Our book would not have been possible without the guidance, support, humor, and persistence of Lisa, as she led us through the process.

Ethan Bull and Stephanie Bull, founders of ProAssisting. Authors of The 29-Hour Work Day, ranked by Entrepreneur magazine as one of the seven top books to read.

A developmental editor works with draft forms of completed manuscripts. If you have a manuscript that is not quite complete in some way—perhaps it’s a mishmash of ideas, lists, scenes or chapter parts, research, and more that needs to be put together—then most likely you’d need a book doctor to help you.

However, if you do have a completed manuscript that you’d like another pair of professional eyes on it before you start thinking about getting an agent or publishing, a developmental editor might be a good option for you.

Every author should be proud of a finished draft manuscript. It can be hard work to write a complete book. After the euphoria ends, though, sometimes there’s the realization that your masterpiece isn’t quite that. In fact, it may be chunks of information that feel as if they are in pieces. It may not have a flow. There could be redundancies or thematic stumbling blocks or the voice and tone isn’t uniform or the rabbit holes that seem important often don’t appear to fit within what you’re trying to say or or or…

A developmental editor finds those problems (and more). They will approach your manuscript from a broad perspective—they don’t get into the nitty-gritty of sentence structure or word choice. Instead, they will look for issues that impact the way a manuscript organically comes together.

What that means for your work is, I’d read your entire manuscript and do a thorough investigation of it to examine the structure, content, voice and tone, and messaging. For fiction, I’ll also look at pacing, characters and settings, narrative arcs, and themes.

I’ll also read it from the perspective of your target audience. Will they understand what you’re telling them? Will they feel you’re talking down to them or, alternatively, expecting them to know more than they do? And does the content align with any industry standards, generally accepted practices, or concepts?

For fiction work, I’ll examine how thoroughly you’ve built the book’s world and how completely fleshed out the characters are. Are there any inconsistencies in either of those? Are you time-traveling when you don’t mean to? Is the narrative arc strong? Does it provide enough tension and intrigue? Is your ending satisfactory? And if it’s not, is that obviously intentional or will the reader be confused?

I’ll return the manuscript to you accompanied by an editorial letter that discusses what I found. On the manuscript itself, I’ll also provide direct and honest feedback in comments, questions, and suggestions on how to fix problematic areas. While I won’t get deep into the waters of copy editing or line editing, I will point out ways to strengthen your writing and improve your craft.

After you’ve had a chance to read the letter and think about the comments and suggestions, we can have a call if you need further clarity or guidance.

Then once you have completed your revisions, we can have a talk about what the next step will be for you on your book journey.

If you think a developmental editor is just what your book needs, please make a free 30-minute appointment with me to discuss. Schedule a free 30-minute consultation!