Raising Rates for 2026

In all honesty? I am so terrified to write this newsletter.

There are numerous reasons why and we’re going to break all of those down below. But, for those who aren’t interested in the whole mental health/explanation side of things, I've got the TL;DR info all at the top!

But, for those who want to learn more about my decision-making process, the emotions and thought processes that impacted this, and more, reading past the first section is for you!

Old Rates Verses New Rates

So, for context: I started freelance editing part time in August of 2019 and that’s when I set my rates. I purposefully set them lower than EFA standards since I was just starting out and really wanted to attempt to be as affordable as possible for fellow indie authors (especially since I know how much it can be a barrier!).

But, as I took into account the fact that I’m now full-time and this is my sole income, my own financial goals, what I can realistically work on in a month and my experience, it was time to see if my rates reflected that. When I did the math, my old rates fell short. So, I decided on new rates that better reflect my skills as an editor, allow me to live solely off this income, but still stay (just below) EFA standards, in an attempt to remain an affordable editor (knowing that the “affordable” definition varies by author).

So, below are my updated rates!

New rates will go into effect January 1st, 2026. If you’d like to secure the old rates, as long as you book for next year by December 31st of this year, I’ll honor the old rates!

So, why was this such a struggle for me to do? Read below!

Challenge One: Rates Debate

So, if you’re on socials, you might have seen the rates debate regarding editors. This debate goes all over the place. Here’s just a snapshot of what people have debated over/claimed:

• Low rates = AI usage, poor editing quality, makes higher-rate-using-editors look bad, scammers

• High rates = pretentious, inaccessible, not indie-friendly

Obviously, these are all lies, even if sometimes, you’ll find someone who makes it true (e.g., an scammer who claims to be an editor but scams you with AI or ghosting or whatnot). In reality, setting rates is a very personal decision for each editor and usually comes from multiple factors, including, but not limited to:

• Years/experience

• Training

• Needs to live/survive

• Factors that aren’t obvious (i.e., other financial support, other jobs, other needs like disabilities, chronic illnesses, etc.)

For me, I had to take an honest look at my rates and realize that I’m actually selling myself short, now that I’ve almost been an editor for seven years, with dozens of projects under my belt for both self-publishing and trad publishing authors. The rates I’ve been using for the past six and a half years no longer meet the needs I have financially, especially now that it is my sole income, I have become more disabled and I do have financial goals that I want to hit that my old rates, paired when the amount of work I can feasibly do each month, can’t do.

Hence, the first rate raise since opening Thoughts Editorial almost seven years ago.

Challenge Two: Imposter Syndrome

Another thing that I’ve struggled with is imposter syndrome. Despite having glowing testimonials from my authors, having over a 50% rate of authors returning to work with me, getting most of my work through referrals and feeling really proud of my work, I still sometimes wonder if I’m actually a “good” editor (thanks, brain).

And, despite these new rates still being below EFA recommended rates, if I get the same amount of work that I did in 2025, it’ll be the most I’ve made in a singular year in my entire working career (since I was, um, vastly underpaid my entire decade in academia).

Despite these new rates giving me more flexibility and actually giving me a chance to start paying off massive debt (both medical and student loan)—something that I’ve never been able to do, since I’ve never made enough to do anything more but scrap by—I sometimes feel like…I don’t deserve it? Like, who am I to deserve financial security? How can I be so selfish?

YAY ANXIETY. 🫠

Challenge Three: Fear

Then, as if the anxiety hasn’t touched enough, there is another part of me that fears that authors have only ever worked with me because I had lower-than-average rates and, once I raise them, suddenly I will have no authors and forced to go back to corporate, something that my disabled body and neurodivergent mind fears more than anything else.

I can hear my therapist yelling at me as I write this. 💀

Challenge Four: I’m My Own Boss

So, all of ~that~ has been perculating in my head for the past half a year as I debated whether I should raise my prices or not.

But, during a therapist session, she reminded me that I own this business and I am my own boss. The only person who can give me a raise is me. During my academia career, I never got raises (yes, not in a decade). Despite trying for a promotion multiple times. Despite job searching for years for other positions I never got. I’ve been living paycheck-to-paycheck since I entered the workforce full-time in 2015.

These new rates might actually change that.

It’s such a brain shift that now, I’m the one in charge. And I do have real financial goals (namely: being debt free). Not to mention consistent medical expenses that have always gone on a credit card because I had no way otherwise to pay for them, which is why I am drowning in credit card debt. This is literally the only way to meet those goals without working myself to death, which I just… I can’t do, body or mentally wise, but also, just don’t want to.

So! That is just some of the jumbled mess of my brain trying to a) justify raising my rates to a point where I’m still accessible, still beneath EFA standards but also honoring my expertise, time and goals and b) trying to reconcicle all the negative anxiety spirals related to this change. Only time will tell if this was the right move or not, but I hope so. Thanks for reading my (most likely TMI) spheel on why I’m raising my rates.

And, again, if you’d like to secure my current rates, book with me before the end of the year. I cannot wait to work with your stories.

Until next,
Nicole 🖤

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