Personally, I find it very hard to provide a ballpark for how much editing a manuscript will cost. It depends on the length of the manuscript, the level of my involvement and the language skill of the originating author. I tend to suggest clients decide how much of my “me’ness” they want me to provide and start me off with a five-page sample. From there I can identify what the primary challenges are going to be and provide an estimate for editing the entire manuscript, along with an assessment of their overall writing strengths and opportunities for improvement. I do charge for this service and if you’re interested please get in touch.

So much of success depends on relationships and I am always open to the idea of starting the editing process with a few chapters and see how it goes for both me and my client. Once I’ve edited those, if things are going well, I can take a look at the rest of the manuscript and finish the job I started. If we don’t have a perfect fit, then we can go our separate ways, no harm done.

If cost is an issue, I do have payment plans and I am also open to the idea of providing an initial edit of the first three chapters and then sending my client off to review the rest of the manuscript with my comments and suggestions in mind. Once they’ve taken another pass at the manuscript, they can either hire me to continue or hire someone else, whatever makes them feel comfortable at that point. Obviously I want the work! But inter-personal fit is everything.

This is all fun work for me and it allows me to draw on a wealth of professional experiences in journalism, government and corporate communications, marketing and PR. I have an MA in English Language and Writing and I speak five languages (three fluently); I’m also certified as a General and a Master Practitioner of Neurolinguistic Programming. All of these accomplishments have been a huge benefit to my understanding of audience, motivation and hypnotic language patterns. I’ll add that part of what my clients get with me is a voice of support. Bringing a book to life can be a very lonely experience at the same time as it is an overwhelming and exciting one. Having done it myself, I understand how much perseverance it takes — in fact, I wrote about my experience for the Globe and Mail last year.

If you would like to get in touch about a book project you feel I can help bring to life, I would be honoured to hear from you. You can connect with me at susan@crossmancommunications.com. And in the meantime, if you’d like to know more about the first of my books that Manor House Publishing released on my behalf, please feel free to check them out.