Editorial support tailored to the needs of museums and cultural institutions.
Your Exhibitions Inspire Audiences—So Should Your Words
At Flatpage, we understand that great exhibitions rely on more than compelling objects—they depend on clear, engaging, and accessible writing. We provide specialized editing and writing services for museums and cultural institutions across all disciplines, from historical or contemporary art to natural history, science and technology, and cultural heritage.
Whether you’re preparing exhibition didactics, updating permanent collection text, producing a catalogue or reader, or developing digital guides and online content, your words are crucial to shaping the visitor experience. Flatpage helps museums craft content that is not only well-written, but also audience-focused and aligned with your institutional voice.
Our editors bring deep academic and professional expertise in art and design history, museum studies, education, and interpretation. We’ve worked with thousands of institutions of all sizes to develop texts that communicate effectively with diverse audiences—without oversimplifying or losing nuance.
We support curators, educators, editors, and public engagement teams in refining label copy, essays, wall texts, and program materials. From early drafts to final proofs, our editorial process ensures that your storytelling is as thoughtful and impactful as your exhibitions.
The services below are tailored to meet the needs of museum professionals. For additional editorial offerings, please refer to our overview page.
Your Flatpage Advantage
Refine Interpretive Texts
Strengthen wall labels, exhibition didactics, and guides so they’re clear, engaging, and visitor-friendly.
Align Institutional Voice
Maintain consistency across departments, platforms, and projects while preserving your museum’s intended tone.
Improve Accessibility
Edit for plain language and readability to make content more inclusive for diverse audiences.
Support Large-Scale Projects
Streamline editing for catalogues, digital guides, and multi-author publications with care and coordination.
Meet Deadlines
Work fast and collaboratively to help your team stay on schedule for publication launches and exhibition openings.
Enhance Public Engagement
Make your messaging more compelling across press releases, web content, social media, and programs.
Partner With Museum-Savvy Editors
Collaborate with professionals who understand curatorial language, exhibition workflows, and audience engagement.
Exhibition Proposals
Catalogue Essays & Readers
Digital Content & Guides
Exhibition Labels & Didactics
Press Releases
Marketing Content
Grant Proposals
Wikipedia Pages
Developmental Editing
Developmental editing will help you shape the content of your manuscript so that your exhibition, collection, or program takes center stage. Our editors have experience writing about artists and exhibitions, crafting interpretive texts, publishing scholarly and public-facing content, and even securing grants themselves. We can help you structure the narrative of a catalogue, shape wall texts for clarity and audience engagement, or refine the tone of a grant proposal or educational resource.
Line editing is used to address the style of your writing so that it has maximal impact. Our line editors are experts in the craft of writing and have published widely across both academic and public-facing platforms. We can help you refine tone, improve word choice, reduce redundancy, and ensure clarity in fluid US or UK English—whether you’re drafting a catalogue essay, wall label, curatorial introduction, or blog post about an exhibition or initiative.
Copyediting focuses on the mechanics of your manuscript, with attention to grammar, punctuation, spelling, and formatting (i.e., conforming your work to house style or editorial guides like the Chicago Manual of Style). Whether you’re an in-house editor, independent curator, or museum educator, this service ensures that your final text is polished and professionally prepared for publication, submission, or presentation.
Proofreading is the final step before publication and is reserved for correcting minor typos and ensuring consistency across sections on the designed page proofs. By the time your text reaches this stage, it should already have been through developmental and copyediting. This service will help ensure that your catalogue, guide, or program material is accurate, polished, and ready for public or scholarly release.
Indexing provides a reader-friendly back-of-book index for museum publications such as exhibition catalogues, artist monographs, or scholarly readers. A well-structured index improves navigation, accessibility, and long-term usability—especially for researchers, educators, and scholars. Our editors work closely with your team to identify key themes, names, and terms, and build a professional index that reflects the content and focus of your publication.
Note that the rates for developmental editing do not include front/back matter or citations/bibliographies.
Manuscript Assessment – Report + Call
Up to 50k words
$0.05 per word
50k words and up
$0.04 per word
Full Developmental Edit – Draft markup + Report + Call
Up to 50k words
$0.07 per word
50k words and up
$0.06 per word
Line Editing
Note that the rates for line editing do not include front/back matter or citations/bibliographies.
Line Edit
Up to 50k words
$0.06 per word
50k words and up
$0.05 per word
Graduate Student Line Edit For dissertations and theses (only one editorial pass included). Proof of enrollment required.
$0.04 per word
Copyediting
Our project manager can help you determine the level of copyediting your text needs.
Light Copyedit Correct grammar and punctuation, apply style guide to text and citations
$0.04 per word
Medium Copyedit Correct grammar and punctuation, improve word choice or sentence flow, apply style guide to text and correct citations
$0.05 per word
Heavy Copyedit Correct language, grammar, and punctuation; reformat text; apply style guide to text; overhaul citations
$0.06 per word
Grad Student Copyedit For dissertations and theses (only one editorial pass included). Proof of enrollment required.
$0.03 per word
Proofreading
Basic Proofread
$0.03 per word
Indexing
Indexing is priced per indexable page (PDF page proofs only; count includes body text, foot- or endnotes, illustrations, and appendices but does not include front/back matter or bibliography).
$6 per indexable page
Proposal Evaluation for Exhibitions / Grants
Are you a curator or museum development professional who is planning an exhibition or applying for a grant and you need a solid proposal that clearly, yet accurately reflects your intended project, goals, and timeline? Let us help you get there with a proposal evaluation.
Our editors have decades of experience reading, reviewing, and editing exhibition and grant proposals. We can help you produce a solid text that you can use for your applications.
This service includes the following:
An evaluation of your proposal that addresses structure, tone, clarity, and language/mechanics by an expert
Comments on your draft and a basic written assessment (one pass only)
Up to 1,000 words
$100
1,001–1,500 words
$150
1,501–2,000 words
$200
2,001–2,500 words
$250
2,501–3,000 words
$300
Average turnaround for up to 2,000 words is typically 3–5 days. This service includes one pass.
Note: This service does not include drafting, rewriting, or line editing your draft. You are responsible for making any suggested content changes and for finalizing any edits to your draft before submission. Services do not guarantee acceptance.
Wikipedia pages are an art in themselves. Our writers will craft an academically legitimate, properly sourced, and unbiased post about your work and career. The writers at Flatpage have successfully created content for Wikipedia and are familiar with the site’s style guide and formatting.
Wikipedia ghostwriting
$1 per word
Wikipedia editing
$75 per hour
Process
Using your CV, biography, press list, and/or statement of purpose, the writer will formulate an article of predetermined length (generally 350–750 words for early or mid-career and 1,000–1,500 words for established professionals). We will provide additional research as needed to ensure that viable secondary sources are available to backup the content in the text.
This service includes:
An initial proposal based on our writer’s assessment of your CV, biographical narrative, and other source materials you supply. The proposal will include an approximate length and preliminary organization
A brief call with the writer if more details are needed
A draft of a biographical article that will be submitted for publication on Wikipedia following your approval
Disclaimer: Wikipedia is a nonprofit organization supported by volunteers. Its platform is open for anyone with an internet connection to view and edit. It is therefore likely that the published article will experience some changes over time. These changes will likely be minor stylistic edits or suggestions. Therefore, we cannot guarantee that the article will retain its current form. It is the responsibility of the writer and the Wikipedia community at large to follow and adhere to style, format, and content guidelines. This will ensure that the article is factually sound and written in a neutral tone. Our experience writing and editing academic texts makes us experts at providing a strictly empirical perspective, advising on the quality of the content, and determining whether it has merit for publication. Our well-written, well-sourced, and unbiased entries are less likely to be scrutinized by the Wikipedia community. Newly drafted articles can take up to 90 days to be found by search engines.
The team at Flatpage provided copyediting services on the exhibition catalogue and guide for the 2024 Venice Biennale, Stranieri Ovunque – Foreigners Everywhere.
Exhibition Catalogue and Press Materials Copyediting
A dynamic regional contemporary art center needed ongoing support for their exhibitions and marketing efforts. Flatpage stepped in to provide copyediting services so that they can always put their best foot forward.
Bloomberg Philanthropies collaborated with Flatpage’s team to help manage the complex editorial process for their arts and culture app, Bloomberg Connects, which hosts guides to over 500 cultural organizations in 24 countries and in 40 languages. Flatpage provides copyediting and proofreading services for hundreds of cultural institutions worldwide, including art museums, historic sites, gardens, and festivals.
