Professional Editing at Indie-Author Prices

We are a dedicated team of four female editors with bachelors’ degrees in English who understand the trials and hurdles of being an independent author. So, we strive to provide professional editing services combined with exemplary customer service at prices indie authors can actually afford to help them reach their goals and dreams. 

Black Quill has been editing manuscripts since 2018, and in that time have edited over 280 manuscripts of all fiction genres except historical fiction. We are trusted by our clients for thorough and factual work. We aim to preserve and improve your unique voice while following the current rules of the latest CMS (Chicago Manual of Style). We do not rely on AI software.

We offer three editing services in American English: developmental editing, copy editing, and proofreading. Each has a different price and a different turnaround time. We offer two discounted packages. Bundle edits (either developmental and copy editing or copy editing and proofreading combined) are available for 20% less. So, if you have a 40,000-word manuscript, copy editing comes to $120 and proofreading $80 separately (a total of $200). In a bundle edit those come to a total of $160. Bundles allow shorter turnaround times and discounted pricing, however, they are less unerring than singular edits. Our second package allows you to get all three edits without sacrificing quality for 30% less. So, for a 40,000-word manuscript you would save 30% of each edit's full price, saving you $125.

Developmental editing is the first step in the editing process. It looks at story logic, watching out for any plot holes, missing or incorrect information, narrative analysis, elucidating details, continuity, gaps, and unresolved issues. It looks at characterization which focuses on development, continuity, arcs, and consistency. It also looks at tense, point of view, dialogue, monologue, and pacing. 

Copy editing is the second step in the editing process. Here editors are focusing more on the individual chapters, sentences, and paragraphs of a story. This process looks at word usage, tone, voice, style, redundancies, consistency, organization, and structure.    

Proofreading is the third and final step. It focuses on spelling, punctuation, grammar, repetition, capitalization, and we include basic formatting as well. 

Every edit includes an Editor’s Critique which goes into detail about crucial and frequent mistakes found in the manuscript so you can not only get a fuller understanding of why those edits were made but learn to improve your own writing and editing. 

We offer free seven-page sample edits that can help you understand what your manuscript needs most and what it doesn’t if you’re unsure or just want to try us out. 

To schedule an edit with us, please email blackquillediting@gmail.com. Please know that we are usually booked about three to five months out. In your email, please let us know if you have a timeline in mind for your edit, what your manuscript’s word count is (if you do not yet have an exact final count, give a close approximation), and what type of editing you’re wanting. 

Once you have snagged a slot in our calendar, you are required to sign a contract. You must provide your legal name, your pen name, the title of your manuscript, its genre(s), and its final word count (if available). The contract is pretty basic and easily understood—it protects not only us but your hard work and your hard-earned money. 

You will only pay a $20 booking fee up front which will be refunded on the first day of the edit; payment for your edit won't be due until the first day of the scheduled edit unless you have worked out a payment plan. A PayPal invoice will arrive that day in your inbox detailing every service you’re paying for, every discount or sale included, and the 8% State tax. Payment is due—again, unless you have worked out a payment plan—by the end of that day. After two or more days of non-payment you will receive a notice letting you know that your edit will be canceled.

We use Microsoft Word to edit manuscripts. This allows us to work with most formats (so far, the only word processing software that has not been compatible is Note) and input edits you can accept or reject at your will. If you use Note, or we find your software is not compatible, we will send the edited manuscript to you in a pdf. 

We also offer book blurbs, copyrights and title pages, outline coaching, chapter-by-chapter coaching, ghostwriting, and book formatting. 

We're always available to answer any and all questions you have through email. We're here to help.