Affordable Book Editing Services
Providing professional editing services for serious writers since 2007
Manuscript Assessment
Holistic assessment for authors looking to discover what's wrong with their book.
- Comprehensive content editing.
- Multi-page editor's report.
- Fast turnaround.
Developmental Editing
Publisher standard feedback for authors preparing their books for publication.
- Developmental editing.
- Combined line editing.
- Comprehensive editor's report.
Copy Editing
Insanely detailed professional feedback for authors ready to publish their manuscript.
- Copy editing.
- Detailed editor's report.
- Fast turnaround.
Author Mentoring
One-to-one professional support and guidence for writers wanting write a book.
- Developmental editing.
- Comprehensive editor's report.
- No long term contract.
Why BubbleCow?
BubbleCow have been providing professional book editing services since 2007.
Our focus has always been on providing affordable book editing services to both traditional and self-publishing writers.
The editing process is complex and time-consuming, so to ensure we provide the best possible service we employ a small team of full-time, hand-picked, and specially trained book editors and mentors.
Unlike our competitors, we are not a marketplace for editors or middleman service for book editors.
This means that we will not be sending your manuscript to an anonymous freelance book editor. You get to work with a specialist editor, with whom you can build a long-term relationship.
It also means that we can provide the bespoke and personalized book editing service you need, whilst keeping the costs down and providing editorial feedback at a cost that works for you and your budget.
"The entire developmental edit was simply extraordinary. The editor’s report was highly detailed, encouraging me to think about my novel in new ways and challenging me to improve my story. I will be using BubbleCow's editing services for my next novel."
Ramona Flightner Banished Saga
“BubbleCow provided my latest book with the most professional, detailed and personal developmental and line editing service I have ever used. I had the real feeling of my novel "being read" and not just edited. This is definitely the best cost to benefit ratio in editing.”
David Papini The Taste of Emotions
“BubbleCow made formatting suggestions and waffle excisions that will make my book a hugely commercial product. In terms of structure, suggested ideas have allowed me to improve my book's chapter introductions and conclusions enormously.”
Ian Nichol Stand and Deliver!
What is Manuscript Assessment?
While developmental and copy editing provide detailed action-focused feedback, professional manuscript assessment services are designed to provide a book editing service that give a holistic assessment of what is working, but more importantly, what is not and what needs to be changed.
In other words, a manuscript appraisal, or assessment, is a paid service that assesses a piece of creative work, either in part or in full (depending on your budget and needs), and provides feedback.
It is worth noting that a partial manuscript evaluation comes with some risks. If the editor is unable to see the full scope of your book, it can make assessment of certain structural issues problematic.
A manuscript assessment (also known as a critique, appraisal, or a structural report) is where a professional editor/assessor reads your manuscript as a whole, paying close attention to your story’s structure, character development, plot development, pace, setting, consistency etc.
The editor will provide a written report on what’s working and what needs improvement. Though the focus of the report will differ for each novel, the following elements are an essential focus.
- Character.
- Setting.
- Plot.
- Voice.
- Narrative Arc.
- Dialogue.
- Tension.
- Pace.
You can find out more about our manuscript assessment service here. This will give you more details and explain how our price per word system works.
What is Book Editing?
BubbleCow provides a type of editing called developmental editing, this is also sometimes called content editing, structural editing, story editing, comprehensive editing, macro editing, or even heavy editing. This is 'big picture' ediitng.
However, these terms all refer to the same type of editing.
Wikipedia describes this type of editing as "significant structuring or restructuring of a manuscript's discourse".
In reality, it is a much more involved process.
The editor will examine the entire manuscript in the process, considering all aspects of the book, including its narrative and structure. They will also consider readability, plot, and structure.
Some freelance developmental editors will also look out for line-level problems, such as sentence structure, grammar, and punctuation. The better editors will assess a book's suitability for the marketplace. They may also help you to pinpoint the book's genre correctly.
It is also worth noting that we also provide line editing are part of the editing process. This is not copy editing.
This editing is commonly carried out by professional book editors within the publishing industry when preparing a book. We feel that including line editing, alongside developmental editing means that writers, especially self-publishing writers, get the best possible service.
This means that whilst we are checking your book for structure issues and plot holes (developmental editing), we will also find sentence-level problems such as grammar, punctuation, and readability.
This is all part of the service and is included in the price.
You can find out more about our book editing service here. This will give you more details and explain how our price per word system works.
What is Mentoring?
Mentoring is sometimes called book mentoring or book coaching.
entoring for writers is the process of partnering with an experienced professional writer, book editor, and mentor to help lift your book to a publishable standard.
In short, you will work one-on-one with your mentor to make your book the best it can be.
Rather than submitting the full written story in one go (as you do with editing), mentoring allows the writer to work with a book editor from the start of your writing journey.
Our system means that you will submit your manuscript with a word count of up to 15,000 words. You pay for this chunk when you submit and nothing else. There is no long-term contract, you just pay for what you need.
Once the 'chunk' is edited, you talk to your mentor, work out the problems and the process starts all over again.
Simple and cost-effective.
You can find out more about our book mentoring services here. Unlike our other services, cost is not based per word, but is split into chunks.
Frequently Asked Questions
Below are some frequently asked questions that will provide you more information.
How much does it cost to edit a whole book?
The cost of editing a whole book depends on the type of editing and the length of your book. Developmental editing is the most in-depth, and therefore most expensive type of editing. A typical novel is 80,000 words and, at $20 per 1000 words for developmental editing, this would cost $1600.
The cost of editing a whole book depends on the type of editing and the length of your book. Developmental editing is the most in-depth, and therefore most expensive type of editing. A typical novel is 80,000 words and, at $20 per 1000 words for developmental editing, this would cost $1600.
Who can I get to edit my book??
A professional book editor will edit your book. A developmental editor is normally the best option for an author who has completed their book. The book editor will check your book's plot, assess it's structure and provide feedback to help improve the book's readability.
A professional book editor will edit your book. A developmental editor is normally the best option for an author who has completed their book. The book editor will check your book's plot, assess it's structure and provide feedback to help improve the book's readability.