Our editorial services are designed to help writers develop their work into its strongest form. Whether your manuscript is a flash piece or a book-length project*, whether its focus is on the consequences of war or something unrelated, our objective remains the same: to provide you with the insight and support needed to gain a clear understanding of your manuscript’s impact and effectiveness and best next steps. Crafting strong work can be challenging. We’re here to help with those challenges.
We do this through our decades of editing experience. As both published writers and experienced editors, we’re practiced in a variety of strategies to help spot issues, untangle problems, and recommend potential solutions. At the foundation of all this is our well-earned knowledge that editing is not about laying down a set of dictums but rather about conversation and collaboration. We also know that each manuscript should be evaluated by its own objectives and not some universal, monolithic criteria. We want your piece to be your piece and our response tailored to your specific vision and goals.
Please note that due to potential conflict of interest, pieces edited through our services are not eligible for publication in Consequence.
*We currently only offer these services for works of prose. We hope to include poetry in the near future.
1. Complete the INQUIRY FORM, including a brief project summary, goals, and whether you’ll request our sliding scale.*
2. Upload your manuscript (if under ten pages) or a representative ten-page sample to the inquiry form. It should be a Word doc in 12-point Times New Roman, double spaced, with one-inch margins.
3. Wait a few days (typically up to seven). We’ll use this time to match you with an editor and then provide a proposal with detailed fees and project parameters so you know exactly what you’ll get, when you’ll get it, and how much it’ll cost.
4. You’ll pay half of the fees upfront. Our fees are based on median editorial rates reported by the Editorial Freelancers Association. While our editors typically have more specialized experience than the average editor, we want to keep our services affordable while still respecting industry standards.
5. Allow the editor to do the work. Turnaround time depends on the size of the project and our queue. We aim for three to six weeks, but developmental or line editing for manuscripts over two hundred pages may take up to two months.
6. Receive detailed feedback from your editor via annotations in your manuscript and a written report. Note: The second half of your payment is required before we can send our feedback. A video consultation of thirty or sixty minutes is available for an additional fee.
Rush services are available for an additional 10-25% fee based on project size and timeframe.
*Our fees are structured with the writer in mind, but we do offer a sliding scale to help make professional editing accessible regardless of financial circumstances.
Overviews
Manuscript Consultation: A review of your manuscript as a whole, assessing what’s working, what isn’t, why, and what we think might be the best next steps.
Developmental Edit: A deep dive into the shape and substance of your manuscript, focusing on structure, development, and cohesion.
Line Edit: A line-by-line review with the goal of helping you refine each sentence, focusing on clarity, precision, and stylistic consistency and impact.
If you aren’t sure whether a full manuscript consultation, developmental edit, or line edit is right for you, let us know on the inquiry form. We’ll propose the service we think will best serve your manuscript and goals based on your sample.
*Please note we edit using the Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS).
What it is: A candid editorial review of your manuscript assessing what’s working, what isn’t, what stands out (positive or negative) and why, and what we recommend you do next. This is a comprehensive, big-picture review offering a clear, constructive critique. Our intake form will allow you to include specific questions or concerns for our editors. In all cases, we’ll outline priorities for revision and recommended next steps. Best for manuscripts that need a holistic assessment.
What you’ll get:
1. A comprehensive review of your manuscript with lightly annotated text.
2. A written report detailing our assessment, tailored to your specific questions and concerns, with detailed guidance on next steps.
Depending on the level of development of your manuscript, its genre, and your specific questions and goals, you can expect our annotations and report to include feedback on:
While the manuscript consultation offers in-text annotations, this is not a developmental or line edit and does not include fact checking. If, after the consultation, you are looking for more in-depth editorial support or a full mark-up of your manuscript, please request a developmental or line edit of your text.
Turnaround: ~3 to 6 weeks
Fees: For manuscripts under 50,000 words, we charge a flat fee per word count range, reflecting an approximate hourly rate.
Up to 1,000 words: $50
1,001 – 2,000: $75
2,001 – 3,000: $100
3,001 – 4,000: $125
4,001 – 5,000: $150
5,001 – 7,500: $175
7,500 – 10,000: $200
10,000 – 20,000: $250
20,000 – 30,000: $450
30,000 – 40,000: $550
40,000 – 50,000: $650
For manuscripts over 50,000 words, our fee is 1.5¢ per word. For example: 60,000 words = $900; 100,000 = $1,500; 200,000 = $3,000.
A video consultation of thirty or sixty minutes is available for an additional fee $30/30 min $60/60 Word Count
What it is: A deep dive into the shape and substance of your manuscript: how the plot or argument unfolds, how the narrative is organized, how characters and themes are developed. We provide detailed annotations in your manuscript and a report focusing on structure, character, point of view, consistency, clarity, and thematic development and impact. Best for manuscripts that need some structural work before fine-tuning with line editing.
What you’ll get:
1. A complete manuscript analysis with annotations and tracked changes throughout, tailored to the goals you stated in the inquiry form but typically focusing on:
2. A comprehensive editorial report summarizing developmental issues and edits to the manuscript and addressing your specific questions, concerns, and goals. We’ll recommend places for expansion and contraction; ask questions that will help you flesh out characters, scenes, and premises; and propose possibilities for deepening the emotional resonance of your work.
While we will provide detailed in-text annotations, this is not a line edit and does not include full fact checking.
Turnaround: ~three to six weeks
Fees: For manuscripts under 3,000 words have standard fees as outlined below, reflecting an approximate hourly rate.
Up to 1,000 words: $50
1,001 – 2,000: $75
2,001 – 3,000: $100
For manuscripts over 3,000 words, developmental editing fees are 5¢ per word. Our proposal will include an exact fee.
A video consultation of thirty or sixty minutes is available for an additional fee $30/30 min $60/60 Word Count
What it is: A line-by-line review of your manuscript with the goal of helping you refine each sentence and paragraph, focusing on clarity, precision, and stylistic consistency. While we’ll correct errors and point out any patterns that need attention, line editing focuses on sharpening language and style for maximum impact. This service is best for authors with structurally sound manuscripts ready for stylistic and sentence-level refinement.
What you’ll get:
1. Line-by-line, in-text editing focused on the following while maintaining your style and voice:
2. Light copy editing for grammar and mechanics. (Line editing should take place before a detailed copy edit.)
3. A style sheet documenting conventions and corrections (if needed).
4. A summary editorial report highlighting stylistic strengths and impact, patterns to watch, and suggestions for further revision, with detailed notes on each of the areas of focus above.
While we will provide detailed in-text annotations, this is not a developmental edit and does not include fact checking.
Turnaround: ~four to six weeks
Fees: For manuscripts under 3,000 words have standard fees as outlined below, reflecting an approximate hourly rate.
Up to 1,000 words: $50
1,001 – 2,000: $75
2,001 – 3,000: $100
For manuscripts over 3,000 words, developmental editing fees are 5¢ per word. Our proposal will include an exact fee.
A video consultation of thirty or sixty minutes is available for an additional fee $30/30 min $60/60 Word Count
We specialize in literary fiction and nonfiction. For academic manuscripts, we recommend you work with an editor with subject-specific expertise.
We do not currently accept poetry for editorial services. Some of our editors have expertise in genre fiction (i.e., speculative fiction), and we match authors with the most appropriate editor available. If no one on our team with expertise in your specific subgenre is available, we will match you with a literary fiction expert.
We assign editors based on genre/subject match. If you’ve worked with a Consequence editor before, you may request them specifically (subject to availability). See our editor profiles here [link coming].
Unfortunately, no, as it’s a conflict of interest. We can, however, recommend several other similarly themed journals that would love to take a look at your work.
Yes. Query letter editing: $150. Book proposal editing: $500–800 depending on length. Contact us for details.
We accept most projects but may decline manuscripts that:
~Fall outside our editorial expertise
~Contain content that violates our ethical standards
~Are generated by AI (humans only please)
No editorial service can guarantee publication. We provide the professional feedback that can significantly improve your chances of acceptance.
If you’re unsure which type of service will best serve your needs, let us know on your inquiry form. We’ll review your sample and recommend a service based on your sample and your goals.
Rush services are available for an additional 10-25% fee based on project size and timeframe.
If you cancel before editorial work begins, we will refund your deposit minus a $50 administrative fee.
If you cancel after editorial work has begun, we will refund your deposit minus a $50 administrative fee and charges for the work already completed by the editor (please note that this may result in a balance due, which will be required before you receive the editorial annotations and feedback completed to that point).
Elizabeth Lukács Chesla holds an MA in English and Comparative Literature from Columbia and teaches at Gwynedd Mercy University. Her award-winning novella You Cannot Forbid the Flower (2023) is based on her father’s experience in the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, and her short prose appears or is forthcoming in Another Chicago Magazine, Claudine, Unbroken, Quarter After Eight, and the flash anthology Flare (2027).
Matthew Krajniak earned a PhD in Literature and Creative Writing at the University of Houston as a C. Glenn Cambor fellow. He coedited Wendy Battin: On the Life & Work of an American Master (Unsung Master Series, 2020), and his writing has appeared in Gulf Coast, Poetry Foundation, Willows Wept Review, The Avalon Literary Review, The Wax Paper, and elsewhere
