Editing Services

We offer all standard editing services. Below you'll find information and pricing for proofreading, copyediting, line editing, and developmental editing. All clients receive a free, non-committal 1000-word sample which allows you to judge whether we are the right fit for your manuscript. It also allows us to better advise on which editing service is correct for you.

1,000-word free sample available to all writers, ~~plus a 25% discount on your first 10,000 words!~~

We've got an even better deal right now! 50% off your first 50,000 words in our New Year sale!

Available to all writers until the end of January.

Get in touch for your free sample at: catandquill.editorial@gmail.com

Services at a Glance

Proofing

0.0075p per word

Correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
Correct unintentional tense and perspective shifts.
Eliminate inconsistencies and continuity errors.
Email support and online call to discuss your edit.

Copy Editing

0.015p per word

Line-by-line feedback on word choice, sentence construction, and clarity.
Correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
Correct unintentional tense and perspective shifts.
Eliminate plot holes and inconsistencies.
Email support and online call to discuss your edit.

Line Editing

0.02p per word

Improve characterisation, narrative structure, and strengthen themes on a scene-by-scene level without a full structural overhaul.
Suggestions on where and how to improve descriptions.
Line-by-line feedback on word choice, sentence construction, and clarity.
Correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
Correct unintentional tense and perspective shifts.
Eliminate plot holes and inconsistencies.
Email support and online call to discuss your edit.

Developmental Editing

0.015p per word

Improve theme, characterisation, character arcs, and plot arcs on a chapter-by-chapter level and over the entire narrative.
Streamline narrative structure and perfect pacing.
Develop a distinct narrative voice.
Eliminate plot holes and inconsistencies.
Improve world-building.
General feedback on the quality of language over the manuscript as a whole.
Email support and online call to discuss your edit.

Proofing

Proofreading is the final stage of editing. Once you're satisfied with your prose, proofreading checks the manuscript for technical errors. We meticulously find and correct grammar, punctuation, and spelling mistakes. We will also flag any unintentional tense or perspective shifts that may have slipped through, as well as any inconsistencies or continuity errors in the narrative itself. (For example, a character having a cup of tea one line and then a cup of coffee the next!) Your finished proof is provided as a Word document with tracked changes.

Proofing is Perfect for you if:

You feel you have completed your manuscript.
Are looking to query or self-publish and need a final check for errors.

Copy Editing

Copy editing is the ideal type of editing for writers who are completely satisfied with their story, both at the macro and micro levels, and who exclusively want feedback on their prose. This type of edit includes everything you could expect from a proof, along with in-depth feedback on the flow of your language, word choice, and clarity. This edit promises to make your prose feel truly polished. Your finished line edit is provided as a Word document with comprehensive in-text comments and tracked changes.

Copy Editing is Perfect for you if:

You feel completely confident in your story structurally.
You are happy with your characterisation, pacing, description, and general scene-to-scene flow.
You exclusively want assistance with line-to-line language, perfecting sentence structure, readability, and clarity.

Line Editing

Line editing is our most comprehensive edit and also our most popular. It is a perfect option for writers who are pleased with the overall structure of their book and now want to refine it on a scene-by-scene level. Here we help you perfect characterisation and dialogue, ensure you have just the right amount of description in all the right places, make sure all the story beats make sense, and perfect your pacing. Manuscripts will also be meticulously checked for inconsistencies, plot holes, and leaps of logic. In addition to narrative feedback, you also receive everything you'd expect in both a copy edit and proof, including beautifying your word choice, improving sentence construction, optimising clarity, removing unwanted tense and perspective shifts, and correcting grammar, punctuation, and spelling. Rest assured that we do all this while maintaining your personal writing style and flair. Your finished line edit is provided as a Word document with comprehensive in-text comments and tracked changes.

Line Editing is Perfect for you if:

You feel confident in your story's overall structure.
You would like feedback to strengthen your narrative on a scene-by-scene level.
You would like in-depth advice on how and where to improve your characterisation, dialogue, scene construction, and descriptions.
You would like assistance with polishing your language, readability, clarity, and flow.

Developmental Editing

Developmental editing is ideal for writers who are earlier in their writing journey. This edit has minimal references to a story's prose and is entirely focused on its overall structure. We focus on developing a book's overall theme, improving characterisation, identifying and strengthening character and story arcs, streamlining plot structure, perfecting narrative pace, and eliminating plot holes and inconsistencies. We also work with you to ensure your work has a distinct narrative voice. Where the genre requires it, we also give comprehensive advice on effective world-building and where this can be strengthened. Your finished developmental edit is provided as a comprehensive document with chapter-by-chapter and overall feedback.

Developmental Editing is Perfect for you if:

You are earlier in your writing journey and want big-picture, structural advice.
Wanting assistance in identifying and strengthening character arcs, story arcs, and overall pacing.
Focusing on story and not on perfecting language.

FAQs

Our free 1,000-word samples are typically done as line edits, our most detailed style, unless requested otherwise. This gives you an opportunity to assess both our linguistic and our narrative feedback styles. On our end, we like to offer free samples because it helps us advise you on which edit would best suit your manuscript. All our free samples are returned within 48 hours of request.

All manuscripts we work on are charged per word based on the style of editing you choose after we've reviewed your free sample. There are no hidden costs. For proofreading, copyediting, and line editing, we edit in chunks of up to 30,000 words at a time. We do not require an upfront payment for these edits, and your fully edited manuscript will be returned to you with an invoice. For developmental editing, if we are providing feedback on an entire manuscript over 30,000 words in one go, we request a 40% deposit with the remaining 60% payable upon completion. We can accept payments via BACS or PayPal.

You absolutely can, although we will have to bill for any editing done up to that point at the previously agreed-upon rate. We are always happy to discuss with you what is best for your manuscript, and you can trust us to suggest whether we think your work would do better with a different type of edit.

Usually, all our edits adhere to the standard price list on this page, but occasionally, manuscript quotes may deviate. This can be due to a manuscript coming to us with a level of polish that we feel warrants a discount on our standard rates. Other times, manuscripts require more editing than in our usual packages or are not yet ready to be edited. In cases where writers need more support, we can suggest a more tailored editing package or offer our one-to-one book coaching. Whatever stage you're at with your writing, you can trust us to always want to give you the best value for your money and to be completely transparent and fair with our pricing.

Absolutely! We will provide you with a contract stipulating your copyright protection.

When you start working with us, we will ask whether you have any deadlines or timeline requests and do our best to accommodate them. Different edits take different amounts of time, with the line edit being the slowest. Timelines are also affected by the length of the manuscript and the amount of work required on it. Typically, you can expect timelines of a few weeks to a few months, but we will discuss this with you individually.

We are dedicated to supporting you as much as possible throughout the writing process and, no matter your editing tier, we will always be on hand to respond to emails, update you, answer questions, and discuss your edits. When you edit an entire manuscript with us, we also include a free 1-hour call to discuss your work once we’ve completed the manuscript. Additional calls can be booked with us at any time.

Testimonials

"5/5 Shirin has been thorough, honest, and accurate in every aspect and a wonderful person to troubleshoot literary issues with. She has a very keen attention to detail and proved to be well versed in all aspects of literature, as well as the random things that show up in fiction! Always open for questions and discussion, she has really helped me identify and work with the parts of my novel that didn’t work. She manages her criticism with delicacy and professionalism, providing honest feedback in a way that doesn’t make you just want to give up writing! I have really enjoyed working with her and would recommend her to anyone with a working piece of literature. Areas where she was particularly helpful with: Plot holes, opportunities to build a better story, awkward and incoherent phrases and incorrect word uses, character inconsistencies, WHY something isn’t working or doesn’t read easily."
-Andrea VanSteenkiste

"I was lucky to have Shirin as an editor for my first book. Her thoughtful questions about my character’s backstory had me probe deeper into their actions and psyche for each scene in the book. She helped with their consistency throughout the entire manuscript. Every writer has blind spots when it comes to their work, and Shirin helped me condense some of my wordiness, helped point out my crutch words and caught some redundancies in my descriptions. And finally, every writer needs an editor who believes in the writer’s vision of their work. Shirin gave positive encouraging feedback throughout the entire manuscript. She is very easy to work with, and I highly recommend her for your editing needs."
-Tacia Lynne

"Shirin is a fantastic editor. Even when I hired her as a professional beta reader for my novel years ago, she gave me feedback on par with my editor. She's meticulous, insightful, kind in her critique delivery, and her advice drastically improved my story for the better."
-JC Rosewater

"I was greatly pleased with Shirin's proof reading of my screenplay she adapted to the format well and gave very detailed notes as well as being punctual with her timing."
- Liam Chisholme