I was looking for an editor of my new book written under the pseudonym J. R. Camelback & I found StandoutBooks.com online. saw 3 authors (all listed on Amazon) listed as recommendations—I contacted all 3 but only heard from author Andrew Volkner who highly recommended them. So I sent a 50 page sample & synopsis for a sample comprehensive edit quoted rate which was a very reasonable. Received it within 4 days. However the sample edit was for the first 3 pages of my sample edit and ignored the epilogue. Sample edit was very cursory. No mention made about their opinion as to whether the book was ready for the comprehensive edit. I immediately e-mailed back asking their opinion about whether the book (per the sample I sent of 50 pages) was ready for the comprehensive edit. I waited 2 weeks and didn't hear back. But I received daily PR e-mails re StandoutBooks best editing tips. I sent an e-mail reminder and received an e-mail reply from Bronwyn Hemus with the same last name as the man who contacted me re sending a sample (Alex Hemus). She claimed to be the Editorial supervisor & said that my manuscript was not ready for a comprehensive edit and that I needed a full reshaping of the book at 64 cents per word. The comprehensive edit was 10 cents a word. I am posting this thread to warn others before they spend their good money for an editor and advise not to use them.
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[Pub svcs] Standout Books
- Thread starter cynthia392
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Please repeat that quote.....64/per word?? If so, then a 90K word book would cost $57,600.00. You can hire a good ghost writer for half that (or less).
If you meant .04/word it's still 3,600.00. That's more than most advances for a debut novel.
Their .10 a word edit is 9,000.00?
If by comprehensive, they mean substantive line edit, the Editorial Freelancers Association recommends 40-60 bucks an hour, 5 pages an hour. For a 360-page book (90K words) that works out to $2,880.00 - $4,320.00, considerably less than their rates.
At the EFA you get to interview the editor of your choice. Post a job there and you'll get 100+ responses the first day. They will have websites, resumes, and book titles, no need to "just trust" whether anyone is qualified.
However, this experience is not lacking in help for you. Since they're offering a "full reshaping" (whatever the hell that means) of the book, you can figure that the book is in need of more beta readers, along with solid critiques from other writers. You can have both of those right here in AW at no cost. Get as many of those as possible, do as many rewrites as needed to get the book into publishable shape before hunting for an editor.
I checked their website. They have a job opening for an editor. I sure as heck am qualified and need the money, but I ain't going near this one!
There is a great deal of use of the word "we" on the site, but no mention of just who they are and how they're qualified for this kind of work. Run far and fast. Make use of the resources here at AW and thank you for warning others!
Dear Cynthia,
My name is Bronwyn Hemus and I am the editor that your representative from Daccord Press dealt with.
Let me start by saying that I wholeheartedly agree that your editorial query was not dealt with according to our usual high standards.
It's something that I regret sincerely and I expressed as much to your representative at the time. I hope that the sentiment was passed on to you.
Unfortunately, there seems to be a misunderstanding in the prices you mention in this message. You were initially quoted $0.04 (4 cents) per word for a comprehensive edit, which was higher than our minimum pricing for this type of edit. This was to account for the specific request you had for the format of the edit.
The developmental edit quote, which came later, was set at $0.035 (3.5 cents) per word and not 64 cents. As you’ll see on our website, the maximum per word fee we charge for a developmental edit is $0.06 (6 cents) per word.
Please let me know if you would like me to forward all original correspondence with your representative at Daccord Press to you directly. My email address is [email protected].
We truly value our clients and are prepared to do whatever it takes to help them navigate their writing and publishing journey. The vast majority of our customers are either repeat business or from word-of-mouth recommendations – something we take a lot of pride in.
I am sorry that you feel the need to warn others from spending money with us, especially because you have never had the experience of working directly with one of our editors as a paying customer. If you are willing, I would like to rectify this situation and your experience with us, and offer you the developmental edit for free so you can see the quality of the service that we provide first hand.
It would be great to talk to you more, Cynthia, so please do get in touch.
Kind regards,
Bronwyn
Dear Gillhoughly,
My name is Bronwyn Hemus and I am the founder of Standout Books, the company being discussed here.
First of all, thank you for taking the time to visit our website and for joining in the discussion. I am a big believer in the power of forums like these to help authors navigate the at times murky world of publishing. Since starting Standout Books five years ago, I have worked every day to help authors publish their books and help them avoid being scammed and taken advantage of. I have recommended this forum to many authors.
It does therefore come as quite a surprise to see someone warn others of doing business with me on this very forum after never having worked with us or even had any personal communication with us.
I really appreciate your feedback about the lack of biographies for our editors on our website, it is something that we are well aware of and we will be launching a new site in the coming weeks with full details of every member of our team and the books they have worked on. I believe in full transparency in everything we do.
Unfortunately, there does seem to be a misunderstanding on this thread as to our prices, which are in line with the EFA rates as quoted by you and clearly visible on our website.
Our pricing for a comprehensive edit, which includes a substantive line edit, a full report, and a consultation with the editor is between $0.03 (3 cents) per word and $0.05 (5 cents), which is between $2700 and $4500 for a 90k word novel. The price depends entirely on the amount of editing required. Most edits are $0.03 (3 cents) per word which is in line with the EFA minimum.
Our pricing for a developmental edit is between $0.03 (3 cents) - $0.06 (6 cents) per word, also depending on the level of editing required.
All of our authors have the chance to talk with the editor working on their book before they start working with them. We are also always happy to provide sample edits and answer any and all questions in detail.
Seeing as you are warning people away from us before you’ve had any personal interaction with us, I would love to talk to you in person and introduce you to our team so you can see who we are and hopefully change your mind about how serious we are about helping authors. Please reach out to me at [email protected].
I look forward to hearing from you.
Kind regards,
Bronwyn
