Editorial Assessment
What is an editorial assessment?
A lighter approach than a full line-by-line developmental edit, this is a big-picture review of the manuscript's strengths and weaknesses, and advice to guide you through revising it as you get ready for the next steps in publishing.
I read your manuscript in its raw form, and then I give you suggestions about plot, character development, pace, and all the other details that make your story shine. Using my extensive experience in genre fiction publishing, I’ll help pinpoint the things that resonate with readers and flag where they might stumble.
I’ll help you to prioritize problems to fix during your revision process so you can make the story as powerful on the page as it is in your head.
What do you get?
REVISION CHECKLIST
A prioritized list of things to work on, which next steps to take, and suggested resources that might help you bring out this manuscript’s potential.
EDITORIAL REPORT
A letter outlining big-picture goals, essential themes, and the unique things in your book that make it stand out from its peers. Detailed feedback on how to turn this manuscript into a story that satisfies readers and makes them want to come back for more.
How is this different from a development edit?
A development edit is much more hands-on, and may include line-by-line changes to text you might end up completely rewriting anyway. Sometimes it can be a bit overwhelming, especially if you’re still in the early stages of writing your novel.
An editorial assessment comes a little earlier, and gives you the feedback you need to get to the next step without the heavy time and money commitment of going through the full developmental editing process.
Additionally, you can get an editoral assessment before you’ve finished writing the whole book, if you’re at the querying stage and want to shop it around agents. This is an unbiased and objective review of your work, with informed suggestions on how to take it further.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
I charge per 1000 words, but roughly $1500 for an 80,000-word manuscript.
For the most objective review from a reader’s perspective, all I need is the manuscript.
No. I won’t make changes to the manuscript at this stage. That’s your job! I’ll give you advice on which changes to make so that you don’t waste time fiddling with apostrophes in chapters that will be removed in the next draft.
Beta readers give you a sense of how readers will receive your novel, but they might not necessarily have the editorial or publishing experience to navigate the industry. I combine my response as a reader with my training and experience as a fiction editor, so I won’t just tell you something isn’t working, but also why it’s not working and how you can fix it.
During the editorial assessment, I might suggest which editorial services to seek next. Having deep insight into your goals for the story can be invaluable for the line edit. When it comes to error correction, though, it’s best if a fresh pair of eyes see the work, so I might suggest bringing a member of my team aboard for that.
This depends on the length and complexity of the text. It may take about two to three weeks for me to fully read, digest, analyse, and write my feedback for an 80k-word manuscript.