This discussion came up with a prospect recently when there was a misunderstanding that when I said I do (selected) book reviews for free, that should not be confused with doing manuscript reviews and content editing for free.

Book reviews are something I do on my own time, for fun, to keep up with what’s currently being written. I review books I either buy on my own, or that an author offers to me to review and I’m interested in reading. I post them on my blog and on Amazon, noting my emotional reaction to the book, the writing style, plot, characterization, info conveyed, etc. They are a couple paragraphs at most. I also understand, as an author, how important book reviews can be to the buying public. This is not a service to my clients, so I obviously don’t charge for it, but it is related to my profession so I post my book reviews on my blog.

Manuscript reviews are not to be confused with book reviews. They are much more in-depth. These are for unfinished books where the author is aware that he needs a professional assessment of the manuscript’s strengths and weaknesses before making final revisions. A manuscript review usually addresses sweeping issues with the book including, (in a novel, for example) characterization, plot, tone, grammar/usage, etc. In my business, clients are delivered a written manuscript review of several pages. In my business, this service ranges from a couple to a few hundred dollars, depending on the length of the book.

Content editing is even more in-depth than a manuscript review. Here, all the sweeping issues are addressed, but also includes a more detailed analysis addressing (chapter by chapter and paragraph by paragraph) areas that need to be expanded, eliminated, tightened, clarified, etc. I do these in Track Changes so the author can see all my notes as they read along, and make the judgment whether or not they want to make changes. In my business, this service starts at several hundred dollars and goes up based on the length, topic of book, and how much work is anticipated. Generally this requires 2-3 read-through’s and the price reflects that.

Something to add? Comments are on (though moderated and checked daily).