Cheap copy editing services are hard to find. Especially ones that provide high quality! We recommend getting a sample edit before ordering any editing service!
Cheap Copy Editing Services
The trick to finding a cheap copy editing service is to compare sample edits. You want quality at an affordable price.
Our fee at Editmojo for a copyedit [Editor1] is $10 per 1K words. Please contact us for a sample edit.
The rest of this post will cover some tips on bargain hunting for editing services and general copy editing information.
Ask For Editing Discounts From Top Service Providers
It’s hard to compete with the larger companies that can afford to pay for editing services regularly or more established authors who can budget for the high editing price. It’s understandable that as a smaller company or first-time author, you have a limited budget.
Many editors will have discounts on social media or a monthly promotion to attract new authors and writers to their service. Ask editors or editing companies if any are going on at the moment.
GOAL
Our goal is to help you publish the best version of your book!
Try second-tier providers
On freelance sites, often new editors will charge a lot less to help encourage new business. Make sure you get a sample edit. You risk getting an inexperienced editor or a scammer when you go with a new editor on freelance sites, but you can always contact Fiverr or Upwork to dispute the purchase if you feel you were scammed.
It’s a great way to get a deal but has some risks.
Compare prices from different providers
Do some comparisons and get multiple quotes from several editors and editing companies. Not everyone will charge the same or recommend the same type of edit. However, you can often find a great deal by simply asking for quotes.
Negotiate Price For Volume of Work
Many editors, especially new ones or ones with low business, will offer deals for bulk orders or large projects. If the writing is already top-notch or you are on the 4th draft of self-editing, you stand a much better chance of getting a deal.
Take your time to find the best copy editing service possible
What’s the rush? Take your time searching and getting quotes. You are likely to find a great deal if you are willing to let one come to you and wait.
Why You Need Professional Copy Editing
There are a few reasons you need professional copy editing for your content.
1) It helps to make sure that your content is grammatically correct
2) It helps to ensure that the tone and voice of your content is consistent
3) It removes sentence level redundancies for clarity and flow
Do Professional Copy editors Really Matter?
A professional copy editor is expensive. Are they worth it compared to the cheap editors? It’s easy to find out. Just get a sample edit of the same page from both. The more polished and professional level you want your book, the less a cheap editor is worth. Cheap editors can often do more harm than good.
Consider both your budget and goals.
The Best Copy Editing Services If You’re on a Tight Budget
The fee of $10 per 1K words for a professional-level copy edit is really as low as you can go. Any lower and you are dropping into a basic proofread. It takes time to provide a copy edit and if you drop below the $10 per 1K words, a copy editor will likely cut corners.
What is professional-level book Copy Editing?
Copy editing is the process of reviewing a text for any mistakes and ensuring that it flows well. A professional-level copy edit is a manual read-through. A cheap copy edit is often software-driven or skimmed quickly.
A good copy editor should have an eye for detail, as they correct grammar errors, typos, punctuation mistakes and making sure the writing is concise. They are also expected to check if the sentences make sense in the context of what has been written before it and make corrections accordingly. That takes time and there is a big difference between a professional and a cheap copy editor.
Tips to prevent an editor from doing a bad job
Editing is a very important part of the writing and publishing process. It is what can make a very good book and make it great. However, editing can also take a good book and make it terrible. In a rush to turn out books faster and faster, some editors are not doing their jobs correctly. Have a sample edit so you can go back and compare their work with the sample provided.
Copy Editing Costs For Hourly Rates
Copy editing costs are ongoing for small publishers, authors, and businesses and are mostly charged a flat fee. However, in your search to find a cheap editor, you can come across hourly rates for editing.
The cost of copy editing depends on how much work needs to be done. The larger the company, the more staff members you have, and thus the more work will need to be done. For a small company, then, about $30 an hour is a fair rate for editorial time. This cost can rise up as high as $80 per hour for executives or other higher-level positions for larger companies.
Some factors that determine rates are how much writing is needed to be done (quantity), what type of writing it is (fiction vs. nonfiction), how specialized it is (copy editing vs. proofreading), and who needs it done (editorial assistants vs. managers).
The estimated time it will take to edit something is rarely if ever, accurate. Take any service or business and slap an hourly rate to it and it immediately takes double the time it should. More times than not, you will pay well over the flat rate.
Get the Right Editing Support to Help You Grow
Some people mistakenly believe that they have enough knowledge and skills to do all of this editing on their own, but in reality, it’s best to take advantage of the right kind of editing services.
An editor can see different things than you do when reading over your work. They have experience catching errors, punctuations, grammar, syntax, spelling, and vocabulary mistakes that an author might otherwise overlook. In addition, an editor can provide feedback on how a piece should be structured or re-ordered to make it more coherent and interesting for the reader, which leads to increased efficiency.
Want proof? Self-edit your book and then get a sample edit.
Cheap Business Editing Services
A business editing service is an invaluable tool for any type of company to help them improve their overall operations and efficiency. There are many different kinds of business editing services, but some of the most common ones are editing for grammar, content, and style. They can also help with proofreading and providing feedback on a document.
You want a company you can have a long-term, dependable relationship with and that provides consistent quality. A proofreading service will ensure your content is free of any embarrassing errors and would be the cheapest type of editing service you can go with. For example, Editmojo offers proofreading at $5 per 1K words.
Are Copy Editing and Proofreading the same thing?
Copy editing ensures a consistent style of text, flows well and clearly conveys the message.
Copy editing is the process of editing a document to improve its readability, spelling errors, grammar and punctuation.
A proofreader would be more focused on spelling and grammar. Proofreading is the last step in identifying run-on sentences and finding avoidable spelling errors or grammatical errors.
Which Editing Services Work Well For Small Businesses?
A quick proofread will provide a grammar check and language check for accuracy. These types of services are best suited for small businesses with limited budgets because they charge lower rates. You want your company to have a consistent voice and message across all your content.
A Common Mistake with Cheap Copy Editing Services
Editors associate fees with time. The higher the cost, the more time they spend on a page. The cheaper you go in price, the faster they need to work to make it profitable. Always get a sample edit for the quoted fee. That way, you can measure the amount of work they provide and that it’s consistent with the finished edit.
Who Needs Cheap Copy Editing Services?
Small business looking to save some money. Look into contracts that offer bulk discounts. A copy edit would be the preferred service since they keep voice and messaging intact across all the articles and content you send them.
A first-time book author might want cheap copy editing services too. They might not have a huge budget and are looking to get some profits rolling in with their new book before investing in higher-level services for the next book or series.
When Should You Hire for Cheap Copy Editing Services?
As soon as you finish the book and give it the first read-through to get it into a 2nd or 3rd draft. Reach out for samples and quotes.