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Manuscript Polishing service

About us

What is manuscript polishing?

Some manuscripts require a little extra help to bring them to a professional standard. Our manuscript polishing service offers the usual high standard of copy editing, but in addition we will enhance your work by improving sentence structure, replacing weak or ambiguous word choices, and making the text flow more smoothly and naturally. Where necessary, we will rewrite some passages completely.

Our manuscript polishing service is carried out to the highest professional standard, and offers competitive rates and excellent value for money.

Does my work require polishing?

When you send your work to us, one of our expert editors will carry out an assessment of your editorial requirements. If we think your work requires polishing, we will indicate this in our assessment, and also indicate the amount of polishing required. Your manuscript may need only a light polish; or it may need major work, with a large element of rewriting.

Please send your manuscript to writers@writersservices.com.

Your manuscript is more likely to require polishing if you are a new author, or if you are writing in English as a second language. If English is not your native language, you may wish to take advantage of our specialist English Language Editing service; there is a more detailed description of this service here.

The Manuscript Polishing Package

We offer a brief assessment, and a sample edit (normally 2 - 3 pages) free of charge.

We will copy edit your manuscript as part of our polishing service; there is no extra fee for this service.

You will receive two copies of your manuscript: a track changes version, showing you exactly what the editor has done, and if necessary containing comments from the editor; and a clean copy, showing your manuscript with all the editorial changes accepted. We strongly recommend that you use the clean copy for any further changes or amendments.

If the editor thinks there are broader issues with your work, you will receive a note explaining the problems, with guidance on how to fix them.

Please send your work to us as a standard Microsoft Word document. Other formats, such as pdf files, make editing much more difficult.

How much will it cost?

The basic rate for manuscript polishing is £9 per thousand words (£0.009 per word). So for a manuscript of 70,000 words, the basic fee will be £630. Our final fee will depend on the condition of the manuscript and the amount of time and work required. Non-fiction will usually cost more.

All fees are payable in advance.

Deadlines

We normally aim to return your work within two weeks of receipt of your manuscript and payment; our deadlines may change depending on the condition of the manuscript, or the volume of work we have. However, if you have a specific deadline, or you are working to a shorter timescale, we can arrange to return your work on a specific date.

Copy editing for self-publishers

Copy editing service

Writer's edit - our line-editing service

The Cutting edit -- a new service, just launched

Developmental editing service - another brand-new service

Getting your manuscript copy edited

English Language Editing service

Rewriting service

Services for self-publishers

Proof-reading service

Which service?

Inside Publishing on Copy editing and Proof-reading

 

A fictionalised account

Check how to send documents