New authors writing fiction can build up their experience through trial and error by writing several short stories over time cost-effectively as they hone their craft. By using low-cost or no-cost self-publishing services like Kindle Direct Publishing or Lulu to design and publish those early trial books, they can become seasoned writers without suffering any reputational loss.

The world of nonfiction, however, is not quite as forgiving. When you publish your first nonfiction book, you’ll be automatically deemed to be an expert in your field, right along with those who might be on their fifth or sixth books. After all, why would a non-expert bother writing a nonfiction book?

So from the get-go you’ll have to ally yourself with (and budget for) professional editors who will take your manuscript writing and structure to the next level, allowing your book to bring about your subject-matter expertise in a compelling and engaging way.

Before you hire any editing resources, let me help you get familiar with the different types of editors required to make your nonfiction manuscript truly shine.

Types of Nonfiction Editors

There are four main types of nonfiction editors you can hire, depending on your unique circumstances and budget:

• Developmental Editor (sometimes called a Conceptual Editor)

• Content Editor (sometimes called a Substantive Editor)

• Line Editor (sometimes called a Stylistic Editor)

• Copy Editor (sometimes called a Proofreader)

Sometimes an individual editor will combine two of these editing levels into a single service, so it’s always good to discuss beforehand exactly what level of editing you’re looking for, and what they intend to provide.

Let’s now look at the distinct functions each one performs:

Developmental Editor

The first type of professional editing that your nonfiction book will require is developmental editing. This type of editor will look at the overall structure of your book to assess if it’s adequate to support your main thesis.

As the author, you’re simply too close to your book to be able to have an unbiased opinion, and your developmental editor will help you gain the necessary perspective to help you “see the forest for the trees” and make objective decisions.

In short, the developmental editor is like a coach who’ll lay out the overall strategy you need to follow for your book to achieve its full potential. They’ll do so by using the following two mechanisms.

The Editor’s Letter

Through this letter, they’ll tackle the biggest structural issues in your book by making suggestions so that you can take the necessary corrective action.

This might entail re-writing certain chapters, swapping them around, perhaps writing new ones and eliminating sections of the book that don’t support your thesis and don’t add any value to your readers.

Once you’ve completed this major initial revision, your manuscript will have a much more solid foundation, strong enough to begin the second phase of developmental editing: page-by-page commenting.

Page-By-Page Comments

Here, your developmental editor will go through every page of your manuscript and leave you notes in the margin. These notes won’t be related to spelling, grammar and punctuation errors but to the actual content of the text.

For example, they may point out that an idea you’re exploring is out of place with the other ideas in that chapter and should be moved elsewhere. Or they might show how the subject of one chapter is an outlier compared to the rest of the book and question whether it should be included at all (or re-worked to fit the rest of the book).

Content Editor

The content editor will pick up from where the developmental editor left off and move down to the chapter and sub-chapter level. Their main job is to ensure that your message is delivered with clarity to meet the needs of your target audience. They’ll ensure that your ideas flow naturally from one to the next and that you haven’t included any ideas that aren’t relevant to your main thesis.

For example, they’ll make sure that all chapters have the right structure (at its most basic: a beginning that introduces the main idea, a middle that expands on it, and an end that summarizes it). They’ll also suggest rearranging ideas within a chapter if doing so will improve clarity and flow.

Line Editor

A line editor goes deeper still, right down to the paragraph and word level. They’ll check your manuscript for readability and style, and make suggestions to improve clarity. They’ll do so by rewriting those phrases that are clunky and hard to read, adjust paragraphs that are unclear, shorten run-on sentences and so on.

Finally, they’ll suggest the right placement for any illustrations, images, tables, or any other type of graphical element in relation with the text and the flow of ideas.

Copy Editor

Copy editors are not concerned with idea flow or paragraph clarity: their job is to ensure that your book’s content is correct and its facts are accurate.

They will catch spelling, punctuation, grammatical, syntax, capitalization and hyphenation errors. They’ll ideally correct any fact in your book that is inaccurate, from wrong dates to wrong places to wrong names.

They’ll flag any potential legal infringement issues, check for major formatting inconsistencies, check for proper word usage and check for any type of anomalies in your text.

Before you publish, you want to be certain that your nonfiction book is devoid of errors, omissions, typos and inaccuracies.

Your copy editor will make sure that your book is free from:

• Punctuation, spelling, grammatical and syntax errors

• Formatting inconsistencies

• Incorrect references

• Inaccurate facts and figures

• Erroneous captions

Unlike most of us, copy editors have the uncanny ability to laser focus on the language of your text without getting distracted by the art.

In other words, the reason we mere mortals can’t seem to detect as many typos as they do is that since we’re so focused on the narrative of the story, our brains will happily skip these minor speed bumps for the sake of our reading enjoyment.

Congratulations, now that the copy editing stage is completed, your book is ready to go to the printer!

What Rates do Nonfiction Editors Charge?

Rates differ with experience, but here are some general guidelines so you know what to expect:

Developmental Editing can charge two separate fees, depending on the nature of your book — a per-word or per-page rate for the textual component of your book, and a per-hour rate for books that are research-intensive (e.g. highly academic, scientific or specialized).

Per-word rates range from 8 cents to12 cents depending on the level of difficulty of your text (or $20-$30 per page). Per-hour rates are typically around $60/hour for non-editing research activity.

Content editors charge a lower rate than developmental editors, which is typically based on dollars per 1,000 words.

For books with standard text – that is, non-specialized, non-scientific or non-academic text – the content editing rates will range between $40 and $50 per 1,000 words. For difficult text (specialized, scientific or academic) the range goes up to $50-$70 per 1,000 words.

Line editors charge between $30 and $40 per 1,000 words for standard text and anywhere between $40-$60 for difficult text.

Finally, copy editors charge between $25-$35 per 1,000 words for standard text and between $35-$45 per 1,000 words for difficult text.

Next Steps

When it comes to editing cost, always keep in mind that the quality of your book will be directly related to your credibility and your professional reputation, so cutting corners in editing isn’t recommended.

On the flip side, consider that a high-quality book will result in more business later on, since your book will act as powerful calling card to promote your professional services. At the end of the day, your editing investment will be return to you multiple times.

Also, as a nonfiction writer, you’ll need the help of top-notch editors to be able to produce a book that can compete with all the bestsellers in your niche, which are guaranteed to be professionally edited.

When it comes to finding the right people for the job, many book editors will specialize in a particular stage, but occasionally you may find a super-editor that can do two stages. Some may even be able to do three, but it’s always good to get at least one more set of professional eyes on a manuscript before publication, especially for copy editing, so I always recommend using two different editors for the different stages.

So, be prepared to hire multiple editors, keeping in mind that the total editing cost may not change that much with fewer editors because all four stages still need to be implemented for your nonfiction book to be competitive in the marketplace.

Now, once your manuscript reaches an advanced stage of editing, it’s time to begin lining up professional layout and book cover designers. Here are a couple of articles to guide you in the right direction: 10 Nonfiction Book Layout Tips That Will Glue Your Audience to the Page and 5 Book Cover Design Principles for Nonfiction Books.

Best wishes!

If you enjoyed this article and are in the process of writing a nonfiction book, be sure to check out my free nonfiction success guide, drawn from years of experience editing books for bestselling authors (including a New York Times bestseller) and ghostwriting for CEOs and politicians. Simply click here to get instant access.

Ben

Leave me a comment below if you have any questions or a specific need that I can help you address – I operate an author services firm that specializes in helping entrepreneurs, professionals and business owners who want to publish books as a calling card for prospects, to establish their status as an expert or to generate additional leads for their businesses.

 

Here are some related posts I highly recommend:

How to Write a Compelling Book in 12 Steps: A Must-Read Guide for Nonfiction Authors

How to Grow Your Business Writing a Nonfiction Book

 

Bennett R. Coles is an award-winning author of six books published through Harper Collins (New York) and Titan Publishing Group (London). He is also the publisher at Promontory Press, editor for multiple bestselling authors (including a NY Times bestseller), ghostwriter for CEOs and politicians and the founder of Cascadia Author Services, a boutique full-service firm that specializes in premium author services specifically designed for busy professionals. Our end-to-end services include writer coaching, ghostwriting, editing, proofing, cover design, book layout, eBook production, marketing, printing and distribution.

As a nonfiction writer it’s imperative that you learn how to find the best possible editor for your book. Here’s why.

Nonfiction readers don’t really care whether a book they’re interested in is traditionally or self-published. All they care about is that the book will help them solve a problem they have and that it’s written by an expert in the field.

This bodes well for self-published authors because the stigma of self-publishing is virtually irrelevant to nonfiction readers, therefore creating a level playing field for you.

However, this playing field demands that your book be professionally edited as well as its traditionally published counterparts.

How Do You Find a Good Editor for Your Book?

In order to find the best candidate for the job, you need to know the right questions to ask and the right answers to expect in return. Below you’ll find five important guidelines to follow as you begin your search.

1) Ask to See Their Qualifications

Book editing is a very skill-intensive craft so you want to ensure that your editor’s training is substantial. Ask to see their resume and check that they have a minimum of 5 to 7 years of experience.

Although many authors opt for less-experienced editors to save on costs, this is not such a good idea in the world of nonfiction because your book will become a proxy for your professional reputation.

As a nonfiction author, the reader’s perception of you as a credible expert will rely on the editorial quality of your book, so you should hire someone who’s done this type of work many times before.

Next, ask them for the titles of nonfiction books that they’ve edited before, then buy copies on Amazon Kindle (or in print if not available as eBooks) and read them. If they compare favorably with traditionally published books in your niche that you’ve read before, then you’ll likely be in good hands.

Now, if the editor is unwilling to provide you with a list of qualifications or a list of titles, or if their qualifications are too thin in the nonfiction genre, then you’ll be better off moving on to the next candidate down the list.

2) Ask for a Free Editing Sample from Your Manuscript

It’s standard practice for professional editors to provide you with a sample edit from your manuscript at no cost to you. This could encompass anywhere between 1 and 3 pages of text.

Professional editing demands a significant investment of time and money and there’s no better way to assess for fit than by obtaining an actual editing sample – you don’t want to experience buyer’s remorse after having parted with hundreds of dollars.

3) Ask for References

If you’re satisfied with the quality of your sample edit, then ask the editor for 2 or 3 author references to talk to or email with. Contact the references and ask them about their overall experience and the working relationship.

If the editor is unwilling to provide you with references by stating privacy reasons, then take a pass. Book editing is an unregulated industry that invites a lot of predatory behavior and you don’t want to get caught in the web of a bad operator.

Besides, authors are by nature public figures so the privacy argument is more than likely a front to mask the fact that perhaps they don’t have nonfiction experience (your title will be their first) or simply that they’re afraid of what clients will say.

4) Ask to See a Copy of Their Editing Agreement

Next, ask to see a copy of their standard editing agreement. Read all of the clauses in detail, especially the termination clause. Make sure they have a reasonable path to exit the relationship should that need arise.

Legal agreements are a necessity for high-cost services, especially when the work needs to be performed over an extended period of time. A proper contract will protect both you and the editor.

Having said that, editing agreements are drawn by the editor’s lawyers not yours, so you’ll have to ensure that the fine print doesn’t bind you to clauses that may be prejudicial to you.

Don’t be afraid to request the amendment of clauses that you or your lawyer feel are against your best interests. A professional editor will want your business and will make every reasonable effort to make the necessary adjustments that lead to a successful outcome.

If an editor doesn’t want to provide you with a sample copy of their agreement in advance of hiring their services, that’s a sign of either inexperience or some hidden agenda. If this is the case, take a pass.

When reviewing their agreement for services, look out for the following clauses:

Fees

Standard charges will typically be quoted by the hour for the preparatory component of the project and by the word for the writing component.

Terms

Look for flexible payment terms without large lump sums required to be paid in advance. There will likely be an expectation to receive a small initial payment to lock in the project and begin the work, with further payments contingent on the achievement of certain milestones through to the completion of your project.

Termination Clause

This is a key clause for you in the agreement because you need to be able to have an “out” if something goes wrong for any reason. Look out for a termination clause that allows either party to end the agreement within a reasonable advance written notice. Expect to be required to pay the cost that covers the work delivered up until the effective day of termination.

5) Check for Rapport

Finally, make sure that you have a good rapport with the editor during your initial interview. There’s nothing worse than having to walk on eggshells when you’re engaging in a creative relationship, especially with someone who’s being paid a substantial amount of money.

Also, the author-editor relationship is very close by nature and you want to ensure that you’re dealing with someone you’re 100% comfortable working with.

Listen to your hunches and keep in mind that good relationships are always effortless. If you feel any type of resistance or perhaps a strange energy when you relate with the editor, then it’s better to take a pass.

Next Steps

Once your manuscript reaches an advanced stage of editing, it’s time to begin lining up professional book and cover designers. Here are a couple of articles to guide you in the right direction: 10 Nonfiction Book Layout Tips That Will Glue Your Audience to the Page and 5 Book Cover Design Principles for Nonfiction Books.

All the best!

If you enjoyed this article and are in the process of writing a nonfiction book, be sure to check out my free nonfiction success guide, drawn from years of experience editing books for bestselling authors (including a New York Times bestseller) and ghostwriting for CEOs and politicians. Simply click here to get instant access.

Ben

Leave me a comment below if you have any questions or a specific need that I can help you address – I operate an author services firm that specializes in helping entrepreneurs, professionals and business owners who want to publish books as a calling card for prospects, to establish their status as an expert or to just to generate additional leads for their businesses.

Here are some related posts I highly recommend:

How to Write a Compelling Book in 12 Steps: A Must-Read Guide for Nonfiction Authors

How to Grow Your Business Writing a Nonfiction Book

Write Your Own Book and Become an Expert: 11 Reasons Why You Should

 

Bennett R. Coles is an award-winning author of six books published through Harper Collins (New York) and Titan Publishing Group (London). He is also the publisher at Promontory Press, editor for multiple bestselling authors (including a NY Times bestseller), ghostwriter for CEOs and politicians and the founder of Cascadia Author Services, a boutique full-service firm that specializes in premium author services specifically designed for busy professionals. Our end-to-end services include writer coaching, ghostwriting, editing, proofing, cover design, book layout, eBook production, marketing, printing and distribution.

There are four distinct types of editing that are required to turn your nonfiction book into a highly competitive product in the marketplace. Your aim is to level the playing field with professional publishers by taking advantage of the same editing treatment they give to their best titles.

The 4 Types of Nonfiction Editing

For your self-published nonfiction book to aspire to the bestseller list, having great content isn’t enough – your content also needs to be subjected to the thorough editing afforded to top traditionally published nonfiction books.

For your nonfiction book to succeed it needs to connect deeply with your target audience, it needs to be clear, it needs to be factually accurate and it needs to be free errors and typos.

The following four types of editors specialize in each of these areas:

Type 1: Developmental Editors

Developmental editors perform the highest level of nonfiction editing as they take a bird’s eye view of your manuscript. Their job is to assess your book structure for fit with your main idea or thesis.

Based on knowledge of your target audience, they’ll also check that your flow of ideas satisfies the audience’s needs in the best possible way.

If your nonfiction book has great content but it’s written in a way that doesn’t resonate with your audience, it simply won’t be successful.

This type of editor is the best proxy for your audience and will give you advice on what works for them as well as what doesn’t work. They’ll help you notice things that you might not be able to notice on your own.

As the author you’re just too close to your writing to have an unbiased opinion. Your developmental editor will help you gain perspective so you can make the necessary changes to better connect with your audience.

Developmental editors will give you feedback in two different passes – going from an overall view to detailed suggestions.

1) The Editor’s Letter

First, your developmental editor will read your manuscript once or twice, putting themselves in the shoes of a reader from your target audience, and then share with you their thoughts about your biggest structural issues.

For example, they may recommend that you change the order of some of your chapters, or even write a new one if they feel it’s necessary to improve the overall flow.

They may also recommend that you eliminate some sections that they feel are either redundant or simply outside the scope of your thesis.

Your job then is to take this information and implement it in your manuscript before they’re ready for the second editing pass.

2) Page-by-Page Commenting

Once they receive your revised manuscript, they’ll re-read it while making notes on the margins of each page. These will be high-level notes related to the structure of your ideas without focusing on low-level editing tasks such as spelling, grammar or punctuation.

Their job in this second pass is to let you know paragraph by paragraph if your information appears to be out of place, or if you’re covering too many ideas in a single paragraph, causing confusion to your readers.

They’ll also suggest swapping sections within a chapter, or perhaps moving a section to a different chapter if it belongs there better.

Once your higher-level edits are completed, it’s time to go one level deeper into the mechanics of the text.

Type 2: Content Editors

Content editors don’t work on your content’s structure but on the content itself. Instead of focusing on your flow of ideas, they’ll focus on how those ideas are executed.

Their goal is to ensure that your author’s voice, the quality and style of your content is consistent throughout your manuscript.

More specifically, they’ll focus on readability, clarity and word choice, among other things. For example, they’ll be looking out for:

• Run-on sentences
• Word repetition
• Sentence length
• Misuse of words
• Poor style (amateurish writing)
• Excessive use of adjectives and adverbs
• Use of language that isn’t a good fit for your audience
• Confusing text

In addition, content editors will help you place your graphic elements, such as tables, charges, images, photographs, etc., in the optimal place in relation to the text in your manuscript to best support your ideas.

Once your content editing pass is completed, it’s time to take your manuscript to the deepest level of editing: language rules.

Type 3: Copy Editors

Your copyeditor is trained to zero in on one thing and one thing only: to ensure that you follow the proper rules of grammar, syntax, punctuation, capitalization, hyphenation, and style.

They know the accepted rules of style in the English language (which are quite numerous and can be complex) like the palm of their hands.

Most copyeditors either follow the Chicago Manual of Style or the Associated Press Stylebook, and competent copyeditors usually know both equally well. They know the differences and when to use one stylebook vs. the other.

The main focus at this level of editing is language accuracy. Here are some examples of the problem areas that they’ll be looking out for:

• Grammar rules
• Syntax rules
• Capitalization rules
• Punctuation rules
• Hyphenation rules
• Spelling
• Incorrect use of numerals
• Accuracy of quoted facts or data
• Accuracy of internal and external references

Type 4: Proofreaders

Once your developmental, content and copyediting passes are completed, there’s one final editing pass to ensure the highest possible level of quality before going to print: proofreading.

This final stage is the “sieve that catches all the impurities” before your book is published – a fine-tooth-comb pass of your entire manuscript to catch any straggling typos or other errors that were missed out on all previous passes.

Professional proofreaders are trained to read manuscripts at the word level without becoming involved in the writing. To do their job right, they have to remain at arm’s length from your content.

This allows them to catch things that you missed even after reading your manuscript numerous times. They’ll catch the typos that spellcheck doesn’t, misplaced punctuation signs, mislabeled images, misnumbered headings, etc.

Proofreaders are the last line of defense before you publish your book, before any copies are printed and before it’s widely distributed.

Before your book is made available publicly, you want to ensure that it’s free of typos, factual errors, omissions and inaccuracies.

For example, proofreaders will be on the lookout for:

• Spelling, syntax, grammatical, punctuation and hyphenation errors
• Formatting inconsistencies (e.g. misnumbered images or tables)
• Caption errors
• Misnumbered lists
• Inaccurate facts and figures
• Misplaced or incorrect graphical elements

Once your proofreading pass is completed and all errors have been corrected, this is when your manuscript is “frozen” with no more changes allowed. At this point, your manuscript is ready to be laid out and sent to the printing house.

Editing Rates

Below are the market rates that you should expect to pay for each of the four editing stages:

1) Developmental Editing

Developmental editors typically charge by the word or by the hour, depending on the complexity of your nonfiction book.

For example, text-based manuscripts will mainly be quoted by the word, with most rates falling between 8-12 cents per word.

Highly complex, scientific or academic books with a lot of specialized information, facts and figures will draw a per-hour rate for research work in addition to the per-word rate quoted above, typically around $60/hr.

2) Content Editing

Content editing rates are usually charged per 1,000 words. Typical rates for standard text-based manuscripts (non-specialized, non-scientific and non-academic) are in the $40-$50 range per 1,000 words.

Rates for complex text (specialized, scientific or academic) fall in the range of $50-$70 per 1,000 words.

3) Copy Editing

For books with standard text, copyeditors will charge between $30 and $40 per 1,000 words. For complex text this range goes up to $40-$60.

4) Proofreading

For books with standard text, proofreaders will charge between $25-$35 per 1,000 words. For complex text this range goes up to $35-$45.

Wrapping Up

Even though these multiple editing passes will increase your overall publishing costs, keep in mind that you’re not just publishing a book: you’re creating a professionally legacy.

Due to the ubiquity of low-cost global book distribution channels, your nonfiction book will be available for the world to see the minute it’s published.

A product that’s well put together will stand out from the crowd (note: most self-published nonfiction books are poorly edited) and open new markets for your business or your career.

This investment in your editing staff is an investment in your reputation, your credibility, and ultimately your future growth.

Next Steps

Once your nonfiction book is properly edited, you’ll need to start thinking about book layout and design. Here’s an article to prepare you for what comes next: “10 Nonfiction Book Layout Tips That Will Glue Your Audience to the Page.”

Good luck!

If you enjoyed this article and are in the process of writing a nonfiction book, be sure to check out my free nonfiction success guide, drawn from years of experience editing books for bestselling authors (including a New York Times bestseller) and ghostwriting for CEOs and politicians. Simply click here to get instant access.

Ben

Leave me a comment below if you have any questions or a specific need that I can help you address – I operate an author services firm that specializes in helping entrepreneurs, professionals and business owners who want to publish books as a calling card for prospects, to establish their status as an expert or to just to generate additional leads for their businesses.

 

Here are some related posts I highly recommend:

The 10 Must-Have Writing Skills for Nonfiction Authors

The 7 Key Rules for Writers of Outstanding Nonfiction Books

Learn 10 Powerful Writing Habits to Fast Track Your Nonfiction Book

 

Bennett R. Coles is an award-winning author of six books published through Harper Collins (New York) and Titan Publishing Group (London). He is also the publisher at Promontory Press, editor for multiple bestselling authors (including a NY Times bestseller), ghostwriter for CEOs and politicians and the founder of Cascadia Author Services, a boutique full-service firm that specializes in premium author services specifically designed for busy professionals. Our end-to-end services include writer coaching, ghostwriting, editing, proofing, cover design, book layout, eBook production, marketing, printing and distribution.

If you need an editor for your nonfiction book and you’re a first-time author, before you can make a hiring decision you need to become familiar with the different editing stages that are necessary for your book.

In this article I’ll briefly describe the four stages of nonfiction editing and then I’ll show you the typical rates editors charge for each stage.

Nonfiction Book Editing is Multi-layered

There are four distinct stages of nonfiction editing: 1- Developmental Editing, 2- Content Editing, 3- Copyediting and 4- Proofreading.

1) Developmental editing takes care of the overall structure of your book to make sure that it’s optimized to deliver your message to your target audience.

The aim of this stage is to develop a deep understanding of your audience so that your book can be written from their perspective.

First-time nonfiction authors tend to write books from their personal perspective. Experienced nonfiction authors write books from their audience’s perspective. A developmental editor will help you make this transition effectively.

2) Content editing goes down a level into message delivery. It takes care of your paragraphs and chapters to ensure that your flow of ideas is clear at all times. It has more to do with readability than structure.

Content editors will want to make sure that your sentences make sense and aren’t too long or tedious. They’ll want to make sure that your chapters are structured correctly and that each paragraph carries a single idea.

3) Copyeditors, on the other hand, will want to make sure that your language is accurate and that your book doesn’t have spelling, punctuation and grammar errors. They’ll check that your syntax is correct and that your book follows the proper rules of capitalization.

In short, copyeditors will want to ensure that your book abides by commonly accepted rules of style in the publishing industry.

4) Proofreaders will take care of your final stage of editing, namely, to get as close to 100% accuracy as possible before your book is published, printed and widely distributed.

They’ll catch the typos that were missed in prior stages, ensure that your book’s format is consistent throughout and do the final fact checking for figures, dates, numbers, places, formulas, etc.

What Editing Rates Should I Expect from Each Stage?

Now that you have a basic understanding of the role of each type of editor, let’s look at their typical rates:

1) Developmental Editing

Developmental editors can have two separate charges, depending on the nature of your book.

A per-word or per-page rate for the textual component of your book, and a per-hour rate for books that are research-intensive (e.g. highly academic, scientific or specialized).

Per-word rates range from 8 cents to12 cents depending on the level of difficulty of your text (or $20-$30 per page). Per-hour rates are typically around $60/hour for non-editing research activity.

2) Content Editing

Content editors charge a much lower rate than developmental editors, which is typically based on dollars per 1,000 words.

For books with standard text – that is, non-specialized, non-scientific or non-academic text – the content editing rates will range between $40 and $50 per 1,000 words.

For difficult text (specialized, scientific or academic) the range goes up to $50-$70 per 1,000 words.

3) Copy Editing

As you progress through the editing stages, your costs will continue to decrease, since each stage builds on the previous one.

For books with standard text, copyeditors will charge between $30 and $40 per 1,000 words. For difficult text the rate range goes up to $40-$60.

4) Proofreading

Proofreaders have the lowest rates of all editing stages. For standard text, the range is $25-$35 per 1,000 words. For difficult text the range goes up to $35-$45 per 1,000 words.

Next Steps

When doing your hiring, make sure that you don’t skip any editing stages in order to lower your costs. The high-quality expectation for nonfiction books in the market demands that you engage in all four stages.

When it comes to cost, keep in mind that the quality of your book will relate directly to your credibility and your professional reputation, and those are areas where cutting corners is not desirable.

On the flip side, consider that a high-quality book will result in more business later on, since your book will act as powerful tool to promote your professional services. In the end, your editing investment will be returned to you multiple times.

Good luck!

If you enjoyed this article and are in the process of writing a nonfiction book, be sure to check out my free nonfiction success guide, drawn from years of experience editing books for bestselling authors (including a New York Times bestseller) and ghostwriting for CEOs and politicians. Simply click here to get instant access.

Ben

Leave me a comment below if you have any questions or a specific need that I can help you address – I operate an author services firm that specializes in helping entrepreneurs, professionals and business owners who want to publish books as a calling card for prospects, to establish their status as an expert or to just to generate additional leads for their businesses.

 

Here are some related posts I highly recommend:

How to Find The Best Content Editor For Your Nonfiction Book

How to Properly Vet an Editing Company

Developmental Editing: Why All Nonfiction Books Need It

 

Bennett R. Coles is an award-winning author of six books published through Harper Collins (New York) and Titan Publishing Group (London). He is also the publisher at Promontory Press, editor for multiple bestselling authors (including a NY Times bestseller), ghostwriter for CEOs and politicians and the founder of Cascadia Author Services, a boutique full-service firm that specializes in premium author services specifically designed for busy professionals. Our end-to-end services include writer coaching, ghostwriting, editing, proofing, cover design, book layout, eBook production, marketing, printing and distribution.

Before you find a nonfiction book editor for your manuscript, you need to become familiar with the four stages of editing. Each stage is well defined and takes care of a unique set of requirements.

Why Are So Many Editing Stages Required?

The reason is that the nonfiction genre demands precision, accuracy, credibility and trust. This type of books exists to educate, inform, persuade, influence and train, therefore it’s imperative your manuscript be thoroughly checked for correctness.

In fact, your professional reputation will hinge on your book because, like it or not, the book will be an extension of who you are and how you’ll be perceived by others.

Nonfiction vs. Fiction Editing

Unlike fiction, where you could write several novels and short stories as part of your personal development as a writer before coming up with your personal masterpiece, for nonfiction, you are simply not going to get a second chance to make a first impression.

For example, nonfiction books can’t afford to have incorrect dates, they can’t afford to have inaccurate statistics that are easy to check, and they can’t afford to have bad grammar or spelling mistakes.

Ultimately, you can’t afford to do any less than your best in order to produce a top-quality product.

Your first nonfiction book will establish you as an expert; so you need to get the right professional help to ensure that your product shines.

In this article I’ll explain what each one of the four nonfiction-editing stages is and why they’re all needed. I’ll then give you some tips about what to look out for when you begin interviewing candidates.

What Type of Editor Do I Need?

The four editing stages must be executed in a specific sequence. Each stage will take care of a different aspect of your nonfiction book and it’ll build on the previous stage.

These stages go from the general to the specific, starting with a 30,000-foot view of your book in stage one and ending at the ground level in stage four, by checking every word in your manuscript with a fine-tooth comb.

Stage 1: Developmental Editing

The first quality check you’ll need on your book is your overall structure. Does it best support your main thesis? Does it produce a clear path for your reader to follow? Does it establish an optimal flow of ideas?

Developmental editing takes care of how your book is put together at a high level. There’s no point in getting into the details of your content if the overall structure is inadequate or confusing.

It also takes care of the viewpoint. Most authors, especially first-time authors, tend to write books from their personal viewpoint, which typically produces a sub-standard product.

A developmental editor will help you gain perspective so that you can reorient yourself to take the viewpoint of your readers instead, which is the only viewpoint that truly matters. If you don’t get this part right, then readers will find it very difficult to embrace your book.

Stage 2: Content Editing

Once the high-level work is done, you’ll go one level deeper. The content editor will pick up from where the developmental editor left off and move down to your text. Their job is to ensure that your message is written with clarity for your target audience.

For example, they’ll take care of your chapter flow and will also make sure that all chapters have the right structure (at its most basic, a beginning that introduces the main idea, a middle that expands on it, and an end that summarizes it).

They’ll take care of sentence construction, paragraph construction, flow of ideas throughout a chapter, chapter order and placement of visual elements such as graphs, tables and images so that they serve your text in the best possible way.

Stage 3: Copyediting

The next stage is copyediting – one level deeper than content editing. Copyeditors are not concerned with idea flow or paragraph clarity: they’re concerned with the accuracy of each individual word.

They will catch spelling, punctuation, grammatical, syntax, capitalization and hyphenation errors. They’ll correct any fact in your book that is inaccurate, from wrong dates to wrong places to wrong names.

They’ll flag any potential legal infringement issues, check for major formatting inconsistencies, check for proper word usage and check for any type of anomalies in your text.

Their main job is to establish both language accuracy and factual accuracy.

If developmental editing has to do with your ability to connect with your audience, and content editing has to do with how you communicate with them, copyediting has to do with you as the subject matter expert.

The copyeditor’s job is to make sure that your book’s content is correct and its facts are accurate. This is the stage that’s most directly linked to safeguarding your professional reputation.

Stage 4: Proofreading

The last editing stage gets to the deepest level of detail. Now your manuscript is final, with no more changes to be implemented. Yet, before your book goes to the printer you’ll have to make 100% sure that there are no embarrassing errors contained in it.

This is the job of the proofreader. They’ll go through your book with a fine-tooth comb, checking for any typos that might have been missed in all prior stages, formatting inconsistencies, incorrect references, caption errors and general fact-checking.

This is the final filter before your book’s content switches into a state of permanence as it gets published, printed and widely distributed. Although it’s possible to fix mistakes post publishing, this comes at a high financial and reputational cost.

How to Filter Out Bad Candidates

It’s now time to begin your search for the ideal editorial candidates. Sometimes, you’ll find that a single editor may be able to carry out multiple stages of editing. Other times you’ll find dedicated editors that specialize in a single stage.

Having said that, beware of those who claim they can do it all. Each editing stage requires very specific skilled knowledge and it would take a superhuman to do all of it with a high level of proficiency.

So, keep that in mind when you begin your search, and be on the lookout for the following five problem areas.

Problem Area 1– Editor Has a Thin Resume (Don’t Hire a Newbie)

It’s not easy to advise that you refrain from hiring a newbie, because we should try not to close the doors to new talent.

However, in the particular case of nonfiction, where your reputation as a credible expert relies on the editorial quality of your book, you can’t really afford to take a chance on anything but an experienced editor.

You need to hire someone who’s done this type of work many times before. For example, if you’re hiring a copyeditor they’ll need to have advanced command of popular style manuals.

Make sure your candidates have no less than 5-7 years of experience in their respective fields.

Problem Area 2– Editor Wants to Charge For a Sample Edit

It’s a given that a professional editor will agree to provide you with a sample edit from your own manuscript at no charge. Depending on the type of editor you’re hiring, this could be anywhere from 1-3 pages of text.

Professional editing doesn’t come cheap, and there’s no other real way to assess fit than with an actual sample. If a candidate asks you to pay for a sample edit, then take a pass. That’s a sign of inexperience.

Problem Area 3– Editor Unwilling to Provide Author References

Another sign of inexperience is the refusal to provide you with author references – usually excused on the basis of protecting their privacy.

Nonfiction authors are by definition public figures, so the privacy argument is really a front to mask the fact that perhaps they don’t have any nonfiction experience (your book will be the first) or simply that they’re afraid of what clients will say.

In either case, take a pass and move on down your list of candidates.

Problem Area 4– Editor Is Unwilling to Show You a Sample Contract

Contracts are a necessity for highly paid services, especially when the work will be performed over a period of time. A proper contract will protect both you and the editor.

Having said that, editing contracts are drawn by the editor’s lawyers not yours, so you’ll have to ensure that the fine print contains enough protections for you and doesn’t bind you to clauses that may backfire later.

The best prevention is to ask for a sample copy of the editor’s contract so that you can read it ahead of time and have it reviewed by your lawyer before you sign it.

It’s not uncommon to have clauses that make you uncomfortable amended or removed, depending of the case. After all, a good editor will want your business and will make every effort to do the necessary adjustments provided they’re reasonable.

If an editor doesn’t want to provide you with a sample copy of the agreement in advance of hiring their services, that’s a sign or either inexperience or some hidden agenda that might rear its ugly head after signing.

Problem Area 5– Bad Rapport

Finally, make sure that you have good rapport with your ideal candidate. There’s nothing worse than having to walk on eggshells when you’re dealing with anyone in a creative contractual relationship, especially someone who’s being paid to do such a key job as editing.

The author-editor creative relationship is very intimate, and you want to ensure that you’re dealing with someone you’re 100% comfortable working with.

Listen to your hunches. Good relationships are effortless. If you feel any type of resistance or “weird” energy, then it’s better to take a pass.

Next Steps

For many first-time authors the job of the editor isn’t well understood – especially with so many book genres having such different requirements.

My hope with this article is to demystify the craft so that you have a clear idea of the specific editorial requirements for nonfiction books so that you can move ahead in your search with confidence.

All the best!

If you enjoyed this article and are in the process of writing a nonfiction book, be sure to check out my free nonfiction success guide, drawn from years of experience editing books for bestselling authors (including a New York Times bestseller) and ghostwriting for CEOs and politicians. Simply click here to get instant access.

Ben

Leave me a comment below if you have any questions or a specific need that I can help you address – I operate an author services firm that specializes in helping entrepreneurs, professionals and business owners who want to publish books as a calling card for prospects, to establish their status as an expert or to just to generate additional leads for their businesses.

 

Here are some related posts I highly recommend:

How to Properly Vet an Editing Company

Write Your Own Book and Become an Expert: 11 Reasons Why You Should

7 Time-Saving Steps to Publish a Book For Your Business

 

Bennett R. Coles is an award-winning author of six books published through Harper Collins (New York) and Titan Publishing Group (London). He is also the publisher at Promontory Press, editor for multiple bestselling authors (including a NY Times bestseller), ghostwriter for CEOs and politicians and the founder of Cascadia Author Services, a boutique full-service firm that specializes in premium author services specifically designed for busy professionals. Our end-to-end services include writer coaching, ghostwriting, editing, proofing, cover design, book layout, eBook production, marketing, printing and distribution.