Pricing

---

My usual FEE for editing, writing, and desktop publishing is $85 per hour by credit card via PayPal ($82 for me, and $3 for PayPal)—or $75 per hour if you pay me with cash (the green stuff). Over the decades, several local and long-distance clients have sent cash to me by registered mail, UPS, or Fedex, without losing a penny.

For ongoing projects, most people work with me at least once a week, usually for two hours per session. To speed things up, other clients work with me two or more times per week. In any case, after an editorial session or two, we should be able to make an accurate guess about how many sessions we would need to complete your project. 

For editing, the average is somewhere between 3 and 10 double-spaced pages of prose per hour for the crucial first pass, and twice that page rate for screenplays. Where YOU are on that continuum depends on the quality of your writing and on how quickly you respond to my questions and suggestions. There is no average page rate for writing or desktop publishing, because too many variables are outside my control.

Ideally but optionally, there should be at least two passes, the first one focusing principally on textual details (word choice, clarity, grammar, punctuation, spelling, etc.), and the second one (often five times faster) focusing on structural elements, elegance, and flow. Depending on your perfectionism and your budget, there may be additional passes. Bear in mind that a less experienced and accomplished writer/editor can charge half as much per hour, take twice as long, and deliver a quarter of the quality.