• Answer editing, writing, and publishing questions via email, phone, or video call

• Recommend next steps in your writer journey

• Suggest editing services that fit your specific needs

• Discuss ideas via email and a one-hour phone or video call.

• Brainstorm a theme, main idea, and story arc.

• Create an outline with main points and subpoints. 

• Help world-build and create character synopses.

• Point out needed scenes for your story.

• Summarize main points of the discussion in an email.​

​The developmental edit comes in two phases, Story-Level and Scene-Level, with author revisions between each phase.

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Story-Level Edit

• Evaluate whether the manuscript is appropriate for the intended audience.

• Ensure story arc, pacing, and conflict are in line with genre standards and intended audience at an overarching level. 

• Evaluate main characters’ arcs with a detailed Character Synopsis document.

• Outline the main events of each chapter in the Chapter Outline document.

• Detail consistencies and inconsistencies of story, chapter, and scene timelines with the Story Timeline document.

• Confirm settings are fleshed out and appropriate for scene and genre with the World-Building document.

• Report clear and actionable suggestions in regards to inconsistencies, redundancies, expansions, reordering, and cutting in chapters and scenes through an editorial letter.

• Does not include changes made within the document.

• Does not include fact-checking or gaining permission of copyrights.

​

Scene-Level Developmental Edit

• Enhance story arc, pacing, and conflict to be in line with genre standards and intended audience at the chapter and scene level.

• Improve main characters’ arcs at the scene, paragraph, and sentence level.

• Ensure dialogue is effectively communicated and reflective of each character.

• Flesh out settings and confirm consistency at the chapter and scene level.

• Note timeline inconsistencies at the chapter and scene level.

• Check that scenes have appropriate balance of showing and telling.

• Reorder, cut, expand, or suggest creation of new material for organization, flow, tone, and clarity at chapter and scene level.

• Suggest revisions to inconsistencies, repetitions, and redundancies at the chapter and scene level.

• Use Track Changes for all changes within the document and report on the suggested changes in an editorial letter.

• Does not include fact-checking or gaining permission of copyrights.

• Establish or maintain appropriate language level for target audience.

• Eliminate inappropriate jargon, clichés, and euphemisms.

• Maintain tone, mood, and style on a sentence level.

• Revise inconsistencies, repetitions, and redundancies on a sentence level.

• Ensure flow of ideas is clear and effective at a sentence level.

• Adjust the length and structure of sentences or paragraphs for clarity.

• Fiction: Analyze dialogue for flow, understandability, necessity, and tag placement.

• Report clear and actionable suggestions in an editorial letter.

• Edit awkward or confusing sentence structure, wordy prose, and style inconsistencies (if minor changes will resolve the issue).

• Maintain point of view and tense.

• Correct errors in grammar, usage, punctuation, spelling, hyphenation, capitalization, and word accuracy.

• List changes and style choices in a style sheet.

• Read draft of book blurb and delete, add, reorder, or suggest creation of content

• Ensure copy encompasses plot without giving away too much information

• Check copy matches genre expectations and tone

• Make sure word count is appropriate for cover design

• Correct errors in grammar, usage, punctuation, spelling, hyphenation, capitalization, and word accuracy.

• Complete three passes of book blurb

• Correct egregious errors in grammar, usage, punctuation, spelling, hyphenation, capitalization, and word accuracy.

• Correct formatting issues, such as page numbers, headings, and odd spacing.

• Check for consistencies in font type, sizing, and other formatting.

• Evaluate accuracy of elements, such as cross-references, captions, headings, hyperlinks, and metadata.

• Format books as industry-standard PDFs and/or e-books in Vellum.

• Add page numbers, headers, footers, and margins.

• Create title, copyright, table of content, about the author, dedication, and other pages as applicable.

• Incorporate photos in line with the text.