is a different matter. I talk about this in the FAQ, but to summarise: LLMs don’t follow rules per se, they follow what is popular or common and not what is actually correct, they can’t handle novelty, they don’t ‘understand’ context and they have major privacy issues. In other words, they are, at best, untrustworthy (in many senses of the word). For the documents that are important enough to require an editor, I believe it is better to trust an editor.

There is also the question of false economy. If you use an LLM to edit your work, then you have to go through your document carefully to check it hasn’t made any errors or hallucinations. That is, you are essentially doing a full edit of your own, and you aren’t really saving much time, if any. Further, if you aren’t confident you have the expertise to check the LLM’s corrections, you may as well have engaged an editor in the first place.

It remains, of course, cheaper, but at the cost of your time (and possibly, your peace).

If you would like to talk more about this, know more about my services or talk to me about your options and budget, please don’t hesitate to contact me. I would be delighted to accommodate your needs in whatever way I can.