Developmental Editing
What is a developmental edit?
A developmental edit—also called a substantive or structural edit—is a big picture edit of the major craft elements of your manuscript.
This type of edit will encourage you to revise, reorganize, expand, or even cut certain elements, all in the service of developing a stronger story (hence the name: developmental edit).
A developmental edit may address:
premise
plot
structure
characterization
setting
conflict, stakes, and tension
theme
narrative perspective
voice and tone
age-appropriate language and reading level
marketability (sales points and competitive titles)
further editing required
Who needs one?
A developmental edit is best for an author who has completed a full draft of their manuscript and is serious about making improvements.
Whether you’re going to self-publish your novel or are planning to send it to literary agents, a developmental edit will provide you with actionable feedback to take your story to the next level.
What will you receive?
With the fresh eyes of a trained editor and avid reader, I can help to determine what’s working in your manuscript, what could use some tweaking, and how to make improvements. With this edit, you will receive:
a 10-15 page editorial letter outlining your manuscript’s major strengths and weaknesses along with suggestions for revisions
extensive in-document feedback (Microsoft Word doc)
complimentary after-editing support in the form of question-and-answer emails
Interested in a developmental edit?
Tell me a bit about your project so we can both be sure we’ll make a good author-editor team.