The Developmental Edit
A developmental edit is really a story edit. The focus is on the major elements of your book: plot, character, worldbuilding, and theme. This is the edit you need to have done before you go in and start to polish any of your prose.
First Read Through
The main focus is to identify what is working and what is not working with your novel. Areas of confusion or loss of reader attention are marked, along with emotional responses to the story, characters, and writing. Any other notable observations are made and the separation of feedback into the four story elements begins.
Chapter Analysis
In this stage, the chapters and scenes are analyzed with a focus on: character development, plot progression, thematic elements, and worldbuilding details. The chapter-level structure, pacing, and flow are taken into account and initial edits on paragraph-level clarity, cohesion, and engagement are done.
In-Text Comments
During this stage, I go into your manuscript and highlight specific areas where developmental edits can occur. This can include restructuring chapters, scenes, and major events to improve the logical flow of your story and to increase tension. Sample areas of improvement could include expanding on a character’s motivation, raising the stakes and increasing the conflict to keep the reader turning the page, or making sure the big reveal happens at just the right moment.
Pricing:
First read and editorial letter = .015 cents per word
Full Developmental Edit = .03 cents per word (includes first read, chapter notes, secondary read, and in-text comments)
The Copyedit
Copyediting comes after developmental and line edits. At this stage, we are polishing your prose and creating a style guide to check your manuscript for logical consistency and narrative flow. Sentence structure, grammar, punctuation, and word choice are all checked and the completed manuscript is ready for formatting and a final proofread. The copyedit usually consists of 2-3 passes through the manuscript.
Pricing:
In-line corrections and Style Guide = .02 cents per word
The Final Proofread
This is the very last check of your manuscript before publication. Typically, this is done after your manuscript is formatted and the final file used for publication (i.e. .epub) can be checked. During this phase of edits, I will check the final file for publication and mirror any changes in the manuscript document, as with many book formatting software programs (i.e. Vellum) changes cannot be tracked.
In-line corrections = .01 cents per word
Editing Wonder 