Comprehensive assessment of your book's plot, structure and readability. Clear, actionable feedback that will allow you to create a better book.
Detailed, sentence level feedback that will correct grammar and punctuation. Provided via tracked changes so you remain in control at all times.
Extensive multi-page editor's report, which will highlight and explain the big problems with your book. Benefit from our editorial experience.
You've written your book and now you are looking for help taking the next step?
It's taken you months to complete your book, and now you need professional help to lift it to the next level.
Your family and friends think it's great, but they just want to make you happy...
The last thing you want is to publish, only to find a load of nasty Amazon reviews pointing out plot holes and structural errors that you'd missed.
Our unqiue feedback has been designed by writers for writers.
We provide the cost effective solution you need to lift your book to a publishable standard.
“The entire edit was simply extraordinary. The editor’s report was highly detailed, encouraging me to think about my novel in new ways and challenging me to improve my story.”
Ramona Flightner, author of the Banished Saga.
“The most professional and personal editing service I ever used. I had the real feeling of "being read", not just edited. Definitely the best cost/benefit ratio in editing.”
David Papini, author of The Taste of Emotions.
Book editing services that makes a difference
Our unique editing service will provide the feedback you need to lift your book to a publishable standard.
We will provide a complete editing service that combines both structural and line editing into one package. Structural editing will fix plot issues and flow, whilst line editing will highlight spelling, grammar and punctuation issues.
We also provide a detailed editor's report that will guide you in your rewriting by pinpointing the problems and explaining the solutions.
Our price for professional editing is all-inclusive, with no hidden extras. It includes line and structural editing with the editor’s report and in-depth edit, plus all support emails, phone calls, etc.
$15 per 1000 words
What You Get With Book Editing
The first aspect of our editing package is the line edit.
Line editing is simply the process of reading each and every word and then identifying potential problems.
All authors pick up bad habits or have some confusion over the correct way to structure sentences and dialogue. Our line editing will find and highlight these problems. However, just spotting the errors is not enough. We will also correct them when possible and then explain what you are doing wrong and how you can fix it.
For example, … if you wrote this line of dialogue:
'Where is the dog.' Asked John sadly
We would change it to …
'Where is the dog?' John asked.
We would also explain the correct use of punctuation and why you should avoid adverbs in dialogue.
If we spot a typo, we’ll correct it.
If the sentence is clumsy, we’ll correct it.
If something is just not right, we’ll correct it.
However, these will not be “hard” (fixed) corrections. They’ll be done using track changes.
This means, you remain in control with the power to Accept or Reject each individual change (or just Accept All changes in one go, if that’s your thing).
Note that this edit is not a proofread.
Though our editors will change as many errors as possible in the editing process, the proofread is a tool to make your book error-free, but comes at the end of the cleaning-up process, before formatting and uploading.
More important, the edit itself will lead to some level of rewriting from you. So you will be inserting some additional errors (human nature and all that).
This means that proofreading, at this early stage, is just a waste of your money.
This said, we will fix the mistakes we find.
The second, and most important, element of our editing package is the structural edit.
Traditionally published authors would have had both agents and publishers providing support on the technical aspect of their book. However, for the self-publishing author, this feedback must be procured by the book’s creator.
Our editing package is designed to offer this support.
In fact, it is designed to improve on the editorial insights that traditionally published authors often receive.
Our editors will not only look to highlight technical issues but will provide you with a clear road map as to what you can do to fix these issues and how to become a better author.
Our feedback is given through embedded comments within your manuscript and in a detailed multipage editor’s report as well.
This document will be your editor’s thoughts about your book. It will start with a broad overview of what they liked and disliked. It’ll focus on the key issues that will have the most impact on your book. It will also contain the editor’s thinking behind the feedback, plus details on new techniques you can use to fix the problems. Finally the report will look at each chapter in turn and give you a breakdown of what the editor thought.
The aim of the report is to be a document that you can use to understand what issues arose in your book and how they can be fixed. We never just say “fix this” but will instead explain why it is an issue and what you need to do to correct the problem.
For example, … let’s say that we feel your book is slow to start. The editor will explain how essential it is to fully engage the reader as quickly as possible and to propel them from one page to the next. The editor will then suggest a solution (perhaps introducing an inciting incident) and show, in detail, just how you would do this with your story. This might involve a rewrite or adding new scenes. However, no matter what the solution, it will be clear what you need to do and why.
Many authors tell us the editor’s report quickly becomes a valuable tool. Before each editing session, the authors will refer back to the report and get a “feel” for the big picture before delving into the nitty-gritty of the line edit.
Free eBook Cover
Feedback from authors we’ve helped to get published has identified one problem that can be a right royal pain in the backside: cover design!
So … to make your life that little bit easier, we are providing all authors with a free eBook cover of your choosing.
When you submit and pay for your edit, we’ll send you an email with details on how to get your design started. The whole process takes about forty-eight hours, and you should have your cover ready before the edit is completed. In essence, you pick from one of hundreds of designs. The design is tweaked for your book and optimized for publication on Amazon. Don’t worry; once you have picked a design, it will be removed from the site, and remains unique to you and your book.
Above are examples of some cover designs from which you can choose for your book Pick a cover
Editing Turnaround Time
We will return your manuscript within twenty-eight weekdays (counting Monday-Friday) or roughly five calendar weeks.
We will try our best to get the edit back to you sooner, and, in most cases, we do. However, it all depends on your editor and what is already in his or her queue.
We pick the best editor for each job. We are a small and dedicated team. We don’t hire freelancers and just hope for the best. We have professional editors and robust quality-control systems. We can’t rush the process.
Our bet is that authors prefer quality over supersonic speed.
What we will do is provide you with a target delivery date.
If you submitted and paid today, your feedback would be returned no later than March 28.
“The whole process was an invaluable part of taking my story to the next level. The report was detailed and the line edit was very useful. BubbleCow was direct and honest about what worked and what didn't with my first novel and the advice was good, it made sense. BubbleCow were available before, during and after the edit for help and advice about the next steps. Gary even helped me get in contact with an agent. Overall, I was really satisfied with BubbleCow and if you are thinking about having your novel professionally edited, firstly, do it, secondly seriously consider using BubbleCow. I am glad I did.”
Tom Savage, author of the Nora Baron series.
“When I opened my novel I was surprised to find that there were around 5,000 edits and suggestions. That’s crazy. I never expected so much attention to detail. But it was all the notes that accompanied the edits that ‘really’ impressed me. Suggestions to make sentences more active. Notes on consistency. Additions to avoid confusion. Even a couple additional paragraphs to help foreshadow events to come. While going through the edits, I started to wonder if the editor knew my book better than I did. All the feedback was great and it turned a story I felt was good into something I could be truly proud of.”
Kevin Wolfenberger, author of Rise of the Elementals.
Do you accept all genres?
No. We accept most fiction genres and all major nonfiction genres. We DON’T accept:
- Short stories.
- Highly technical non-fiction.
If you are unsure that we will accept your book’s genre, just email and ask.
Do you accept all manuscripts?
No. We accept about 90% of the manuscripts submitted. If we feel your work is not yet at a stage where our editing will provide the maximum value, we will return the manuscript to you. This most commonly occurs when English is not the author’s first language.
If I plan to write/submit more than one book, will I get the same editor?
Is there a minimum word count?
Yes! We don’t accept books of fewer than 15,000 words. The reason is simple. Our secret power is in editing long-form manuscripts; in other words, novels and long nonfiction books. If your book is shorter than 15,000 words, we are probably not the best match.
I wanted to submit my book in small chunks. Is that possible?
Yes. We have a minimum word count of 15,000 words. As long as you submit in chunks of this size or larger, then there’s no issue. In fact, we have had a number of authors take this approach in the past, and it always seems to work well. The key, from our viewpoint, is that you let us know that you will be submitting in chunks. This way we can ensure that you have the same editor for each submission.
Do I get direct contact with my editor?
Yes. We try to keep all communication down to email. The reason for this is that editors have time to answer questions between edits. They can also take their time to provide the detailed answers that fit your problem. We often find the same questions arise time and again, and we have a number of internal resources (and other editors) who the assigned editor can consult with to provide the best answer.
If you need a longer consultation, it's always possible to set up a Skype or telephone conversation.
Do you keep the copyright?
NO! We are simply a service. You pay us; we make your book better. At no point do we take ANY rights. ALL rights remain yours at all times.
Once I have had the book edited, will the editor look at the changes?
We tend not to offer a second edit. The reason for this is that we will note everything we can which adds value to your book during the first edit. Even with significant rewrites, it is probably just not worth you paying for an additional edit from the same editor. That said, we are happy to talk to you and even give general feedback on significant alterations. We see this as a long-term partnership.
If I get my book edited, will I still need a proofread?
Yes! What we will do is remove all the mistakes that we find, but this is not a proofread. In fact, proofreaders are not the same as editors, since they possess a very different skill set. In addition, our edit may trigger a rewrite of sections of your book. Even if we did remove all errors, it is inevitable that the rewrites would add in more (human nature and all that). Therefore, we always suggest that an author schedule a proofread AFTER the edit and rewrites.