Developmental Edit
What you’ll get:
An 8–10 page editorial letter covering structure, plot, characterisation, voice and style, with notes on what is and isn’t working, and how I suggest you make changes.
Your manuscript marked up with comments on specific moments linking back to the editorial letter, showing where and how you might revise the text, as well as light line edits with amends for clarity, pace and style.
A one-hour video call to talk through the notes and anything you are unsure of or want to discuss further. We can also talk through a revised outline, or you can ask questions on submitting to agents, the publishing process, or anything else you’d like to chat about.
Ready to book?
What is a developmental edit?
Developmental editing is sometimes called structural editing or substantive editing. The goal is to develop the manuscript by working on the big-picture elements: the structure, the plot, the voice, the characterisation. It is not yet about correcting typos or errors, but about making sure the story overall is as strong as it can be.
This kind of edit is the most thorough and rigorous edit I offer. I read the full manuscript and write an editorial letter (also known as an editorial memo) covering plot, characters, structure, voice, dialogue and style. My editorial letters tend to be 8–10 pages long, and as well as commenting on what is and isn’t working in the book, I will also make suggestions on how and where to make changes.
Alongside the letter, I also mark-up the manuscript throughout. This includes comments linking back to the letter – pointing out where the issues I raised in the letter are, and suggesting ways to fix them – as well as light line-editing. Line edits are amends on a line level to improve voice, clarity and pacing. I might suggest alternative wording if things aren’t clear, rearrange the order of a sentence to improve the impact, or split up sentences which are overly long and make the reading experience more difficult.
A developmental edit is similar to the kind of edits I used to do in-house on books I was publishing. In-house, we could do as many rounds as we needed, and so I tended to focus on the big-picture structural issues in round one, then move to smaller elements and line edits in later rounds. In a developmental edit, I cover all of this in one round, so that you have everything you need to plan your revisions and get your book ready either for submitting to agents or for a last proofread before self-publishing. (I can also offer query-package reviews for those looking to approach agents, or self-publishing packages if that is your end goal.)
I always include a one-hour call with developmental edits, so that after you have the notes and have read through them, we can talk through all my suggestions and how you can implement them. Editing is subjective, and so there may well be things I’ve suggested which you don’t agree with. This is entirely fine; of course it’s your book and your vision for it which we have to work towards! In our call we can talk through anything you aren’t sure on, and I can explain why I’ve suggested what I have, so that we can find an alternative solution that works for you.
If you have a complete manuscript and are ready for a thorough edit to help make everything shine, then a developmental edit could be just what you need. I also offer smaller manuscript assessments if you want to get feedback on your manuscript and a sense of its marketability without committing to a complete developmental edit, and book coaching if you have a partial manuscript and want help getting your ideas on the page.
If you are ready to get your book in shape, you can enquire about booking a developmental edit here, or if you have questions or want to talk through which kind of edit you need, you can contact me here.