Professional Editing Services

I have been working as a freelance editor for about four years now, and in that time I've tackled everything from full length novels, to nonfiction ebooks, to poetry.  Contact me regarding scheduling.

Typically, my editing process goes like this:

  • First, I do a free sample edit.  I usually ask for 2000 words of your best writing (i.e. the part you're most pleased with), and 2000 words of your worst writing (i.e. the part you're most frustrated with).  The sample edit allows the client to evaluate the level of my expertise, and it allows me to evaluate the writer's skill level.  Depending on my assessment of your skill level, I will quote you a price for the entire project.  The less mentoring I think you need, the less it will cost.  If either of us is not happy, we part ways without wasting much of each other's time.
  • Prices are assessed on a per-word basis, and are subject to change without notice.  Prices are calculated to include all applicable taxes and fees.
    • For Beginning writers, prices begin at $75 (up to 10,000 words, .007¢ per word after that) 
    • For Intermediate writers, prices begin at $60 (up to 10,000 words, .005¢ per word after that) 
    • For Experienced writers, prices begin at $45 (up to 10,000 words, .004¢ per word after that) 
    • This means that if you are a beginner, and you have a novel that's 85,365 words in length, you will pay at least $620 (including Paypal's 2.9% fee). BUT that buys you my undivided attention, and thorough scrutiny of your work on multiple levels. I respond quickly to emails, texts, and Facebook messages. We can connect in however many ways are convenient and comfortable for you.
  • We discuss price, and sign a contract outlining terms via email.  I am very flexible about payment, and more than willing to break a project up into installments, and even make long-term payment plans.  That said, I will prosecute nonpayment to the fullest extent of the law.
  • You upload your manuscript to Google Docs and share it with me.  This allows me to make in-line notes and track changes, which you can approve and comment on at your convenience.  We can even chat live while working on the doc together.  Google Docs also keeps a 30-day log of all previous versions of the text, so it's easy to roll back changes en masse.
  • My editing process consists of three stages.
    • Developmental Edits: I read your entire manuscript, making notes in a separate document, and making in-line citations when appropriate.  Once I am finished, I will send you a detailed report outlining my suggestions for broad changes in plot structure, scene structure, character development and setting development.  This typically takes me 1-2 weeks.  You then take these suggestions, integrate them into the manuscript and return a new draft to me.
    • Line Edits: I go through the new draft and make suggestions to improve paragraphing, word choice, sentence flow and variety, and various other small-scale language issues.  I also comment on how well you've incorporated my developmental edits, and suggest any further changes still needed.  This process can take up to 2-3 months, depending on the size of the manuscript.  It often entails a lot of back-and-forth, as this is the most collaborative stage of the editing process.  When this is finished, you go through the document and implement my suggestions, or you disagree and we discuss.  After you are done, you return a new draft to me.
    • Proofreading: I read through the manuscript a final time, making any obvious, necessary changes in spelling, punctuation, grammar, etc.  If the first two stages went well, proofreading will not entail much work from you, as I will make most of the changes myself.
  • Once that is finished you remove my access to the document and we are done!

Short Story Editing


If you have a story around 5000 words or less, I can help with that too! The editing process is a lot less rigorous, but you still have a lot of options. Check out my gig on Fiverr for more details.

Testimonials from previous clients:


“Peter is a fantastic freelancer to work with! He is brilliant when it comes to generating ideas, is extremely open to feedback, and gave me some wonderful feedback during parts of the process. In a collaborative environment, he also rocks. He was pleasant to bounce ideas off of. He seems to have a huge box of ideas that he just pulls from... it's amazing. In terms of scheduling, he always adhered to schedules, and has always over-delivered. I always enjoyed our interactions. Without a doubt, Peter is an awesome freelancer, and an awesome person to work with. I am looking forward to working with him again. ”
 -Elance Client
“Pete is the most helpful and talented person I've ever hired on any freelance site. His editing and writing skills are phenomenal and he never fails to produce 100% satisfactory results. He's open and honest at all times, quick to communicate, extremely passionate about everything he works on, always gets the work done on time (if not early), gives endless amounts of feedback, and he's just a ton of fun to work with. I really can't recommend Pete highly enough. He's truly worth every penny. I hope I'm fortunate enough to work with him again in the future.”
-Elance Client