Developmental Editing

Developmental editing looks at the book as a whole and focuses on improving character development, overall story structure (including fixing loose ends), pacing, perspective, narrative style, and your story’s organization. 

Developmental editing is a two-step process. In the first pass, I read your entire manuscript, focused on big-picture issues like character development, overall story arc, tone and quality of writing, plot holes, and so on. In the second pass, I go back and make all changes as necessary to bring your story up to market standards. During the developmental editing process, it is likely I will add some material (enough, but not so much as to compromise your writing) to fill in the holes as necessary.

While other editors’ developmental editing process is more along the lines of a critique telling you what to fix, my developmental editing process is a hands-on approach, where I make all the changes myself. By choosing my developmental editing service, you’re ensuring that your book is developed correctly from the ground up by an industry professional. I don’t just suggest fixes—I personally revise to ensure your story flows, your characters are engaging, and the structure is strong. 

After I send you the developmentally edited manuscript, please take your time in reading over the big-picture changes. Feel free to add changes or reject any of my edits as you see fit.

Developmental editing focuses on:

• Momentum and pacing
• Plot consistency
• Overall structure/structural choices
• Story organization
• Tying up loose ends
• Tone and voice
• Tense issues
• Point of view and narrative perspective
• “Showing” versus “telling”
• Deleting superfluous material
• Adding material where necessary (setting description, character development, dialogue)

While other editing services (line editing and copyediting) will get you a beautifully written book, only developmental editing will get you a properly developed storyline—which will appeal to your readers. 

What This Includes:

I take the editor-author relationship seriously, and I’m in your corner to help your book succeed. I’m here to make sure you are as prepared as possible to succeed in this saturated industry, and that means pumping you full of knowledge and resources (in addition to superb editing!) to ensure your book stands the best chance for success, especially against less prepared authors.

Developmental editing includes:

• Email or phone support: If you have questions about your book, the publishing industry or simply would like advice or feedback, feel free to ask! I’m a publishing professional here to answer as many questions as you have.
• Editor’s Report: This 1-page letter I write after editing your book highlights the most common issues I found during editing, and is geared toward showing you how to avoid your most common writing mistakes to become a better writer. 
• Book promotion: I regularly post blogs and Facebook videos teaching about writing and commonly refer to my clients’ work as examples (possibly including yours, in the future!). Every week I share pictures, links, and reviews of books I have edited, and am always happy to help promote books I’ve edited in some capacity. When it comes to marketing your work, every little bit helps, and I’m so proud to share, show off, and talk about books I’ve edited.

Once your overall story, pacing, tone and voice, etc. are taken care of in the developmental editing process, I always recommend line editing (focus on improving sentence structure, logic, consistency, and clarity) and copyediting (final check for surface errors including spelling, punctuation, grammar, and word choice) prior to getting your manuscript published. Developmental editing is one of the services included in The Ultimate editing package.

Please read my guide for information on sample edits, editing packages, rush project options, and the scheduling process.

Questions? Ready to get on the schedule? Contact me!