Straight answers about editing, from people who make books.
Scribe Editing is free help for nonfiction authors who have a draft and want to know what to do with it. It is made openly by Scribe Media, a book writing and publishing company in Austin, Texas. We built it because the most common question we hear from authors with a manuscript is "what kind of editor do I need?", and the honest answer is often "less than you think" or "not yet."
Who we are
Scribe Media has published more than 3,000 books, including 23 New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestsellers. Scribe helps people write and publish nonfiction books, from coaching authors who write their own to ghostwriting books from interviews, and it offers editing as part of its publishing services and as a standalone Manuscript Evaluation. The legal company is Bond Financial Technologies Holdings, LLC, doing business as Scribe Media.
Because Scribe sells editing and publishing services, you should be able to judge whether this site's advice is fair. So here is how the editor finder works, and where every number on the site comes from.
How the editor finder decides
The finder asks a few questions about your manuscript: how complete it is, what kind of feedback it has had, what you are worried about, and what you want to do with it. It then suggests the edit to start with, from a self-edit or beta readers up to a developmental edit. It never needs your name or email to show you a result.
The finder asks six questions and applies these rules, in this order:
- Only an idea, an outline or part of a draft: it is too early for an editor. If writing is a struggle, the answer is writing help (a book coach or a ghostwriter); otherwise, finish the draft first.
- Your main worry is facts, quotes or permissions: a fact-check and permissions review.
- The manuscript is final or close to it: a manuscript assessment if you still worry about structure, a line edit if you worry about how it reads, a copyedit if you worry about errors, and otherwise a proofread.
- A complete first draft, or any draft where structure is the worry: beta readers first if no one has read it; otherwise a developmental edit, or a manuscript assessment if your budget is under $1,000.
- A revised draft where how it reads is the worry: a line edit.
- A revised draft where errors are the worry: a copyedit, or a line edit if writing is a struggle for you.
- Anything else: a copyedit, because a proofread only makes sense once a book has been copyedited.
How you plan to publish, your budget, who has read the draft and how you feel about writing also add specific notes under the result. For example, traditional publishers edit the books they acquire, so the finder tells you to put your money into the proposal instead.
The finder's suggestion is a starting point, not a diagnosis. An editor who has read your pages will always know more than a questionnaire.
How the self-editing checklist works
The self-editing checklist breaks a self-edit into seven passes, from the structure of the whole book down to a final read, with a short note on how to do each check. Your progress is saved in your own browser so you can come back to it. Nothing you tick is sent to us.
Where the numbers come from
- Editing rates come from the Editorial Freelancers Association's 2026 Rate Chart, checked on October 20, 2026. They are median ranges reported by EFA members, and individual editors vary.
- Definitions of each type of edit follow the EFA's Editorial Service Definitions.
- Style rules refer to The Chicago Manual of Style, 18th edition.
- Copyright and fair use information comes from the US Copyright Office. Nothing on this site is legal advice.
- Self-publishing costs and editing advice from Scribe come from The Scribe Method, Scribe's book on writing and publishing, free to read online. Each guide names the chapter it cites.
- Scribe's prices come from scribemedia.com/pricing, checked on October 20, 2026.
- Author stories come from Scribe's published success stories, and each one links to the full story on scribemedia.com.
Example paragraphs, edit letters and style sheets on this site were written by us for illustration and are labeled as examples. If you spot something out of date or wrong, email privacy@scribemedia.com and we will fix it.
Your privacy
No cookies and no advertising trackers run on this site. Your finder answers and checklist progress stay in your browser. We count page views and tool use as anonymous daily totals. The privacy page has the details.