Nonfiction Editing

Why Nonfiction Authors Need Editing

We offer specialized editing services for nonfiction authors and other publishers of nonfiction, memoir, and general interest. Our authors typically write essays, opinion pieces or criticism, blog posts and website content, as well as book manuscripts for independent or popular presses.

Whether this is your first attempt or you’re well published, you need a trusted professional to give you feedback and to serve as your second pair of eyes. Flatpage offers high-quality editing with a fast turnaround and unlimited availability!

Our editors have PhDs in various subject areas, as well as specialized training and/or years of experience as manuscript editors. Many of our editors have published their own books and articles, including online and with renowned publishers.

Our professional editors help nonfiction authors in the following fields (and more!):

Fine Art & Art History

Culture

Economics

Film & Media

History & History of Science

Languages & Literature

Philosophy

Politics

Psychology

Race, Gender, & LGBTQ+

Society & Social Issues

Theatre & Performance

Manuscript Editing Services

Developmental / Structural Editing

Developmental editing will help you shape the content of your document so that your contribution takes center stage. Our developmental editors have served as editors of journals and acquisitions editors at presses, and published widely. We can help you shape the argument, organization, and flow of your manuscript.

Learn More

Line / Stylistic Editing

Line editing is used to address the style of your writing so that it has maximal impact. Our line editors are experts at the craft of writing and have published widely themselves. We can help you maintain a consistent tone, improve word choice, identify text to be cut/pruned or expanded upon, and write clear sentences in native English.

Learn More

Copyediting

Copyediting involves a rinse of your manuscript, with attention to grammar, punctuation, and mechanics (i.e., conforming it to house style or manual like the Chicago Manual of Style). Whether you’re an ESL writer or just need your manuscript formatted, this service will ensure that you deliver a clean document to your respective publisher or editor.

Learn More

Proofreading

Proofreading is the final stage in the publication process and is reserved for minor typos and consistency between manuscript sections on page proofs. By the time you are ready for a proofread, your manuscript should have already gone through a content (developmental) edit and a copyedit. This service will ensure that your manuscript is publication-ready.

Learn More
Pricing

Note that the rates for developmental editing do not include front/back matter or citations/bibliographies.

Service Details

Manuscript Assessment
Report + Call
$0.05/word (up to 50k words); $0.04/word (50k words and up)

Full Developmental Edit
Draft markup + Report + Call
$0.07/word (up to 50k words); $0.06/word (50k words and up)

Note that the rates for line editing do not include front/back matter or citations/bibliographies. Minimum purchase $100. Per-word rates begin at 3,001 words with a minimum budget of $200.

Service Details

Line Edit
Improve word choice and syntax of sentences; address overall flow of writing; ensure consistent voice and tone
$0.06/word (up to 50k words); $0.05/word (50k words and up)

Short-Form Line Editing 
For short documents under 3,000 words (e.g., blog posts, short essays, proposals, cover letters)
<1,000 words: $100
1,001-2,000 words: $150
2,001-3,000 words: $200

Minimum purchase $100. Per-word rates begin at 3,001 words with a minimum budget of $200.

Service Details

Light Copyedit
Correct grammar and punctuation, apply style guide to text and citations
$0.04/word

Medium Copyedit
Correct grammar and punctuation; improve word choice or voice; apply style guide to text and correct citations
$0.05/word

Heavy Copyedit
Correct language, grammar, and punctuation; reformat text; apply style guide to text; overhaul citations
$0.06/word

Short-Form Copyediting 
For short documents under 3,000 words (e.g., blog posts, short essays, proposals, cover letters)
<1,000 words: $100
1,001-2,000 words: $150
2,001-3,000 words: $200

Minimum project budget $200.

Service Details

Basic Proofread
$0.03 per word

Citations
Apply style to foot/endnotes and/or bibliography (CMoS, APA, MLA, others)
$1.50/citation (not per note)

Convert biblio <-> notes
$2.50/note citation

Indexing
One of the last stages in publishing academic and nonfiction books, but also the stage requiring special expertise. Priced per indexable page (PDF page proofs only; count includes body text/foot- or endnotes/illustrations/appendices but does not include front/back matter/bibliography)
$5/page

Manuscript Formatting
Correcting layout issues, including front matter, pagination, figures and tables, headings, and page margins according to a style guide (e.g., CMoS, APA, or university guidelines)
$2/page

Additional Services

Book Proposals

Evaluations for authors submitting to publishers

Ghostwriting

Work with an expert writer to craft content

Consulting

For the writing and publishing process

Short Form & Blogs

For social media, blogs, and other short writing

Get a Quote

Latest Work

Learn More

Ready to take the next step?

Get a rate quote or speak to our chief editor by clicking below.

Get a QuoteBook a Free Consultation
By /

Nonfiction Editing Services

Write better articles, essays, and books.

We offer:

Authors

We offer top-quality nonfiction editing and proofreading services for individual authors of articles for the popular press, essays, online publications, and books.
Learn More

Publishers

Get developmental editing, manuscript evaluations, copyediting, and proofreading for nonfiction manuscripts, including articles, essays, and single- and multi-authored books.
Learn More

Hire Experts

Our editors have academic degrees from top universities. We have decades of experience in publishing and certificates in editing from the most renowned programs.

Cara J.PhD, Art History, CUNY Graduate Center
A white woman in her 30s with long dark hair and distinct bangs. Behind her is a stack of books.
Peter R.PhD, Linguistics, MIT
An older man with glasses and white hair wearing a suit and tie.
Carolee K.PhD, American Studies, Yale University
A white woman in her 30s with light shoulder-length hair wearing a dark sweater.
Liz S.PhD, Slavic Languages & Literatures, Princeton University
Liz S.
Eliah B.PhD, History, UC Berkeley
A white man in his 40s with wireframe glasses and a beard standing in front of a stone wall.
Katherine F.PhD, Literature, Vanderbilt University
A white woman in her 30s with blonde hair just below the chin wearing a simple dark sweater.
Previous
Next

Learn More

Hear from Our Clients

Fellow authors who have worked with us share their experiences.

Tracy Stonestreet
★★★★★ 5/5

“I was extremely impressed with the attention my project received, both in written comments and in my one-hour session with my editor! Leslie provided thoughtful, thorough, and actionable feedback. She worked through both the big ideas and the small writing tics, helping me see where I could easily improve my project. She was also very friendly and open, and seemed genuinely interested in my success. I would recommend this service to anyone who needs to get their writing to the next level.”

Ana Perry
★★★★★ 5/5

“The manuscript assessment I received from Katherine Fusco was incredibly helpful and so generous. I am grateful to have had someone read my work so closely and to come up with practical paragraph by paragraph strategies for how to make my argument clearer as well as how to address big picture issues. The comments were clearly articulated in such a way that held my own writing accountable to the goals I claimed to put forward. Katherine also showed a breadth of knowledge of theorists like José Esteban Muñoz and was able to help strategize more effect use of theory throughout my text. While this was definitely an investment, the price is fair for the work especially if you are looking to get your writing to a broader audience and better place. I would 100% recommend these services to my friends and colleagues.”

Frankie Abralind
★★★★★ 5/5

“I’m SO happy I hired Flatpage. I’m self-publishing my artist’s book, so pay-as-I-go editorial support has been an ideal solution. Cara made the whole experience super user friendly for me. Adam gave me incredibly valuable advice on layout, style, and content. Tim’s astonishing attention to detail revealed the subtlest errata that even my most fastidious friends hadn’t turned up. Tim even provided the unicodes for hard-to-type special characters! I’m so impressed and grateful. I’m sure I’ll hire Flatpage again for every book I ever write.”

Frequently Asked Questions

Yes! We offer special manuscript editing rates when you book more than one service at a time.

More than likely yes! But we do assess rush fees for tight schedules, especially if we have to rearrange other projects to accommodate it.

We ensure full confidentiality for all of our clients’ personal details and the contents of the projects we work on. All of our editors sign strict privacy agreements.

Yes, we perform sample edits on approx. 500-800 words from the middle of the manuscript within the first 48 hours after receipt of the manuscript and after the client has signed an agreement with us. At this time, you can review the editor’s work and give them feedback for the rest of the project, if necessary.

Contact us.

Get a Quote
Flatpage

Editorial

Publishing

Resources

About

Newsletter

Contact
Contact
Scroll to Top