Authors at some point in their author journeys discover a basic truth... They need an editor, preferably a good editor. What they sometimes do not realize is what level of editing their manuscript truly needs.

Last week, we discussed manuscript evaluations--an editorial assessment of a written draft, both the strengths and the areas in need of revisions, as well as a recommendation for a follow-on level of editing to achieve a quality manuscript worthy of publishing.

This week, let's step along the path to the next stone--Developmental Editing.

Developmental Editing

Developmental editing closely evaluates the structure and logical flow of your book and ensures that each chapter is relevant to the book and in the correct order, that each scene within each chapter leads nicely into the next, and that the reader is easily guided along from paragraph to paragraph. This level of editing focuses on structure and logical reading flow.

When to seek a developmental editor:

Your manuscript has been evaluated by an editor and you've incorporated feedback from a beta reader or two or three. You've written and revised until you can't see the forest for the trees. In other words, you're at a stopping place and hesitating about next steps. The decision you face is to go forward or keep running on the treadmill to nowhere while you endlessly revise the draft. Let it go and get some direction from a developmental editor.

What to expect in a developmental edit:

Your editor will drop comments and questions in the margins, move large sections of text around, add headings or dividers between sections or scenes, recommend deletions or revisions of sentences and paragraphs, and request additional explanations throughout the manuscript.

This will likely require a few revisions to fine-tune the flow of your manuscript. When you're done with this phase, the manuscript is approximately 75% of the way to the finish line of publishing (or querying agents).

************************************************************************

If you believe your manuscript is ready for the next step, simply reply to this email or check out my website at https://www.bookmageediting.com and let's set up a free consultation to discuss your book's needs.