Developmental editing assesses your structure, characters, plot, pacing, and provides detailed support for implementing revisions. 

Line editing focuses on the flow, voice, and clarity of your writing at the sentence and paragraph level.

Copy editing addresses grammar, consistency, style guide adherence, and technical accuracy.

Proofreading is the final check for typos, formatting errors, and small mistakes before publication.

We recommend developmental editing first, addressing the story at the structural level. Once the plot is strong, we recommend moving to line editing, followed by copy editing, and finishing with proofreading. Each stage builds on the last, so doing them in this order ensures the biggest-picture issues are addressed before we move on to technical details.

YES, we do! We love providing sample edits, but can only do so for line edits and proofreading. It's not feasible to sample developmental edits, because we need the whole book to know what's missing from the initial chapters - then it's not a sample! It's also difficult with copy edits, where a large part of the service is developing a style guide for the manuscript. It's more work than the cost of the sample edit price, and we want to keep it as low as possible. We provide sample edits on up to 2,000 words for line edits and proofreading. Our sample edits cost $15.00 USD. We allot three (3) business days days to get your sample edit completed, but often complete them more quickly.

Each editorial service includes only one pass, including any memo, in-line comments, or tracked changes as mentioned in the service description. We do not offer a secondary review to confirm suggestions were addressed because most of our clients are self-publishing authors and confirming revision implementation is like checking an author's work to make sure they did it "right." As the author, decision making during the implementation phase is entirely yours. We do not overstep with our current offerings. If you'd like additional rounds and reviews, we can discuss how we can best meet your needs.

We have a per-word price range for every editorial service on our services page. After reviewing a 3,000-word sample of your manuscript, we provide a personalized quote (within the service's range) so you know the cost of each service up front - before signing anything. Once you receive your individual per-word quote, multiply the rate by your manuscript's word count to determine the total cost of your editorial service. 

We take one (1) week for every 45,000 words for most services. This means, if your book is 28,000 words, we would take one (1) week. If your book is 87,000 words, we would take two (2) weeks. If your book is 123,000 words, we would take three (3) weeks, and so on.

Line edits are the only exception. They are such a tedious and technical edit that we take one (1) week per 40,000 words for that service. 

If you would like your book done "early", we can do that at a $60.00 USD per day charge. (Aka, if you want it done one (1) week early, or five (5) business days before our established deadline, it would be an additional $300.00 USD).

Having served as the in-house editor for a book publishing company, Allison is trained to take manuscripts from first draft to printing. That means she can provide the full sweep of edits any manuscript needs, from an editorial assessment , developmental edit, line edit, copy edit, and proofreading. Her favorite is the developmental edit because she loves streamlining a story into it's most powerful form and helping the author craft a better reading experience. Currently, our staff editors handle ALL line editing, copy editing, and proofreading services for Golden Editorial. They also take on developmental edits if Allison is busy during an author's preferred timeline and when a staff editor's skills best match the client's needs.

We love editing both fiction and nonfiction. In the fiction space, we specialize in fantasy, romance, contemporary and literary fiction, YA, suspense, historical fiction, and thrillers. When it comes to nonfiction, we have significant experience working on memoirs, inspirational ​self-help, and educational books. Less well-known, we also work on loads of children's books and middle grade fiction!

Respectfully, hell no. We do not permit anyone within the company to input clients' works and writing into generative AI programs or use AI to complete editorial services in any way. We have strict intellectual property and non-disclosure agreements as well as an AI policy which prohibits AI use with regard to clients' writing. 

Your stories are safe with Golden Editorial. Always.

Yes! Our contract protects Golden Editorial, your editor, and it protects you, ensuring you can count on thorough and completed edits on our agreed-upon deadline. We are comfortable adjusting the language to meet your needs. Just ask! We are also comfortable signing NDAs for our authors (although we have similar language already included in the contract and our contractors' agreements to protect you).

We love it when an author is prepared and wants to get on the calendar in advance. We usually book out about two months in advance, but sometimes have more immediate availability if an author may have moved their project dates back (which is not uncommon!). We require a $200.00 USD deposit to "lock in" your spot on the editing schedule. This $200.00 USD deposit will be deducted from your total price, so it is not an extra fee, it is truly a deposit.

Once you've paid your deposit and signed our contract, we've made a promise to each other.: You've promised that we can expect your project on our agreed-upon start date, and we have promised not to give your date to another author so your editor can give your project the time and attention you're paying for. When you change your date, we have to adjust our schedule to fill the gap your project leaves. Of course, things happen (especially when it comes to writing and rewriting and just plain life!), so it's important to us to be flexible, but there is a small penalty. If, after you've paid the deposit and submitted the signed contract, you decide you need to move your project start date to a later date, you will be charged a Date Change Fee of $100.00 USD. This will not be applied to your remaining balance like your deposit, it is truly a penalty.