About me:

I’ve been writing and publishing since 2012. With a BA in English from Weber State University, I have 28 books published and have been editing books professionally since 2017. Before that, I was a critique partner and beta reader for years. I’ve edited hundreds of novels for multiple bestselling authors, and I’ve worked for a small press and a large publishing house.

I’ve watched books I’ve edited skyrocket up to the top 100 of Amazon, which is pretty stinking amazing to watch as an editor. I adore digging into stories and finding ways to polish them.

I edit all genres and heat levels. I've worked on Fantasy, Contemporary Romance, Historical Romance, Women’s Fiction, Paranormal, Mystery, Dystopian, Sci-Fi, YA, and Middle Grade.

I’m also an acquisitions editor at Romantica Publishing. If you’re interested, you can submit to me at submit@romanticapublishing.com. Learn more at www.romanticapublishing.com.

Here's how it works.

You send me the first 1000 words of your manuscript, and I will send you a sample edit. If we both feel that we're a good fit for each other, you'll tell me what kind of edit(s) you're looking for, and we'll proceed with the project.

The first half of my fee is due upfront via a PayPal invoice I will send you. The second half is due via invoice when I send the completed edit back to you.

I have a minimum fee of $50.

Note: All editing clients are eligible for 10% off cover design once your edit is complete.

There is a $50 deposit to hold your spot. This deposit is nonrefundable and goes toward your edit. If you need to reschedule for some reason, I can hold your deposit for a future date as long as it is within the next six months.

Deluxe package - $0.014 Per Word

Bundle and save. (These two edits booked separately come up to .017 per word)

I will go through your manuscript with both a content and line edit. I’ll sweep it for plot holes and structure, characters goals and development, missing wounds, and depth issues. I will look for inconsistencies, head hopping, filtering, spelling errors, grammar, and punctuation. Once you fix everything, send it back to me, and I’ll go through it again a second time to pick up those last minute stragglers.

Gold Package - $0.018 Per Word

Bundle and save. (These three edits booked separately come up to $0.023 per word)

You will get three rounds of edits. Content, line, and proofread. Between each round, you will fix it up and send me back the cleaned up copy. The idea is to get is cleaner and cleaner as we go until it’s polished and ready for formatting. If you book this edit, you will be eligible for 10% off my formatting.

Content Edit - $0.009 per word

I will go through your manuscript and point out inconsistencies, plot holes, structure issues, character goals, growth, and depth issues. I send it back to you.

Line Edit - $0.008 per word

This is where I look for redundancies, head hopping, filtering, spelling errors, grammar, and punctuation. I’ll grab those pesky commas, forgotten periods, missing quotation marks, and skipped words. I’ll help you polish up your prose until it shines. I use Track Changes in MS Word and edit right in your document.

Copy Edit - $0.007 per word

This is where I check for incorrect verb tenses, grammar, and repeated words. I’ll spot your missing commas, skipped words, missing quotation marks, and overused exclamation points. When this round is finished, I will send it back to you. You fix it and send it back for the final round.

Proofread - $0.006 per word

This is the final cleanup. I'll check for punctuation, last minute grammatical errors, missing words, repeated words, extra spaces, and other formatting errors.

Beta Reading - $0.004 per word

I will read your book and give you inline comments throughout your manuscript as well as a written cover letter with my overall feedback. This is where you get to hear my opinion of your writing. Am I connecting with your character? Is your character likeable? Are there places where the story is dragging? Does your plot make sense? Is your pacing off? Do you need a content edit? Multiple rounds of edits or maybe just one? Do you have big inconsistencies?

This is not the type of edit where I correct grammar for you. But if I see repeating patterns of issues in your writing like incorrect comma usage around dialog or filtering, I’ll mention it in the cover letter with a couple of examples so you’re aware of it and can go back and fix them.

I will also include whether I think your book is marketable, and I’ll give suggestions on what you can do to improve its ability to sell, like adding in popular tropes and universal fantasies.

Editing add-on: Teasers

I will highlight quotes you can use for teasers on your social media for your social media and in your Facebook ads. And if you need someone to make graphics for you with these quotes, I’m your girl. I have Canvo Pro and a bunch of cute fonts and can provide you with square Instagram-sized graphics

10 quotes: $60

5 quotes: $30

Graphics: $20 each

Timeline:

I offer a turnaround time of two weeks per round. If you’re up against a tight deadline, I offer less than a week edits for an extra fee of .001 per word. So for a 50,000 word manuscript, it would be $50.

Blurb Help: $85

Having trouble getting your blurb right? I can assist you in creating a blub that will help you hook readers and convince them to buy. How does it work? We’ll sit down together and talk about your book’s main conflict, character wounds, and what’s at stake. This includes a proofread of your blurb so it’s ready to publish to your sales page.

Formatting Services: Starting at $80

Do you need your book formatted? I offer Vellum formatting. If you’d like to know more about Vellum, you can see what I’m talking about here: https://vellum.pub/

Note: this pricing is for a basic format with no images. There is a variety of customizations you can choose from at the website above, and your book may look similar to the image below.

ADD ON: Images inside the chapters - $2 per image

Email me your images via Dropbox or Google Drive and I’ll be happy to include them for you. (Please note that Vellum does not support full bleed images inside your chapters at this time. You may only have full bleed images at the front and back of your book.)

ADD ON: Chapter Heading Images - $2 per image

This fee is for images you provide to me. If you would like me to design your chapter headings, I’m happy to do so. There is a $10 per image fee for that service. I can provide you with images that take up the entire top half of your page for each chapter. They can turn out absolutely gorgeous.

Disclaimer: Please keep in mind that Vellum is limited on what it can do. You will get a beautiful, professionally formatted book, but if you want to switch the format to something Vellum is not capable of doing, that may be an issue. That being said, Vellum is a fantastic program with many customizations available. I can add images, custom headings for your chapters, and custom scene breaks. We can add full page images of maps to your front or back matter. But it will be beyond the $80 basic format.

If you're interested in working with me, email me to check my availability at cindyrayhale@gmail.com.

Testimonial:

Sally Henson, Author of the Regan Stone Series

"I wanted to share my experience working with Cindy Ray Hale for a content edit of my book, Kiss Me Already. The first draft of this book was over 110K words. I write YA romance and a 110K word story is way too long for this genre. I had the brilliant idea of splitting the book in two. I did that and sent it to Beta readers. The feedback was not what I wanted. I enlisted Cindy’s services to guide me through the changes that needed to be made. Boy I’m glad I did. Seriously, I’m not sure I could have done it without her. It was tough work—a big undertaking. She pushed me beyond my comfort zone and guided me in the direction I needed to go, including getting rid of extra words that didn’t need to be there. Her knowledge of story, especially the catalyst/inciting incident and the crisis took my work to the next level.

I learned so much working with Cindy that I’ve been able to increase my productivity. Cindy Ray Hale did a fantastic job with my story and me. I’d definitely recommend working with her."