Services · Editing & rewriting

Editing that makes your draft read like it was always this good.

You wrote the book. The studio's job is to make every page earn its place — from big structural surgery down to the last comma. Every level of edit is priced on the page, so you know the number before you ever send the manuscript.

01Which edit do you need?

"Editing" covers four very different jobs. Most manuscripts need two of them, in order:

• Manuscript assessment — a full read with a written diagnostic: what works, what doesn't, and which edit to buy next. The cheapest way to avoid paying for the wrong service.
• Developmental editing — structure, argument, pacing, and character. Chapters move, merge, and sometimes die. This is the edit that changes what the book is.
• Line & copy editing — sentence rhythm, clarity, word choice, consistency, and correctness, working line by line.
• Proofreading — the final pass on formatted pages, catching typos and layout errors before print.
• Rewriting — when the ideas are yours but the prose needs to be rebuilt. Heavier than editing, lighter than ghostwriting.

02Planning ranges

Final quotes depend on manuscript condition — these ranges are for planning, and your fixed quote comes from a sample edit of your actual pages:

Service	Planning range
Manuscript assessment (to 100k words)	$600 – $1,200 flat
Developmental editing	$0.03 – $0.05 / word
Line & copy editing	$0.02 – $0.035 / word
Proofreading	$0.015 – $0.02 / word
Rewriting	$0.10 – $0.20 / word

Example: a 70,000-word novel typically runs $2,100–$3,500 for a developmental edit, or $1,400–$2,450 for line and copy editing.

03Edited by a working author

The editor is Darius F. Sanders — a published author across six genres, from a picture book to a 206,000-word evidence reference with 546 verified citations. That range matters: a thriller's pacing problem and a business book's argument problem are different diseases, and the studio has shipped cures for both. Read the openings on The Range and judge the standard yourself.

04What you receive

• Tracked-changes manuscript plus a clean copy
• An editorial letter explaining every major decision
• A style sheet (names, spellings, hyphenation, timeline) for consistency
• One follow-up Q&A pass on your revisions

Finished editing? The studio also handles formatting, cover, and publishing setup so the book you polished arrives in the world looking like it deserved the work.

FAQCommon questions

How much does it cost to edit a book?

For a typical 70,000–80,000-word manuscript: roughly $2,100–$4,000 for developmental editing, $1,400–$2,800 for line and copy editing, and $1,050–$1,600 for proofreading, depending on the manuscript's condition. A sample edit fixes the exact quote.

What's the difference between developmental editing and copyediting?

Developmental editing rebuilds the book's structure — chapters, argument, pacing, character arcs. Copyediting perfects the sentences themselves. Buying copyediting before the structure is right is the most common (and most expensive) mistake authors make.

Do I need an assessment first?

If you're not sure which edit you need, yes — it's the cheapest insurance in publishing. If you've already had beta readers or a previous edit, we can usually skip straight to the right service.

Will you edit AI-assisted drafts?

Yes, with honesty about what they need: AI drafts usually require rewriting rather than line editing, because the problems are voice and substance, not typos. An assessment will tell you which side of that line your draft falls on.

How long does editing take?

Assessments run about two weeks. Developmental edits typically take four to six weeks for a full-length manuscript; line edits and proofs are faster. Your quote includes a committed timeline.