Coskrey Biz

Freelance Services

Coskrey Biz logo, a magnolia blossom

icon for writing, editing, and publishing services of Coskrey BizWriting, Word Processing, Editing, and Proofreading

The Written Word in Various Forms

Don't have the time or inclination to write or word process your letter or project? Need a quick essay for a blog or website? Need a simple Access or Excel file? Need the words you did write or the file you did create to be checked for spelling, punctuation, formatting, and formatted references?

Valerie can write it and check it for you. She will coach students in writing papers and edit them for mistakes, even college-level papers. Academic papers for journals or graduate work are no problem for Valerie to format text and references according to a style manual. Menues, pamphlets, manuals, manuscripts--just ask. What she will not do is ghostwrite an academic paper.

Valerie works with MS Office Pro(TM) and Adobe Creative Cloud(TM). What she does not know how to do, Wayne does--or they will learn. Valerie has used several style manuals and keeps her Chicago Manual of Style up to date.

Examples of Past Projects

math skills for science presentation 3 books edited and published image of access report for lessons
icon for Mertie's blog 2 presentation template slides icon for website

Goodness, what are the easiest examples for you to see? Many are online, so a list with links seems feasible. This list will include websites that I designed and wrote web copy for. A few are in web archives. Then there are the blogs. Others are samples of writings for various purposes. Editing and proofreading can be seen in the quality of my writing--the newer the writing, the better the editing!--and in the published books I have edited and/or proofed.

  • Blogs and web pages
  • Special MS Office files
    • Excel files to organize my bookkeeping, inventory, budgeting, and accounting.
    • Access files to create, store, and print my lesson plans when I taught school.
    • PowerPoint files and templates for teaching and for fun. View images here.
  • Various websites, website sections, and blogs for others, including the city of West Columbia, TX.
    • West Columbia has since rewritten their website and did not keep the section on the pocket garden called Discovery Garden.
    • You can find it here in the web archives Way Back Machine.
  • Academic papers written for 90 hrs graduate work--but alas, no dissertation-- and edited scholarly work for hire.

A Few Stray Remarks from Valerie

Some may be confused with the idea of proofreading and editing. Proofreading is just checking a manuscript ready to be uploaded (or go to press) for formatting and obvious errors--like two chapters being numbered the same, or the gutter between facing pages not being formatted correctly, or an image not clearly seen because of its size or color balance. Editing is a careful reading of the manuscript to correct sequence, grammar, punctuation, formatting, and other issues. Hard editing is when the editing becomes complex due to numerous mistakes in the draft, or requiring the editor to add images, reformat the text, check references, and such tasks. Many raw manuscripts require added materials, some written by the editor, soft editing (less complex or basic editing) and hard editing. 

Being a retired teacher, I am used to grading papers. Editing takes more intense focus, however, since I graded science discussions with only marginal attention to grammar. Hence, I advertise an hourly rate, but bill by the Project with its Activities and Tasks (my names for the billing units, hence the capitals.)

This saves you money; I can take my time, edit 3 cycles for the price of one, and know how much to charge for added tasks and/or additions you might want to make to the original. After I finished a few projects, I calculated the price according to time and then according to my price list. The totals were so similar that I felt that my clients were getting a better deal when I use the price list. The price list was a bit less, but not so much that I felt I was undercharging, except on a few tasks for which I modified my price list!~~Valerie

How Much Do I Charge?

Once we talk or email, I will know which Project(s)  and Activities you want and have an idea of the number of words involved, the images to be placed, the references to research and format, etc.--the Tasks. I then use the base price for the Activities of the Project(s), add the package of Activities and Tasks, and provide you with an Invoice/Estimate (the Bid).  You will be emailed the Price List(s) for your Project(s) once I know which you need.     

A Portion of the Coskrey Biz WEP Price List of 2019
Provided only for ballpark estimates.
*Price varies with difficulty; this is the maximum for writing and minimum for word processing.
Activity Editing,
light
Editing,
hard
Proof-
reading
Word
Processing*
Writing* Tasks*
(most)
Base Fee $4.31/
page
$5.75/
page
$2.00/
page
$5.00/
page
$50.00/
page
$.02-$.50/
instance

Small, short tasks like filling out a form or typing a letter can be priced and  started before the invoice is sent. Large projects like editing a short story or book manuscript or designing and typing out a pamphlet longer than a page or two will be bid with work to begin on the receipt of the Earnest Money.

This bid will also have an itemization of how it was calculated and a page of the terms and agreements (T&A) that we have agreed to verbally and by email and any additional requirements that I might have. This is sent to you with a request for Earnest Money (EM). The earnest money is a fee that represents your agreement to the bid.  Payment of EM means now the bid with its statement of (T&A) has become a contract for the work. Adjustments to the contract are expressed on subsequent invoices.

As long as you pay, the work goes on. Invoices for large Projects, either in terms of dollar amount or length of time to accomplish, are sent out at the end of certain stages of the Project. That allows me to get partially paid and you to object, make changes, and us to negotiate  during the project. It also allows the project to be stopped should we decide to do so and the contract can be cancelled. The final invoice is a recalculation based on the interaction between Projects like hard and soft editing, and the addition of text and Tasks. ~~Valerie

Stay up to Date and in Touch

Follow our authors and other clients on the Books and Authors blog. Here you can also follow the release of new publications. Also, our authors have Amazon.com author pages. Coskrey Biz is also on Facebook but does not check it for messages often. Please call, text or email.

Think you could use our services? Contact Valerie.  Want to know more about our services? Contact Valerie by email, call or text (979)248-9450.  You can also hire Valerie through Thumbtack. Just click the badge to see her profile.    

Policy and Agreements

For more about us, read our Privacy Policy. The policy contains our affiliate disclosure as well as more contact information. Terms and Agreements for our services are specific to the service offered. Agreements are made verbally and /or in the Bid (estimate) or Invoice for a Project. Changes to an agreement is written on an invoice.