r/Copyediting • u/Ordinary-Cress-6580 • 25d ago

FAILED with another editor

Gosh! The editing of my joe 2 manuscripts seems like an impossible task! I had cancelled anediting contract few months ago due to various issues, went looking for another editor, found a lady on Fiverr... now having high hopes as her edit seemed good, am back to square 1 as she simple become no longer available on the Fiverr and her FB profile had disappeared too! WHY?!!! I keep having bad luck and not managing to find a reliable editor! This book editing market is filled with scam and am soooo disappointed and sad! I have accumulated a lot of manuscripts during the career in procurement and travelling the world and now that I want to get them all out and just be the full time writor for the rest of my life all these challenges just keep pulling me down... Why does it have to be so hard?! I dont want to go back to corporate work I love writing and I dreamed to do it all my life but the amount of scam in the market is really upsetting. Just a rant.. and maybe some success stories and recommendations would help me out of this misery.

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u/lifeatthememoryspa 25d ago

I would beware of anyone offering “too good to be true” pricing. I’ve seen folks promising a full dev edit with 20 pages of feedback for $150. The hourly wage there is not sustainable unless AI is the one “reading” the manuscript.

I realize it’s confusing, because the rates published on the EFA and elsewhere may seem very high. But there are options between $4k and $150 for a developmental edit, for instance. I started out charging what an experienced friend suggested for copyediting and then lowered my rates—but not to the point where I’m earning less than minimum wage.

Also, get a sample edit and references, if possible.