Terms and Conditions

The following terms and conditions are provided so that you and I both have an upfront and honest understanding of what is involved in the process of working together. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to contact me so that I can provide clarity and reassurance.

Before asking Maine Woods Editing LLC to carry out work on your behalf, please read these terms and conditions carefully; asking us to carry out work for you confirms your explicit acceptance of these terms and conditions. These terms and conditions form an automatic, irrevocable, and essential agreement that explicitly exists between you and Maine Woods Editing LLC. If there is any part of these terms and conditions, our service, or any aspects of our business that you do not agree with, your sole remedy is to discontinue using our services.

In these terms:

"We", "Us," and "Maine Woods Editing LLC" relates to our business Maine Woods Editing LLC and its owner, Elizabeth “Betsy” Judkins.
"You" and “the client” relates to you.

Submitting work

Please let us know if you have any questions or special instructions prior to us starting the work, including: your deadlines, preferred formatting or styles, and any special requirements.
A signed contract must be received before work begins.
Please only submit completed work to which you don’t expect to make any further changes. If your book is not finished, please do not submit it for editing—contact me to arrange a new editing date.
Between the time that we receive the manuscript for editing and the time we return it to you, you agree to make NO revisions to the manuscript. After work has begun, updated manuscripts may not be accepted. If accepted, there will be an additional charge ($40/hour) to transfer edits and comments to the new file. (In a nutshell, you agree not to continue to work on the document or send us updated manuscripts to use in place of the original once we’ve already begun editing.)

Scope of work

Maine Woods Editing LLC offers three tiers of editing, defined below. This contract sets forth which tier of work you are asking us to perform based on the work originally submitted for a quote and the price quoted to you. If, in the process of performing edits, it becomes clear that your work is in need of a higher level of editing, we will contact you about how we will proceed. At that point, we will discuss a new quote, payment for edits already completed at the lower level, and a new contract.
The prices for the services listed below include two complete back-to-back reads of your manuscript and follow-up checking of any minor changes you have implemented based on my feedback and queries (less than 10% of the words on each page). It does not include a third full read of the whole manuscript or editing of additions/rewrites to the manuscript. Requests beyond the original scope of work will be billed by the hour. If you feel your manuscript requires another complete read, that will be a new job with its own rate quote and contract. If you request the manuscript back between my two reads, there will be an extra charge of the lesser of three hours at $40/hour ($120) or an additional $0.008/word charge on top of the agreed-upon fee. If I request that you make edits between my two rounds for my ease of editing, there will be no additional charge unless your edits go beyond the scope of my instructions.

Proofreading: Maine Woods Editing will check proofs of formatted, edited material for adherence to design and for minor mechanical errors in copy (such as spelling mistakes, punctuation errors, or small deviations from the style sheet). Proofreading does not include the following unless specified:
- Incorporating author’s changes
- Content edits of any kind
- Inserting or checking page numbers against the table of contents
- Flagging or checking location of art
- Checking page breaks

*The term proofreading is often loosely used to include copy editing and other tasks. It is not so used in this agreement. Any tasks other than the ones described above must be specified and priced separately.

Copy Editing: Woods Editing will edit for grammar, usage, spelling, punctuation, and other mechanics of style; check for consistency of mechanics and for internal consistency of facts and character and place names; edit tables, figures, and lists. Copy editing does not include the following unless specified:
- Editing the index
- Fact checking
- Providing frontmatter or cover copy
- Editing subsequent material such as the blurb
- Obtaining or listing permissions needed

*The term copy editing is often loosely used to include stylistic and even structural editing, fact checking, and mark-up. It is not so used in this agreement. Any tasks other than the ones described above must be specified and priced separately.

Copy Editing/Basic Line Editing: Maine Woods Editing will perform a copy edit (see above) and clarify meaning, flag jargon and bias, polish language, improve readability, and point out issues with point of view and tense changes. This is not a complete line/stylistic edit. This works with what is on the page but does make suggestions for alternate wording and paragraph styling and order. This does not involve rewrites or developmental editing. If there are developmental issues, I will point them out in a report, but I am not a developmental editor, and I will not suggest fixes. I will let you know as soon as possible if there are significant developmental issues so you can make a decision about how you would like to proceed, but you will be responsible for paying for any work done on the manuscript regardless of your decision.

Payment and prices

Quote: We may offer discounts for returning authors or referrals that end up using our services, however the price we quote is based on our current pricing at that moment and is the price you agree to pay to us to edit your work.
Manuscript: Our fee for editing your work will be based on the Word file you submitted to us for a quote. That file must be the same manuscript you send us for editing. If it is significantly different, a new rate and contract will need to be agreed upon.
Google docs: If you are submitting a Google doc file and want it edited in Google docs rather than in Word, there will be a $100 additional fee.
Schedule and deposit: A $50 nonrefundable deposit (applicable to your total fee) will hold your editing date in my schedule. Until I receive that deposit, your date will not be considered reserved and could go to another client. Should you cancel or postpone to the point that I can no longer fit your job into the time allotted it without it being a rush job, you will forfeit that deposit or, if my schedule allows, may choose to pay extra for a rush job.
Payment process: The invoiced price may refer to a per page or per word cost, and it is based on the sample edit and an estimate you give us of how long your document will be. Half this price is due before we begin work on your document. A final invoice will reflect the actual page or word count for the document we have edited, and this adjusted price, less what you have already paid, will be due upon completion of the editing and before the final document is returned to you.
Payment details: You are responsible for providing accurate personal information and payment details. You assume all responsibility for any problems, errors, and issues as well as legal liability resulting from providing false or incomplete information.
Rush jobs: If our schedule allows, we may accept rush jobs at our discretion and for an additional fee.
Unpaid invoices: If a final invoice remains unpaid after 30 days, you will receive a reminder invoice and be charged a $25 late fee each month until the bill is paid in full. Your manuscript will not be released until the final invoice is paid.
Termination: Either party may choose to terminate this contract with written notice. If your edit is cancelled after work has already begun on your manuscript, you will be responsible for paying for the work already completed. Since word count will not be an accurate reflection of how much work has gone into the edit, you will be billed based on the hours spent on the project up to the time of cancellation. The rate will be $45 per hour. If you cancel before your edit start date, you will forfeit any deposit paid. If my schedule allows and at my discretion, you may request to move your edit start date.

Availability of services

All of our services and turnaround times are subject to our availability and workload at a particular point in time.
We will make every effort to meet the timetable set forth in this agreement with the understanding that there may arise circumstances that are beyond our control and that prevent us from completing the work in a timely fashion. In that event, we will contact you as soon as possible with an updated timeline.
Returning work in a timely manner requires that you submit your manuscript on the date we have agreed upon. If you submit work late we do not guarantee we will be able to edit your work or meet our original timeline. If we can accommodate the changed timeline, we reserve the right to alter the price to reflect a rush job.
We will not and do not guarantee delivery on any specific date.

Further edits and advice

At our sole discretion, as a courtesy to our clients, we may offer to re-edit those portions of your work that have changed due to our advice/suggestions provided they are limited in number** and that you highlight the changes made before returning the work to us. We will not re-edit entire manuscripts. **Ten or fewer improvements adding up to one page or less of text for every 10 manuscript pages
Comments and suggestions that we make in work edited by us are intended to provide advice and guidance to you. These comments are made on a "best endeavors" basis based on our editorial experience.

Copyright and ownership of content and documents
The client retains ownership, control, and copyright over all documents submitted to Maine Woods Editing LLC. Maine Woods Editing owns the edits on those documents until the final invoice has been paid, at which point they will be turned over to the client.

Confidentiality
We will keep your details and the details of your work confidential and will not share them outside Maine Woods Editing LLC unless you otherwise give us permission or we are required by law to do so or compelled by a valid legal process.

Maine Woods Editing LLC agrees not to feed the manuscript into any AI program, including, but not limited to, Jasper AI and Chat GPT.

Disclaimer of responsibility and limitations of liability
Maine Woods Editing LLC provides technical proofreading or copy editing for a manuscript that is not our own work, is not attributable to us, and does not reflect our personal view or opinions. We accept no responsibility for, and refuse all liability in connection with, the use of information derived from documents edited by us, including but not limited to any misleading or defamatory statements. We do not check or confirm the validity or veracity of the content, nor will we look for or point out instances of plagiarism. Maine Woods Editing LLC assumes no responsibility or liability for the infringement of third-party copyright in the documents submitted by the client. Maine Woods Editing LLC does not include fact checking in any of its services.

Maine Woods Editing LLC aims to be as accurate as possible when carrying out services, however, we neither imply nor state that any piece of work will be 100% correct when it is returned. Our services are provided on a “best endeavors” basis, at your sole risk, and refunds or discounts will not be given for work that may contain errors when it is returned to you. If you are dissatisfied with any services, terms, conditions or other aspects of the work carried out by us, your sole and exclusive remedy is to discontinue using our services.

We do not accept any liability whatsoever for any financial or other losses resulting from the use of our services, website, or business. We make no guarantee concerning any marketability or utility of your writing or the acceptance for publication of your work.

We have created our services, set our prices, and conduct our business based on the limitations of liability and disclaimers of responsibility and damages set forth in these terms. These terms form a fundamental, irrevocable and essential basis of the agreement between Maine Woods Editing LLC and its clients. If any provision in this document is found to be void or unenforceable, the remainder of this agreement will remain in full effect.

Maine Woods Editing LLC is not liable or responsible for any damage to any computer hardware or any software arising from the distribution of any computer virus.

In the event that a dispute arises, this contract will be governed by the laws of the state of Maine. Prior to commencing litigation, the parties herein agree to seek out mediation through a jointly agreed upon mediator and conducted consistent with the applicable standards of mediation in the state of Maine.

Refusal of services
Maine Woods Editing LLC reserves the right to refuse service to any client or prospective client for any reason and without explanation.

Updated 08/26/2024