Need Editing?
Emil Ottoman is the writing community’s resident editor.
The following is abbreviated from the Burnt Tongue site and was current as of April, 2025. Check his site for complete and up-to-date information.
Emil Ottoman
I’m not proscriptive or prescriptive. I believe in helping authors find their voice and style, recognizing their personal grammar and syntax (which is more important to outstanding writing in my opinion than perfect or technically CORRECT, grammar and syntax) questioning their themes, inspecting the text at the sentence and systems level, focusing on intentionality in the writing process, and amplifying all of the aforementioned to help them rise to the level of their true competence, ideally helping you reach a full draft displaying your best work.
Services
Services
Short Stories
Short stories of up to 7,500 words are handled on a flat fee basis. This is roughly 15 or so pages single spaced in 12 point font. $250 up to ten pages. Every additional page up to 15 pages is an extra $10.00
Short stories do not require a contract or invoice unless one is requested by the client.
They are capped at 7,500 words. Short stories require no reading fee and will receive:
A full developmental and line edit.
A document containing full editorial analysis, thoughts, questions, and suggestions.
One client side Zoom or equivalent contact to discuss the story of no set time limit.
And a read over a second draft (if one is made) with short notes (if thought necessary or warranted) at which point you can hire me to do it all over again if you want.
Full Length Manuscripts
Anything that is not classified above as a short story falls under my arbitrary editorial category of “full length manuscript.” Because anything longer than 15 pages but shorter than 100 is rare and weird. I like rare and weird, but still. Full Length manuscripts of novella length (roughly 100-120 pages) or longer will require a contract. Every contract starts as a template and is then made bespoke for the client. However some things are set in stone.
Full length manuscripts have two pricing options:
.04 cents a word for the entire document.
flex billing at 45 dollars per work hour on retainer billed either by the month or by the week.
Note: There is a one time initial $125 reading and consult fee for up to 1500 words for short editorial notes and impressions and to see if we gel. Before I read anything or do any substantive work we gotta consult and figure out scope, needs, expectations, so we both have skin in the game.
Note: If at any time you are to decide that you are unhappy with the services being rendered after signing a contract, understand that there is an automatically triggered walk fee written into every contract. This allows me to recoup some of the time I spent working on your project, and allows you to keep anything of use you got from my work. The separation and walk fee will be a flat fee agreed to by both parties while drawing up the final contract.
Full length manuscripts have two payment options:
.04 cents a word for the entire document with a down payment of whatever both parties agree to so that we can get this party started. The remaining payments scheduled will be dictated by the desired turnaround time and depth of work requested by the client, or required by the state of the manuscript and the abilities of the client as I gauge them and as written in the contract, with the final payment due upon completion and delivery to the satisfaction of all parties involved. (Boilerplate)
Flex open contract billing at a billable rate of $45 an hour with a minimum monthly hourly contract of no less than 4 hours, or minimum weekly contract of 2 hours, which will be rounded to an even $100.00 USD weekly minimum or $200.00 USD monthly minimum. This is the discount option for people who don’t have a full manuscript, want editorial input on call at a reasonable price, or expect to have a long and meaningful journey through the work they’re doing. Often times these contracts end up lasting upwards of a year or more, with one I had lasting over 28 months. This is my flex option. Hourly pay on a full length manuscript would quickly eclipse a per word contract. The first payment is due upon the signing of the contract, and the last payment is due upon the satisfaction of all parties involved, or the separation fee (based on a per contract basis for flex pay)
Here it is worth noting, I really dig my work. If you can only pay the minimum, expect more if only because I like what I do.
If I believe in your story or manuscript, there is always room to work out something. I enjoy what I do.
A full length manuscript will receive:
A full developmental and line edit.
Ongoing discussion and continued contact throughout the process.
A document containing full editorial analysis, thoughts, questions, and suggestions.
Depending on the size of the project no less than two but no more than four client side Zoom or equivalent contacts to discuss the story of no set limit.
Emails from me if I’m goddamn confused about something.
And a read over a second draft (if one is made) with short notes (if thought necessary or warranted) at a point however if deemed needed or appropriate a new contract will have to be drawn up. I offer aftercare, but it can only go so far.
Continued support throughout the process including coaching (I hate that word), additional materials, and ancillary resources, especially on an open ended flex plan, or if your manuscript is unfinished.
THE BREAKDOWN
$125 non-negotiable initial consult and reading fee for up to 1,500 words to see if we will work well together. Skin in the game, is we mesh, in it to win it, hopefully.
$250 flat fee for short story edits up to ten pages, $10 a page up to 15 pages or 7,500 words (line + developmental), payment up front.
$0.04/word for full contracted manuscript edits (line + developmental), first payment due on contract signing, then split into payments as agreed to in the contract.
Flex open contract à la carte work at $45/hour billed weekly ($100/2hr minimum) or monthly ($200/4hr minimum)
Contracts come with a walk clause. We will hash it out together. Editing takes time, and energy has value.
I’m willing to work with you to find a payment structure that works, especially if I believe in your work.
This is an abbreviated version of the statement on Emil Ottoman’s site. Check it out for all the details I left out and to make sure nothing’s changed in the time since.