Looking for Inexpensive Editing

What kind of editing do you want? Content editing, copy editing, proofreading?

Catherine said:

Hello! I'm looking for thoughts and recommendations on inexpensive editing. My current project is a memoir that I am writing mostly for my adopted kids. I don't want to spend a lot of money, but do want someone with experience to look it over. Has anyone tried Fiverr?

Click to expand...

These two things usually don't go together, and for good reasons.

Good editors tend to value their work. It very much does depend what kind of editing you want, but good editing of all types should have a cost, likely depending on length of the work. It won't be crippling but it is an investment into your book as a product.

Good editors aren't terribly likely to hang out on Fiverr.

Catherine said:

Hello! I'm looking for thoughts and recommendations on inexpensive editing. My current project is a memoir that I am writing mostly for my adopted kids. I don't want to spend a lot of money, but do want someone with experience to look it over. Has anyone tried Fiverr?

Click to expand...

Sorry, but this is one of those areas in which you get what you pay for. What editing are you looking for, if you're just writing the book for your kids, not to try to sell to the general public, or get picked up by agents?

There are a *lot* of people offering cheap editing services online. A great many of them don't have a single clue as to what they're doing. I've seen stuff 'edited' that's actually been made more incorrect.

You might want to try just requesting beta readers (for free), in the appropriate section here.

You could also post chapters one at a time in the Share Your Work section here. You can include a synopsis but even so, critiquers will come in and out through the chapters. So when deciding what suggestions to use, you'd have to keep in mind that they might not understand something in chapter three that was already explained in chapter one, etc. However, you also tend to get more help line-by-line with a chapter. That level of input would usually just be too much to ask of someone for free for a whole book. If you do post it in SYW, please be sure to make the changes you agree with throughout the book before asking for help with the later chapters because critters tend to stop helping when it looks like their suggestions weren't incorporated. And of course pay it forward by doing some critiques yourself.

Sometimes you can get wonderful assistance for free here. There's plenty of experience on this forum and since we're all readers anyway, it's often not rocket science for readers to know what doesn't work for them or point out the errors you may have missed. Just don't make any of the suggested changes unless you're sure you agree with them, and figure you'll toss more of them than you'll use. Good luck!

ETA: Apologies if I'm being Captain Obvious here. I don't know what you know or don't know so...

That doesn't sound crazy - it sounds very sweet. The same reply applies in general though; anyone you're likely to find for cheap will likely not do a proper job. You can check the beta section here and specify you're looking more for a general proofreading type of deal and see if someone, or a few people, would be interested. That's free.

Your opinions are just as valid as anyone else's, and you mustn't worry about making anyone's work worse. Beta reading doesn't require expertise, just honesty and a bit of effort.

I think SYW would be very helpful for you, but there's also this thread:

[h=3][Publishing Services] Service Providers[/h]
The editors listed there are good. They might be too pricey for you, but they are good. I wouldn't even think about using anyone on Fiverr: you'll not get good advice for so little cash. Try SYW first, and then see how you feel.

Editors are like camera lenses. Yes, you can get a cheap one but in the long run you'll just be wishing you had saved up more for a better one.

Proofreading can be pretty reasonable compared to full editing, but it sort of depends on how long your book is and what you consider inexpensive. Their are proofreaders out there who do a good job for a penny a word or less. For typical lengths that will still generally be in the hundreds rather than the tens of dollars.

"You get what you pay for" is absolutely true... but... I want to offer some advice that goes against what you've been seeing. Take with a block of salt!

With a personal project like yours, I understand why you don't want to sink lots of money into it. If you can honestly say you'll be happy with another pair of eyes on it, even if it's a beta reader or someone in your social circle with an English background, then go for it. Barter your services--either read for them (like Old Hack said, you can't really harm someone's writing. It's on them to utilize your feedback and grow as a writer, and it's your responsibility only to give them your reactions to their story), or organize some other work swap if it's someone you know locally.

It's all about knowing what you want and what you'll be happy with. I've met lots of writers who want to self-publish their memoirs, not for the market but for their families, and I can't imagine them plunking down thousands for professional design and formatting and editing when all they want is a box of books to pass out to their grandchildren. You always have the option of producing your book through a print on demand service without ever making it publicly available, too, if you don't want to deal with your book getting purchased randomly by strangers.

Just my thoughts. If I had a personal project such as yours, I'd find someone I already know with an English background, or someone that one your kids can vouch for, then offer an exchange based on around 20-30 hours of work (depending on the length and how clean your manuscript already is). They prepare to spend up to 30 hours on your project, and in exchange you provide (a week's worth of freezer meals, weekly babysitting sessions, or whatever). I would also shamelessly get my adult kids involved in this, too, but that's just me. (Mine are the munchkin variety, but I'm optimistic about how eager they will be to help with all my creative shenanigans).

It's not free, but it won't cost money. And honestly, if you won't be satisfied with the results this way, then don't bother and find an editor with professional experience and plunk down the cash.

It all comes down to knowing what you really want and what you'll be happy with.

Catherine said:

Massages in exchange for proofreading?

Click to expand...

...sounds good to me at least!

Catherine said:

Massages in exchange for proofreading?

Click to expand...

Where do I sign up?!

Lulu can do hardcovers, too, and I have met people who were very happy with the way those books turned out.

Maybe your area is different, but local printers here turned out to be a dead end. I have never been interested in using one, but I tried to get some requests for quotes to share in the classes I teach. Many can't do perfect bound (let alone hardcover) and the ones that can have pretty high setup costs. You'd have to order a bunch to bring down the unit cost to a reasonable amount, and you would have to do a new order with each restock of books. At least with the online companies you can keep your files uploaded and ready for a new order whenever you decide to stock up again, if that ever happens.

The nice thing about beta reading is you can be up front about how long it will take you and find partners on a similar timeline.