Erin Lazzari

Rates

Skills and Rates

As a competent content editor, copyeditor, and proofreader, I specialize in science fiction and fantasy but am happy to branch out, especially into areas such as popular nonfiction for a thoughtful audience. My eye for detail does not lose the forest for the trees — I'm just as invested in the story as in ensuring the smoothness of the reader's experience.

I am an incredibly fast but thorough reader; a 400-page typeset fiction book only takes me between six and nine hours to complete. My rates reflect that speed; an additional charge can be discussed for rush jobs (see Add-ons below the services breakdown). A rush job is any job that must be finished and returned in under three weeks from the day of issuing (twenty-one days, business and weekends included).

Proofreading

Proofreading is typically a post-typesetting task, done to fine-tune easily-missed issues such as minor spelling errors, comma usage, or strange hyphenation. It can also include basic design-checking features such as ensuring proper spelling and placement of headers, widow/orphan checking, and table-of-contents confirmation (see Add-ons below).

Rates begin at $30/hr and increase based on complexity/length of project and/or skills used.

Copyediting

Copyediting is often done on manuscript (non-typeset) pages and checks such things as internal consistency, sentence flow, and structure, as well as some proofreading. It can also include the creation of a style sheet (which includes things such as specific formatting notes and standard spellings of names, places and terms) to be passed along to the typesetter and proofreader (see Add-ons below).

Rates begin at $35/hr and increase based on complexity/length of project and/or skills used.

content editing

As each book is different, content editing (sometimes also called developmental editing) will be assessed on a project-by-project basis according to the specific requests of the author, agent, or publishing house. See Content Editing Process below for what to expect as an independent author seeking content editing.

Add-ons

(note: these will incur additional fees)

language skills

I have reading competence in four languages in addition to American English (assumed to be the default), as follows:

  • English (British)
  • French
  • Italian
  • Latin
  • Ancient Greek

and an in-house consultant for two more, as follows:

  • Arabic
  • Spanish

Rush rates

Projects can be rushed at an additional fee, to be assessed on a project-by-project basis.

internal style sheet

As part of copyediting, an internal style sheet can be generated for the future proofreader and/or typesetter.

Style checking

As part of proofreading, any or all of the following items can be performed on typeset pages:

  • widow/orphan checking
  • header placement and spelling verification
  • "ladder" elimination
  • marking of "rivers of white"
  • table of contents verification

Content Editing Process

  1. Reach out through my Contact form and give me a sense of your project: approximate word count, intended audience, genre, etc.
  2. We will schedule a phone call to discuss a mutually beneficial working relationship. This is when you will get a quote for rates and we both have an opportunity to see if we will work well together.
  3. If you choose to continue working with me, I will send you a fee schedule and expected return date for your edited manuscript.
  4. Follow-up conversations can be scheduled for further discussion as desired.