Short answer. Our line editing cost is $30 per 1,000 words, with a $149 minimum. A 70,000-word novel comes to $2,100 and takes 10 business days. You get sentence-level edits for rhythm, clarity and word choice, made as tracked changes in your own Word file, so you accept or reject each one.
Key points
- A line edit costs $30 per 1,000 words here, with a $149 minimum.
- Your price is the word count times the rate, written on the quote before you pay.
- 10 business days up to 80,000 words, plus 2 for every started 20,000 words over.
- The edits come back as tracked changes in your Word file.
- A line edit works on sentences. It does not restructure the book.
How is line editing cost worked out?
Line editing cost is your word count divided by 1,000, times $30. If that comes to less than $149, you pay the $149 minimum. The price goes on the quote before you pay, so the number you agree to is the number you are billed.
The minimum only matters for short work. At $30 per 1,000 words, the math passes $149 at about 4,970 words. A 4,000-word story would come to $120 on the rate alone, so it is billed at $149. Anything longer is billed on the rate.
Our book editing page lists the same rate next to the other edits, with the days for each.
What would a line edit cost for my book?
For most novels, a line edit costs between $1,500 and $2,700 at our rate. A 50,000-word book is $1,500 and a 90,000-word book is $2,700. The days stay at 10 up to 80,000 words and grow by 2 for each started block of 20,000 words over that.
| Word count | Line edit | Business days |
|---|---|---|
| 4,000 | $149 (minimum) | 10 |
| 50,000 | $1,500 | 10 |
| 70,000 | $2,100 | 10 |
| 80,000 | $2,400 | 10 |
| 90,000 | $2,700 | 12 |
| 100,000 | $3,000 | 12 |
The 90,000 and 100,000-word books both get 12 days, because both start the same 20,000-word block over 80,000.
What does a line edit actually change?
A line edit changes sentences. It tightens rhythm, cuts repetition, fixes a word that is close but not right, and makes a confusing sentence clear. It does not move chapters or rework a plot. Every change is a tracked change in your Word file, so nothing is final until you accept it.
Here is the kind of call a line editor makes. The sample chapter behind our formatting samples is the opening of Pride and Prejudice, 849 words. On 13 October 2026 we line edited one 48-word sentence from its second paragraph as if it were your 2026 novel.
Before: "However little known the feelings or views of such a man may be on his first entering a neighbourhood, this truth is so well fixed in the minds of the surrounding families, that he is considered as the rightful property of some one or other of their daughters."
After: "However little anyone knows of such a man's feelings when he first moves into a neighbourhood, the families around him are so sure of this truth that they think of him as the rightful property of some one or other of their daughters."
- "Little known the feelings or views ... may be" became "little anyone knows of such a man's feelings". A person now does the knowing, and "or views" went because it repeats "feelings".
- "On his first entering" became "when he first moves into". The plain verb reads faster than the 1813 phrasing.
- "So well fixed in the minds of the surrounding families, that he is considered as" became "the families around him are so sure of this truth that they think of him as". The families act, and "considered as" is gone.
We left "some one" and "neighbourhood" as they were. Those are spelling and style calls, which belong to a copyedit. In Austen the original sentence is right. In your 2026 novel, the after version is the one a reader gets through first time. That judgment, sentence by sentence, is what you are paying for.
Is a line edit the same as a copyedit?
No. A line edit works on how each sentence reads. A copyedit, at $24 per 1,000 words, works on grammar, consistency and clarity, and ours includes a proofread. Many authors need one or the other, not both. If your sentences already read well, the copyedit is the cheaper and better fit.
Our post on developmental, line and copy editing sets the three side by side and says which problem each one fixes.
The fix we do for this: if your beta readers say the story works but the writing drags, that is a line edit. Send us your word count and the chapter that drags and we reply with the price and the dates.
When is a line edit the wrong buy?
A line edit is the wrong buy when the book's structure still needs work. If beta readers stall at the same chapter, or you keep moving scenes around, fix the structure first. Polishing sentences in a chapter you later cut means paying for the same pages twice.
For structure, the edit is a developmental edit at $35 per 1,000 words with a $299 minimum. Our post on what a developmental edit costs has the worked prices. If you cannot tell which problem you have, a manuscript assessment costs $12 per 1,000 words, $199 minimum, and takes 7 business days up to 80,000 words.
A line edit is also more than you need when the only things left are typos and commas. That is a proofread, at $16 per 1,000 words.
How does our rate compare with other editors?
Rates vary widely, so compare per 1,000 words and ask what the price covers. Reedsy's editing cost guide, read on 13 October 2026, says book editors typically charge $0.01 to $0.05 a word. It lists copy editing at $0.020 to $0.032 a word, but it has no separate row for line editing.
That puts our $30 per 1,000 words, or $0.03 a word, inside Reedsy's overall range. Ask any editor whether the price includes tracked changes in your own file or only a marked-up PDF, because that changes how long the fixes take you.
Should I line edit before formatting?
Yes. Line edit first, then format. A line edit changes sentence lengths all through the book, and every change after the pages are set can move a line, then a page end. If you format first, you pay for the layout twice.
When you order both from us, the editing days come first and the formatting days start when you approve the edited file. Our post on what book formatting costs covers that side of the budget.
What else do authors ask about line editing cost?
$0.03 a word here, which is $30 per 1,000 words, with a $149 minimum.
10 business days up to 80,000 words, plus 2 for each started 20,000 words over.
No. A line edit is tracked changes in your Word file. The written report comes with a developmental edit or an assessment.
Our page does not list one with the line edit. The copyedit is the edit that includes a proofread.
Send the word count of the part you want edited and we reply with whether we can take it, the price and the dates. The $149 minimum applies.
What should you do next?
Take your word count, divide by 1,000 and multiply by 30. That is your line edit, unless it comes to less than $149. If you are not sure a line edit is the right depth, send the chapter that bothers you most from our book editing page and we will say which edit we would pick.
