Terms, Policies, and Procedures
Electronic Editing

(Go to Hard-copy Editing Terms)

Please review the following terms before requesting a quote for electronic editing services.

After your initial message through the form on this site, we will discuss your book, story, poetry, or children's book text, your desired turnaround time, and my availability, and I'll provide a quote. [See FAQ for pricing info.] Following this, I will email an invoice and one-page Client Agreement to you. Invoices for less than $150.00 are required to be paid in full, up front, regardless of when the editing job is scheduled. For invoices of $150.00 or more, half of the balance or $150 is required up front (whichever is greater), and the second half required on or before the file delivery date. I reserve the right to decline a proposed project if I feel it is not well suited to me. You are also under no obligation to accept any offer. [See FAQ for info about AI-generated content]

IMPORTANT NOTE: Sending any invoice payment indicates your agreement to all terms detailed in the Client Agreement. So, please read it carefully and contact me before paying if you have any concerns.

Often, projects will need to be scheduled weeks in advance. Contacting me as soon as possible is best, even if you're not yet done writing, so that I can schedule time for your book/short story and discuss deadlines and expectations. You’re welcome to ask about rush jobs, but my schedule rarely allows for it. Once your initial payment is received, my time is reserved for your book as agreed.

Accepted payment methods include debit, credit, PayPal and Square. All payments are processed securely through PayPal (account not required) or Square. I will send an invoice that includes payment and delivery details, as well as an offer expiration date.

All manuscripts and short stories need to be submitted in Microsoft Word format (.doc or .docx), attached to an email. I edit using Word’s "Track Changes" feature, and include side comments when applicable. If your manuscript is in a different format, or you do not know how to use Word's "Track Changes" feature, let me know immediately. ORIGINAL IMAGES for your book must also be included, as individual EMAIL ATTACHMENTS (even if copies have also been inserted in the Word file). Necessary image manipulation for up to 10 images is included in my Book Overhaul. Image size and resolution is crucial to appearance in printed books.

All content submitted must be the author’s original content; non-original material must be credited to original author and permissions received where necessary. If the majority of content was AI-GENERATED, I must be informed prior to my quote and I will add $100 to the quote, regardless of length. If I am NOT informed and run the book/story content through an AI-detector after purchase and discover it IS AI-generated, then I will decline the job and refund your deposit MINUS a $50 inconvenience fee.

If I have necessary questions regarding clarification of ideas or intent throughout the editing process, I’ll send you a questions document. Please briefly respond to my specific questions.

I'm happy to accept changes to your manuscript or short story after your original submission IF I have not yet begun editing, OR IF I have not yet touched the associated portion or chapter. Any revisions to portions that I've already touched would need to wait until after my first round of editing the entire manuscript/short story.

Once I’ve completed initial editing, I’ll send the edited file(s) to you as a Word document(s). Revisions by the author MUST be made in the newest version of the edited file. I will also attach instructions for my revision process. All book editing and revisions must be completed/approved PRIOR to paperback formatting. Even very minor changes in the text can require a substantial amount of time to reformat paperback manuscripts. If both eBook and paperback formatting are requested, the order in which they will be completed cannot be switched once set.

Often, my comments will suggest rewriting or possibly adding new content. You are not obligated to follow my suggestions, however, this is part of the service I provide. I will provide further revisions to content TOTALING 1000 WORDS OR LESS as part of the Book Overhaul, or TOTALING 500 WORDS OR LESS as part of the Short Story/Poetry Upgrade. Added new content of any length, along with revisions of MORE THAN 1000/500 WORDS (books/short stories), will be considered an additional job and subject to availability in my schedule. ADDITIONAL CHARGES will be based only on the word count of the added content (not the word count of the entire book).

I do not offer refunds once I have already begun editing. If you request a refund before I start editing your manuscript or short story, and within one week of payment, then I will be happy to refund your deposit within seven days of receiving your request, minus a $25 cancellaton fee. For Book Overhauls, if you decide not to pay the second half of the balance for whatever reason, then you will receive half of the completed book (non-negotiable). You are welcome to pay for completion and delivery of the second half of the book at a later date, subject to availability in my schedule.

Please realize that I cannot guarantee successful or lucrative book publication. I DO guarantee that I will provide dedicated and accurate editing services along with honest and specific feedback as promised. My goal is to significantly improve and enhance your book in preparation for self‑publishing, and significantly improve and enhance your non-book short stories, while protecting your ideas, intent and tone.

Your work will never be shared with or distributed to anyone, period, without your express permission. Authors retain full copyright protection of original content at all times, and gain copyright protection of content edited and delivered by karolyneditsbooks.com upon receipt of payment. The only exception to this is AI-generated content which is not copyrightable. Likewise, I will only use your content for the purpose of providing editing and proofreading services. In addition, your personal details, including contact information, email address, and personal communications will be kept private and never shared, sold, or rented at any time. The only exception to this rule would be in the unlikely event of nonpayment for services rendered or reversal of charges, in which case legal recourse would require the sharing of said information with the appropriate government authorities.

I often add published book covers to my online portfolio to display many of the finished books that I've worked on. Editing clients and newsletter subscribers will automatically receive occasional email updates about my services, specials, or scheduling. ***If you choose to request exclusion from this activity or future emails (unrelated to current contracts), please notify me either through this site's contact form or by replying directly to an email previously received from karolyneditsbooks.com.

After the job is complete, I may ask if you’d like to write a testimonial about my services. This is completely optional. If you choose to do so, then it will be posted on my website, along with your name (first name only or both, whichever you prefer) and country.

Alternative contact method for clients and quote requestors

I reserve the right to update these Terms periodically. Updated terms are not retroactive.
Last updated: June 4, 2023