The press and publishing world are full of stories of authors being ripped off by paid-for publishing services. There are certainly some horror stories out there, and it is always worth getting a few quotes, and some authenticated feedback about anyone you are planning to work with. The Alliance of Independent Authors is a great place to start, as they provide an excellent watchdog service as well as a comprehensive directory of reputable service companies.

To give you an idea of pricing, the below is indicative of what you might expect to pay if you decide to entrust your work to Heddon Publishing (and we will do our utmost to ensure you don’t regret that decision! Check out our reviews to see how happy other authors have been).

Developmental editing – a per-hour rate of £38.

Copy-editing – a price per 1000 words, of £12 (to include a further proofread).

Proofreading – a price per 1000 words, of £6.

Formatting – for digital and print publishing: £240.

Consultancy and ad hoc work – a per-hour rate of £38.

Manuscript review & report – £240.

Publishing fee if we agree to publish as a Heddon Publishing title (includes ISBN, file setup charges): £170 single print or ebook, £280 print and ebook.

Please get in touch for further information, and with any questions you might have.

Please note, we do ask for a short excerpt of work before finalising any publishing, editing or proofreading quotes.

With regards formatting, the price above is based on largely text-only books, with minimal images, figures, footnotes, etc. It also includes the creation and provision of both digital and print files, but we can adjust this (and the pricing) if required.

The formatting and manuscript review prices are based on an average length of around 70,000-100,000 word manuscript. The price could be higher or lower if the word count is very different.