Editing
Developmental Editing
Structural work on what the book is doing — plot, argument, order, pacing — before anyone touches a single sentence.
Craft
Deeper editorial and a design-led jacket
Craft adds real editorial work to the production essentials. A copyeditor works line by line on clarity, consistency and voice. Your cover designer explores more directions before committing. You get paperback, hardcover and eBook editions, wider distribution settings and the beginnings of an author platform.
Most chosen package
Starting from $3,450
Editable placeholder price. $750 reserves your production slot; the balance is invoiced against milestones.
- Ideal for
- Authors who want their manuscript genuinely improved before it is produced — a full copyedit, more design exploration, and a hardcover edition alongside the paperback.
- Timeline
- 16–22 weeks from manuscript handover
- Word count
- 90,000 words included; additional words quoted per 1,000
- Revisions
- Two author review rounds on the edit; two cover revision rounds; two proof correction rounds
The deposit is fully refundable until your written scope is approved. Nothing begins until you have signed it off.
The difference between a book that reads as self-published and one that does not is almost always editing. Craft is built around that fact.
Your manuscript goes to a copyeditor matched to your genre, who works line by line: sentence rhythm, repetition, continuity, tense drift, over-explanation, factual consistency. You receive the edit as tracked changes with a summary letter explaining the pattern-level issues, so you learn something you can carry into the next book. Nothing is changed silently.
On the design side, your cover designer produces three distinct directions rather than two, informed by a study of how comparable titles in your category are currently presenting themselves. Interior typesetting is more considered too — a typeface chosen for your book rather than a house default, and a hardcover edition set up alongside the paperback.
Craft is the package most of our authors choose, because it is the point at which the book stops being a manuscript that has been printed and starts being a book.
Everything included
The complete Craft scope
This is the same list that appears in your written scope document. If something is not on it, it is not included — and we will tell you what it would cost to add.
Editorial
What happens to the writing itself.
- Full copyedit, up to 90,000 words included
- Tracked changes plus an editorial summary letter
- Independent proofread after your revisions are accepted
- Style sheet supplied to you for future work
- Two author review rounds
Design
How the book is made to look like a book.
- Three original cover concepts, one selected and refined
- Competitive category research informing the design brief
- Custom interior typesetting with a typeface chosen for the book
- Hardcover jacket adaptation with flap copy layout
- Full front and back matter design
Formats
The editions readers will be able to buy.
- Paperback, print-on-demand
- Hardcover with dust jacket, print-on-demand
- Reflowable eBook (EPUB) for major reading apps
ISBN & metadata
The record that makes your book findable and correctly credited.
- Three ISBNs assigned (paperback, hardcover, eBook)
- Full bibliographic metadata including BISAC subject codes
- Keyword and category research for retailer discoverability
- Library-standard metadata record prepared
Distribution
Where the book becomes available, and to whom.
- Listing submitted to major online retailers
- Print-on-demand fulfilment in the US, UK, EU and Australia
- Wholesale catalog listing available to bookstores and libraries
- Trade discount and returns policy configured with you
Marketing
Activity delivered around publication.
- Author profile page in the Winfrey Publishing bookstore
- Digital press kit: book sheet, author bio, cover assets, sample chapter
- Retailer page optimization: description, categories, keywords
- Launch checklist and 90-day promotion plan document
Timeline, revisions and limits
- Estimated timeline
- 16–22 weeks from manuscript handover
- Revision rounds
- Two author review rounds on the edit; two cover revision rounds; two proof correction rounds
- Word count included
- 90,000 words included; additional words quoted per 1,000
Production timelines are estimates. Actual schedules vary with manuscript length, revision rounds, author response time and third-party retailer processing. We do not guarantee sales, reviews, rankings, media coverage or acquisition by another publisher. Outcomes depend on many factors outside any publisher's control.
Optional upgrades
All services
Commonly added to Craft
Add any of these at the start or part-way through. You pay only the difference.
Multimedia
Audiobook Production
Professional narration, direction and mastering to full audiobook retail standard — the fastest-growing format in publishing.
Websites
Author Website Development
A fast, accessible website you own outright — with the mailing list that is the only audience nobody can take away.
Marketing
Book Marketing
A defined 90-day campaign of listing optimization, reader outreach and launch assets, reported on activity delivered.
Public Relations
Public Relations
Targeted media outreach, press materials and interview preparation — pitching honestly, with no coverage promised.
Questions
About the Craft package
A copyedit works on the writing itself — clarity, consistency, rhythm, repetition, continuity and factual coherence — and is done before typesetting. A proofread is the final safety net after typesetting, catching typos, bad line breaks and layout errors. Craft includes both, in that order, which is the correct sequence.
No. Every change arrives as a tracked suggestion you can accept or reject individually. Editors are briefed to preserve voice and to query rather than rewrite anything stylistic. If you disagree with a pattern of edits, you say so and the editor adjusts.
It depends on your book. Hardcovers matter for gift books, business books sold at speaking events, memoirs bought by families, and library sales. For genre fiction sold mainly as eBooks, it is often optional. Your consultant will give you a straight answer rather than upselling by default.
Your review windows are agreed in the production schedule, typically three to four weeks per round. Taking longer is fine and common — it moves your production dates rather than costing you anything.
No obligation
Discuss the Craft package
Tell us about the book and a consultant will call you. If a different package would suit you better, they will say so.
Other packages
Compare with the alternatives
Foundation
A complete, professional first edition
First-time authors with a finished, self-edited manuscript who want a properly produced paperback and eBook without paying for services they are not ready to use.
From
$1,690
Placeholder price. $400 reserves your slot; balance invoiced against milestones.
- Professional proofread, up to 60,000 words included
- Documented style sheet applied consistently throughout
- Original front, spine and back cover design
- Two initial cover concepts, one selected and refined
- Paperback, Reflowable eBook (EPUB) for major reading apps
- One ISBN assigned for the paperback edition
- Listing submitted to major online retailers
- Timeline: 10–14 weeks from manuscript handover
Signature
Full production with a supported launch
Authors treating the book as a serious project — a developmental edit before the copyedit, a designed launch, and marketing activity in the weeks around publication.
From
$6,900
Placeholder price. $1,500 reserves your slot; balance invoiced against milestones.
- Developmental edit with a written structural report
- Editorial consultation call to discuss the report
- Cover design phase with unlimited concept exploration
- Category and comparable-title research pack
- Paperback, Hardcover with dust jacket, Reflowable eBook (EPUB) for major reading apps, Large-print paperback edition set up on request
- Up to four ISBNs assigned across editions
- Global print-on-demand across our full fulfilment network
- Timeline: 24–34 weeks from manuscript handover, depending on your revision time
Laureate
Our most complete publishing program
Authors publishing at the highest production standard — illustrated or complex books, audiobook and translation-ready assets, an author website, and a full year of marketing support.
From
$12,500
Placeholder price. $2,500 reserves your slot; balance invoiced against milestones.
- Manuscript assessment before any work is scoped
- Developmental edit with a written report and two consultation calls
- Cover design phase with unlimited exploration and photography direction
- Bespoke interior design for complex, illustrated or colour layouts
- Paperback and hardcover, Colour or premium-stock print run quoted separately, Reflowable eBook and fixed-layout eBook where the design requires it, Audiobook produced with a professional narrator, Print-ready assets prepared for translation licensing
- ISBNs assigned across every edition and format
- Global print-on-demand plus offset print coordination where suitable
- Timeline: 9–15 months from manuscript handover, scoped precisely after review