Dear Anne,
I am a professional editor. WLCA's message has "KEEP OUT" written all
over it. A true professional edit will cost you $70-90 PER HOUR, not
per book. A publisher either accepts a manuscript and has it edited at
the publisher's expense or rejects a manuscript and recommends that
the author have it edited independently before resubmission. Reputable
publishers do not charge the author. Vanity presses do.

WL Children's Agency is new to me, so I can't comment specifically on
the firm, but what you say rings alarm bells. Is it possible that the
agency is requesting merely that you have your manuscript checked for
proper formatting, not edited? Editing entails a close reading for
organization, style, grammar, appropriateness for audience, and
details like bibliography and footnotes. Your editor should make
recommendations for revision and then copyedit (check  and correct
punctuation, spelling, heads, callouts, front and back matter, any
suspicious items [such as peculiar dates or geographic details], and
photo cutlines, and verify that all queries are satisfactorily dealt
with) the final manuscript. The first pass is a "substantive" or
"content" edit; the second pass is a copyedit.

If your book is more than 10 pages long, $90 won't buy you an edit of
either type. You very well might benefit from a professional edit, but
don't buy it through WLCA.

If WLCA is an agent, not a publisher, it's possible that it would
recommend that a new author hire professional editorial help, although
many agents do a quick edit for authors they represent. Note that
reputable agencies DO NOT CHARGE for this service. The agent is paid a
percentage of the money received from the publisher. Agents are not
interested in any author who is unlikely to earn at least $10,000 in
royalties, as the work to market a manuscript to publishers is
time-consuming. Given that most authors sell fewer than 1000 copies of
their books, you can well imagine that most of them do not have
agents.

Unfortunately, with the popularity of the Internet, a lot of scam
artists have cropped up to bilk eager authors. Your first line of
defense is to refuse to pay either an agent or a publisher to get your
manuscript into print (unless, of course, you want to self-publish,
which is a different kettle of fish).

Kathleen Much
The Book Doctor

On Feb 10, 2008 Anne Pemberton wrote:
> Today's email from WL Children's Agency says that the story has merit and
> they are asking me to have a "formal edit process" performed. They say they
> will provide referrals to have it done, and it will cost me $70-90.
>
> I can submit a professional edit (that follows their model) from any
> professional editor of my choosing. Or I can ask them to make a referral for
> this service.
>
> My question is whether this is a typical way of doing business? Or is this
> indication that it is something I should not get involved in.

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