Non-fiction book editing and design

Kelly works exclusively with non-fiction authors. The services she offers those authors are as follows:

Manuscript Reads

When is a manuscript ready for editing? Most authors think it’s once they’ve completed their first draft. But this is rarely the case. And the worse shape a manuscript is in when it gets sent to an editor, the more it’s going to cost to wrangle it into a state where it can become a published book.

Kelly’s Manuscript Read service will tell you:

  • If your book’s content is delivering on the promise you’re making in your book’s title
  • If your book is going to deliver value to both you as the author and also the reader
  • How much work is required to take the manuscript to a state where it is publication-ready

COST: $150 per 10,000 words

High Pass Structural Edit

Once a manuscript read has been done, Kelly may recommend this edit as the best next step. This type of edit usually comes into play when a manuscript isn’t in very good shape, but the author is stuck and doesn’t know where to go next.

It involves Kelly taking a 10,000-foot view of your book and:

  • Making comments throughout the manuscript about things that require clarification or expansion
  • Pointing out any gaps that need to be filled in order to ensure your book is delivering on the promise it’s making to the reader in
    the title.
  • Restructuring the order of chapters or sections within the book
    After this edit, you will revisit your manuscript to action Kelly’s feedback (usually doing some more writing/re-writing and performing further edits of your own).

COST: $500 for up to 40,000 words. Manuscripts over 40,000 words will be quoted individually.

Granular Structural Edit

This kind of structural edit suits a manuscript that is at the ‘very very solid’ stage (usually the point where the writer has been through the manuscript a few times already and feels they’ve done all they can to make it as good as it can be).

In a granular structural edit, Kelly goes through the entire manuscript and:

  • Cleans up every transition (between paragraphs, sections and chapters)
  • Ensures the chapter headings, in-chapter headings and sub-headings all make sense and are ‘scannable’
  • Moves information around (if necessary) to ensure the book reads smoothly and delivers the book’s idea to the reader in the most logical and satisfactory way possible.

COST: 4c a word.

NOTE: A granular structural edit is not a line edit/copy edit (although Kelly will do some line editing as she works through the manuscript). A line edit and professional proof read should always follow after a granular structural edit in order to produce a truly professional manuscript.

Book Design

Who do you want to design your book? Someone who is not just a designer, but an avid reader themselves.

Kelly is skilled in producing book designs that:

  • Are aesthetically pleasing
  • Deliver a great reading experience
  • Ensure the author’s ideas are clearly communicated, not just in their words, but also in how those words are presented

Kelly adores working on book designs, particularly for books she has edited.

Her favourite part of the process is seeing authors hold their book babies in their hands for the first time.

COST: Each book needs to be individually quoted as different books require different levels of design. But as an indicative cost, a typical business book (where the interior pages are typeset as opposed to individually ‘designed’) costs ~ $500 for a cover design and ~ $900 for the interior design.

Consulting

So you’re writing a book, and want to self-publish, but you’re not sure what needs to be done to take your book from manuscript stage to published and available to buyers worldwide.

Kelly has self-published three books of her own, and assisted many other authors in taking their books to the world. If you’re not sure where to go from where you are right now, she can help.

COST: $150/hr for the initial call/consultation. $130/hr from there on.

Contact Kelly

The best way to contact Kelly to engage her for the services above is via email.