What is a developmental edit?
I offer developmental editing for FANTASY and SCIENCE FICTION.
A developmental edit, at its core, is a professional analysis of your manuscript for big-picture problems, with a secondary focus on scene-by-scene inspecting to ensure pacing, perspective, and details are working toward a common goal.
By hiring me as your developmental editor, I will do the following tasks:
- figuring out if your story has the right point of view
- determining if there are any pacing issues
- noticing inconsistencies and weaknesses in characters and their development
- balancing action with exposition, and vice versa
- pointing out plot holes, worldbuilding flaws, and “info dumps"
- judging if certain story and narrative elements belong or if they take away from the reading experience
- deciding if your word count is what it should be for the story being told
- anything else “big picture” that jumps out to me
The list above is identical to the one provided on my Manuscript Evaluation service page.
The two services are very similar. They look at the same things. The biggest difference between the two is a question of depth. My manuscript evaluations do not offer comments in the manuscript and tend to be a little more distant; they are great for overarching issues and giving you a broad scope on what needs improvement. My developmental edit service, in contrast, features comments throughout each chapter that go into each scene and point out conflicts and issues that need to be addressed.
A full developmental edit will also come with specific suggestions on how to improve scenes and chapters. It will recommend targeted removals or additions to clarify your plot and improve pacing. It will highlight specific passages to help bolster any assessments I make on certain characters or subplots.
To boil it into its simplest form: A full developmental edit from me comes with more. Much, much more.
Here's how I work
Getting a full developmental edit is an excellent choice for any indie author who wants help that’s more “in the weeds.”
One core tenet of my developmental editing is that my hand is never controlling the pen. What this means is that I won’t be making direct changes to your manuscript or story. You are in full control—always. I am not an editor who will take liberties with your work and overrule your creative vision.
This does not mean I edit with a light or undetectable touch. I won’t hesitate to tell you if certain sections should be moved, if chapters should be deleted, and if entire sections should be rewritten. While I do not do this for you, I tell you where changes need to be made, why, and how.
I equip you with the information you need to make an informed decision. First and foremost, you are my client, and my responsibility is to you.
It is important to me that I prepare you for effective revision and your future projects. Because of this, my editorial reports are heavy on the explanations. Expect lots of detail that walk you through why something is an issue and how you can solve it. Typically, I offer multiple methods of fixing something. I also ask questions that let you guide yourself to an answer that feels right to you.
Let's talk about costs and timelines
It typically takes me between three to four weeks to complete a full developmental edit.
My introductory developmental editing rate is 0.007 USD per word. For example, a 60,000-word manuscript would be $420 USD.
This rate covers time spent reading (twice), writing the editorial report, the manuscript comments, and two hours of back-and-forth afterward via email (e.g., if something I said requires clarification).
If you’d like to pick apart some of what I suggested or would like help brainstorming, I charge an hourly rate of $25 USD/hr with a half-hour minimum. I pride myself on being detailed enough that email is good enough, but we can do video chats via Zoom too.
Please note that I do not offer free sample edits for developmental editing. If you’d like to arrange a smaller evaluation to gauge my input, this can be arranged.
Check out my portfolio below. Or, if you’re ready, shoot me an email.