Why Is Editing So Expensive?

How Quality and Complexity Influence Editing Time and Cost

Would you trust someone to perform a complex surgery after only reading a few books about it? Would you hire a builder whose only experience is with sandcastles? The list could go on and on, but the answer is probably a resounding ‘no’.

Now, consider someone with a decade of experience or thousands of hours honing their craft. You’d expect to pay fairly for their expertise—editing is no different.

Editors provide a professional service built on years of training, qualifications, and practical experience. But all of this means next to nothing if we don’t deliver value.

Let’s take a closer look at what editors offer and why they are worth the cost.

What can an editor do for you?

Editing is an essential part of the publishing process, and hiring an editor is almost mandatory if you are self-publishing and want your book to stand out against traditionally published titles.

Just as with any professional service, editing provides a tangible return on investment. Here’s how:

1.        Enhance Your Writing

By asking the right questions and utilising your editor’s knowledge, you’ll learn areas where you can improve your writing, develop your craft, and apply this to everything you write.

2.        Elevate Your Writing Career

You could have a degree in advertising or marketing, but your writing is only ever going to be as strong as the words you produce.

3.        Boost Book Sales

A lack of, or bad editing, can harm your sales, especially when online marketplaces allow potential customers to read a sample before they buy.

4.        Establish Professionalism

A great story with poor editing creates a barrier for readers. Editors understand their craft and their industry, and they help produce high quality books that sell.

5.        Realise Your Book’s Potential

Editors catch plot inconsistencies, typos, and weak foundations or endings—ensuring your story doesn’t fall flat and disappoint readers.

How much is that worth to you? And what’s the cost of not investing in it?

Time is money–and editing takes time

Editing isn’t simply reading. It’s an in-depth, time-intensive process. I’m sure you could read a book in a day, if you had no distractions, no breaks, and nothing else to do. Editing requires more than sitting down and getting lost in the pages.

-              Careful reading is slow.

Editors scrutinise every word, punctuation mark, and sentence structure.

-              Multiple read throughs are a must. 

Editors often read your manuscript several times—to understand your style, track consistency, and ensure accuracy. We make sure we know your characters and what drives them to meet their goals.

-              Different services require different timeframes. 

There are many types of editorial services, and each editor will offer a different selection. A proofread (a final polish of a complete, edited manuscript) will take a considerably shorter time to complete than a developmental edit. Simply because there is a different level of work involved in each task.

-              Thoughtful decisions. 

If you were taking a test, you’d pause to consider your answer before writing it down. Editing is no different, it requires deliberation. An editor has to pause to work out the best course of action with each discrepancy they notice, and then take more time to thoughtfully carry out the edit and write the comment with reasoning that sits alongside it. A well-written, insightful comment takes time.

-              High focus is high demand. 

There are a lot of studies out there showing that the average person can only concentrate on a task for around 5-6 hours a day. This may vary depending on the task at hand, but for a task that demands a lot of focus, such as editing, the quality will reduce the longer it is worked on past the editor’s limit. The time it takes for an editor to complete a job depends on how many hours they can fit into their day without compromising quality.

I guess this leads us onto the main question, how long does it take to edit a book?

Well, it’s impossible to say for two main reasons:

1.        Editor speed.

Each editor will naturally work at different paces. This could be due to how thoroughly they complete their job, or how effectively they utilise their software. It could also be how long they have been editing for, someone with a few years’ experience may take longer than someone with twenty years. There is no one size fits all bracket at the end of the day. Each person is unique, and everyone will work at a different speed.

2.        Manuscript length and quality.  

When a manuscript requires a lot of work, it will take longer to edit. Although this is not something an editor has any control over, it is something you, a writer, can assist us with. Because most editors produce quotes based on the amount of time it will take to complete the work, it is in your best interest (and your pocket’s) to hand over a well-prepared manuscript in the best possible shape you can make it. The length is also taken into consideration. A 70,000 novel is going to take far less time to edit than a 120,000-word epic fantasy novel.

Although editing speeds may vary, there are some rough guidelines on how long different services can be expected to take.

The following information is provided on the Editorial Freelance Association’s website [here], and it gives a very rough estimate on editing speeds (one page is generally considered to be 250 words).

EFA Guidelines (estimates per hour):

• Proofreading: 9–13 pages (2250—3250 words

• Basic copyediting: 5—10 pages (1250—2500 words)

• Heavy copyediting: 2—3 pages (500—1250 words)

• Substantive or line editing: 1—6 pages (250—1500 words)

• Developmental Editing: 1—5 pages (250—1250 words)

Editors are business owners

Before you consider looking elsewhere for a cheaper alternative, it’s vital to remember that what an editor charges does not go straight into their pocket. Freelance editors are business owners – and businesses cost money to run.

Here are a few operational costs an editor has to consider:

• Taxes and pensions

• Equipment and software

• Office furniture

• Utilities (heating, electricity, internet, etc.)

• Professional insurance

• Webhosting

• Accountancy fees

• Professional memberships (such as the Chartered Institute of Editors and Proofreaders)

• Continued professional development ( e.g. courses and conferences)

• Marketing (e.g. business cards, adverts, etc.)

As a freelancer, we are also responsible for our own holiday pay. Here in the UK, employees are entitled to 28 days paid annual leave, so any holiday we decide to take, must be covered by our earnings.

Businesses also take time to run. We cannot spend every hour on paid work. Responding to queries, financial housekeeping, marketing, quoting estimates and even going out to buy our supplies all take time.

As with any business, freelancers need to make enough money to keep their business afloat, and all the tasks mentioned above aren’t billable to our clients, so what we charge has to cover this.

Editing is a specialist skill

Remember at the start of this post where I asked if you would let an inexperienced person complete a job or service for you? A doctor spends 3-4 years studying to gain their masters, and another 3-4 years to earn their doctorate degree (PhD). It takes several years to gain the knowledge and experience needed for them to perform the tasks they do.

Editors are no different. Sometimes, we are educated to degree-level or higher, and we also take additional courses to develop and hone our skills. Sometimes we work in voluntary positions to gain industry experience, or apply for internships. A lot of time and effort goes into adequate training.

Anyone can call themselves an editor, but it doesn’t mean they are a good editor. You should always check the credentials and experience of your editor if you’re considering using their services. The old adage ‘you get what you pay for’ comes to mind here. Generally speaking, the more expensive the editor, the more experience they are likely to have–resulting in a better output and providing you with more value for your money.

That isn’t to say those who don’t charge as much are any less experienced. Everyone has to start somewhere, and sometimes offering lower prices attracts more clients–but you should always be careful you are hiring someone with the relevant skills, and not a scalper trying to make a quick buck.

Or, you could be in my position, where you believe editorial services should be affordable, and allow you to spend your [publishing budget] in other areas, not just on editing.

Why not just use AI?

Artificial Intelligence is a hot topic in the publishing industry, and especially within the editorial community. If you are considering using AI to edit your manuscript, you will receive exactly what you signed up for – something ‘artificial’.

AI tools are advancing but remain fundamentally limited. AI doesn’t have emotion, it lacks judgement, two things an editor must have. At the moment, even the most sophisticated tools, simply make estimated best guesses based on the large pools of data they draw from. Not all of this data is correct, and AI can’t make judgement using nuance or context.

With a little research, you could find countless examples where editors have input some work into an AI tool and demonstrated how the results compare, with startling differences.

I even tried putting this post through ChatGPT to reduce the word count, provide brevity and consolidate some of the phrasing, and the result? A static, unemotional piece, lacking depth or clarity. It removed key points and changed the facts I had researched myself.

Below is the output from ChatGPT on this entire section on AI–reduced to two simple points:

-              No Emotional Intelligence

Editors understand tone, nuance, and context—AI doesn’t.

-              Static vs. Human Touch

AI lacks heart. Readers connect with human stories, and editors help preserve that connection.

See what I mean?

Writing has rules, and where these rules are constantly being broken by different authors for various reasons, an AI tool simply cannot be trusted to produce something without contradicting itself or using incorrect data sources. Whilst it may be ‘intelligent’, it lacks the ability to accurately assess pieces of text for what they are.

I will touch on the ethics of using AI in the creation of writing in a separate post at a later date, but to answer the question posed earlier, it’s simple really.

We read for many reasons–to escape to an entirely new world, to leave behind the planet we live on. Others read to feel, to connect, to understand on a deeper level that they’re not alone in what they are feeling. This is all a part of the human connection.

We are sociable creatures; we have a heart and soul. Something AI lacks. Would you want someone reading your work if they couldn’t connect to it?  If an AI tool wrote a novel, it would have no heart or soul, so why put your book through the same process for editing. The end result will be the same.

How do editors set their rates?

Most editors charge based on:

-              Per project

-              Per page

-              Per thousand words

-              Per hour

All methods boil down to one thing, regardless of how it is presented to the client: the editor’s effective hourly rate.

Each editor will have unique operating costs and should know how much they need to charge per hour to operate and sustain their business profitably, and by extension, how much they need to make each month, and each year. For example, one person who works from home will have a mortgage to pay, whereas another will have office hire costs to consider.

When tasked with producing a quote, understanding and knowledge it vital. To calculate their fees, they need to know the hourly rate they are aiming for and also their own editing speed–so they know how long the job will take.

Editors can work out their speed using a few different methods.

They can use external information as a guide, like I mentioned earlier, but again, they are very rough guidelines. Better still, they can use their own experience–by tracking their speed over the course of their career in relation to different projects and services they offer, or by timing how long it takes to complete a [sample edit]. A combination of the two produces the best results.

Some editors will provide you with an estimate or range, depending on how long they expect to be working on your manuscript or project, or they may charge a fixed fee.

I prefer transparency, and provide a fixed fee per project. I track how many hours I have spent on your manuscript and always assess a sample of your writing. This allows me to accurately work out how long a project will take and calculate the fixed fee.

Total word count / expected words edited per hour = estimated number of hours

Expected hours x effective hourly rate = project fee.

What is a fair rate?

How do you decide if the price is right, or make sure you aren’t being taken for a fool? Research. My best piece of advice is to shop around. Sure, I’d love for you to use my services over another’s, but I also wouldn’t walk into a shop and willingly spend large amounts of money without at least looking for some good deals first.

How much an editor charges will differ depending on a few factors:

-              Service type

-              Editor experience

-              Project complexity

Ultimately though, it’s up to them.

So, how do you know if you are getting a fair deal? What’s the average ‘going rate’ or cost? Simply put, there isn’t one.

The Chartered Institute of Editors and Proofreaders provide a minimum hourly rate per service [here] which a lot of members adhere to, but as we discussed earlier, each business will have their own set of costs used to work out how much they need to charge.

When looking at the costs involved to hire an editor, I like to remind everyone that editors work with authors one-on-one. It is a bespoke service, and there is room for conversation and negotiation. It isn’t bartering or haggling, but a genuine conversation. If you can’t afford the editor you want to use, explain your situation, we are all very welcoming and would love the opportunity to work with you. If we really can’t come to a compromise (this could be in the form of monthly payment plans, for example) then we could always make some recommendations.

(Not every editor will do this, and not every editor wants to be recommended)

Tips for finding the right editor

Here are some pieces of advice to consider when looking for a fair deal:

-              Look for compatibility.

This could be because they have worked on books you enjoy, or work with a genre you are familiar with. It could be their values or principles, something that you also stand for.

-              Understand their pricing.

Doing your own research into editing costs (it could be how you ended up reading this) is a good start, but you can always ask an editor directly.

-              Trust your instincts.

They are usually a good indicator. If something feels off, move on.

It all comes down to how you feel, and how much you are willing to spend. We want to work with you–not price you of your own project.

Editing is expensive because it’s skilled, nuanced, and time-consuming work—backed by years of training and professional development. When you hire an editor, you’re investing in the quality and success of your book.

We do this because we love books and want the best for your work. Fair pricing makes it possible for us to keep doing what we do best—helping you shine.