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For editors

Before you sign that editing contract, check these three things.

An editing job can be priced per word, per page or per project. The agreement decides how many passes that price covers, what happens when the manuscript arrives late or longer than promised, and when you get paid.

Manuscript Editing Agreement.pdfPage 1 of 3
Example
Medium risk— a few terms deserve a closer look

This editing agreement pays on publication and sets no limit on passes.

Lower riskHigher risk
Against youHigh · Payment

Payment waits for publication

Books slip or never come out, and the fee is tied to an event that has no date and that you do not control.

Ask for

Ask for payment on delivery of each pass, or in stages across the project.

  • “Until final” sets no number of passesMedium · Scope
  • The deadline does not move with the manuscriptMedium · Schedule
See the full sample analysis →

The numbers

In May 2025, there were 91,690 wage and salary jobs for editors in the U.S., with a median annual wage of $77,920.

Median hourly wage, U.S., May 2025: editors ($37.46) and 28 other occupations these pages cover. Each dot is one occupation's median.

These figures count jobs, not people, and do not include self-employed work — so they say little about how many editors work freelance or run their own business.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025, national estimates for SOC 27-3041. Public domain.

Passes, late manuscripts and payment timing

  1. Number of passes — Check whether the fee covers one pass, two, or “until final.” A stated number, with a rate for extra rounds, protects the price.
  2. Late or longer manuscripts — If the text arrives late or longer than agreed, look for a clause that moves your deadline and fee with it.
  3. Payment timing — Payment “on publication” can mean months or never. Look for payment on delivery, or in stages.

Check the agreement before the manuscript arrives

Editing is paid for the work done, if the contract says so. Free: one analysis every 30 days, no card. Each analysis gives a risk read of the key clauses, quotes the contract's own words for its findings, and turns each flagged clause into a specific ask.

Analyze my contract — free
  • Encrypted in transit & at rest
  • Files auto-deleted after 30 days
  • Never used to train models
  • Informational — not legal advice

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