r/HireABookEditor

Hi everyone! I’m Nads, and I’m currently building my editing portfolio while working towards becoming a developmental editor.
I’ve always been the type of reader who notices the little things—the plot threads that disappear, characters who don’t quite sound like themselves, pacing that drags, or emotional moments that could hit even harder. My goal isn’t to rewrite your story or tell you how to write it; it’s to help you create the strongest version of your story.
I provide honest, thoughtful, and encouraging feedback. I believe every manuscript has strengths worth celebrating alongside areas that can be improved.
I enjoy reading:
● Romance
● Romantasy
● Fantasy
● Historical Fiction
● Historical Romance
● Contemporary Romance
● Dark Romance (within reason)
● Cozy Fantasy
My feedback includes:
● Overall reader experience
● Character development
● Pacing
● Plot consistency
● Emotional impact
● Dialogue
● Worldbuilding
● Areas that may confuse readers
● Repetitive words or phrases I notice while reading
● A detailed reader report with actionable suggestions
I read manuscripts carefully and often annotate as I go, so you’ll receive both in-text comments and a comprehensive report at the end.
Pricing
● $0.0015 USD per word
Examples:
● 30,000 words — $45
● 50,000 words — $75
● 60,000 words — $90
Turnaround Time
● Up to 30,000 words — 5–7 days
● 30,000–60,000 words — 7–10 days
● 60,000–90,000 words — 10–14 days
Turnaround may vary slightly depending on my current workload, but I’ll always confirm a timeline before starting your project.
If you’d like to see a sample beta report before committing, I’m happy to share one.
If you’re looking for a reader who genuinely gets excited about helping stories come to life, feel free to send me a message. I’d love to hear about your project.

Can I edit my book using AI? Professional editors are quite expensive, and I can't afford to hire one right now. I was thinking about using AI to help edit my book, but I don't know which AI tools would be best or how to use them properly. Is that a good idea? If so, which tools would you recommend?

I recently sent a proposal to a client. She seems taken aback at the cost (2,250 USD for a 70k manuscript). She said she'd love to work with me but affordability is a factor.

My proposal has the payments in milestones (five payments of 450 USD). Each milestone comes with a milestone call (of one hour) to go over any major concerns and structural feedback.

I've also included light copy and line editing into the proposal so that she'll have a clean copy to take to publishers. (She's a strong writer who has already published a book.)

This would be my third client. I based my pricing on the lower end of standard. Is this fair to my client? Is it a fair price on general? It's the same as what I charged my first client. He never mentioned affordability. I'm a bit confused and need some guidance.

Update:

I'm going to take a developmental editing specialization course from the university of Washington. The course recommends having a manuscript to work with as a case study for the class (if needed they will provide one).

The course is 1,350 USD. I'm going to ask the client if she'd be okay with me using her manuscript in the course; in exchange I will charge her the price of the course.

I see that as a win-win. I'm not sure she'll agree since it's not the same timeframe she wanted. Some authors also might not want their manuscript used as a case study.

I'm taking the course regardless of what my client decides because it is important to have formal training.

I can update if anyone is interested. Thanks for all the advice! I really appreciate it. I am also going to be looking for a mentor (as one of you suggested) and if I like the course from UW I will take their editing certification.

I’m part way through incorporating the notes from my developmental editor, and then I’ll be doing a round of copy edits before publishing.

I’ve heard a lot about the importance of finding someone who connects with and enjoys the voice/ style of the novel. But, how important is that really? Can’t I incorporate my own solutions to the structure/ word choice problems identified, making a match sort of redundant and idealistic? Or is that just making more work for myself?

Partially asking because I’m not my dev editors favourite style to work with, but they’re happy to do the job and we’re on the same continent (an underrated metric). I enjoyed working with them too.

I’m new to the process so any insight on what could go wrong and why would be greatly appreciated!

Showing Vs Telling is an important part of a beta reader's feedback. It's subjected to scene placement, character motivation, and pacing. So, paying close attention to this can improve the reader's engagement.
Here's how you can use that in your feedback (see the image below).

https://preview.redd.it/mus17lyknz8h1.png?width=520&format=png&auto=webp&s=7ec5a0282c2d5630742daa1283963efed9f0f3c9

PS. The change of narration didn't make sense because of the lack of emotional connection with the FL in 1st chapter. Like a scene was shown, but what about her emotional state? That was missing. Hence, I implied that the change of narration was weird. Often, a common connector (e.g., a single parent struggling with life) or something ppl can relate to more easily in the first chapter can hook the readers. This seemed the most suited strategy, so my suggestions were based on this (mostly)