About Invisible Ink Editing
Invisible Ink Editing provides a range of editing and publishing services tailored for independent authors. Click here for our full list of our services.
Booking an appointment
The best way to get in touch with us is to fill out an inquiry form. We strongly recommend you make your appointment at least four to six weeks in advance, as all of our editors’ schedules fill up quickly.
Pricing, timeline, and procedure
We ask all inquiring authors to submit ~5,000 words of their manuscript in a Word document for review. The sample you send should be a fair representation of the current state of the full manuscript, so we can make the most accurate assessment of the level of editing needed. We reserve the right to reject any manuscript that is not yet ready for professional editing services.
A member of the editing team will conduct a free sample edit of ~750–1,000 words, and then, if the manuscript is a good match for our services, will contact you with recommendations for type of editing and pricing. For specifics on price quotes, see our pricing guide.
If both you and your editor agree to move forward, the editor will provide you with an estimated delivery date for your project. Please let us know if you have any specific deadlines that need to be met, and we will do our best to factor this into our scheduling. However, it is not uncommon for our editors to adjust the pricing and/or timeline as they get further into the project. Your editor will contact you promptly with changes to the original pricing or estimated date of delivery if needed.
If you need to cancel or change your start date, it is vital you let your editor know as far in advance as possible. While we are happy to adjust the date if our calendar allows, please note that any significant or open-ended changes in date will be dependent on the editor’s schedule and prior commitments. Any cancellations made less than two weeks in advance of the agreed-upon start date of the project may result in a charge of up to 50% of the full price of the service. We will do our best to accommodate you and avoid such charges.
Levels of editing
Invisible Ink offers a wide variety of editing services, and we use a pricing scale that allows us to provide our clients with the level of editing they need. An agreement with your editor can involve:
• Beta reading
• Copy editing
• Line editing
• Critiquing
• Proofreading
Your editor may feel it’s best to provide several services within one project (such as a critique and a line edit), or the editor and author may agree to take the project in stages (we offer bundles for authors who wish to package multiple services). We have written a blog article that outlines the typical editing process when working with our team.
It is important to note that there is no guarantee that your manuscript will be returned 100% error-free. While we do our best to catch as many errors as we possibly can, we strongly encourage all authors who receive a line edit (or those who make revisions following a beta read or line edit), to undergo a final proofread before formatting and publication.
Under no circumstances will Invisible Ink and/or its editors be held accountable, by anyone at any time, for errors of veracity, accuracy, or originality in a published manuscript we have worked on, or for formatting errors that appear in the final version.
Making payments
All Invisible Ink clients make payments in two parts—one before each service is rendered and the second upon its completion. These payments must be made in full, and the first payment must be submitted before your editor begins working. The final payment must be made no more than 48 hours after your editor has returned your manuscript, unless otherwise agreed upon in advance. You may be subject to additional fees for late payments.
For the time being, we accept payments through PayPal. If there is a different form of payment you prefer, please let your editor know in advance. PayPal charges us a 3% merchant’s fee, and we are willing to absorb up to this fee amount with other appropriate payment measures, if applicable.
If for any reason you are not satisfied with the work provided, we are happy to review the work and negotiate reimbursement if necessary.
The Author-Editor relationship
At Invisible Ink we take our relationships with our clients seriously, and our end goal is always to help you along your path to publication with integrity and good humor.
Communication, honesty, and respect are the building blocks of any relationship, so we make it a priority to be available to you throughout the entirety of the editing process should you have any questions.
Invisible Ink Editing also holds your privacy and the rights to your creative work in high regard. While we may discuss manuscripts with other members of our team when seeking a second opinion, we will never share your work with outside parties. You always retain all rights to your own written work.
We enjoy building long-lasting relationships with our clients, as it allows us to understand your unique style and process, and ultimately helps us provide you with the individualized and constructive service your writing deserves.
