Five ways to edit a book, and two ways to finish one
Most writers arrive here not quite sure what they need. That's the normal place to start. Below is what each stage does, in the order a manuscript usually travels through them.
Editing moves from the whole book down to the last comma. That order isn't a rule someone invented to make this complicated—it's what saves you money and needless frustration. There's little sense perfecting the sentences in a chapter that ends up being cut, or proofreading a manuscript whose structure is still shifting.
This is why most books need two of these stages, not five. A manuscript that's had a developmental edit rarely needs a separate line edit. One you've self-edited carefully may go straight to a copyedit. Tell me about your project and I'll tell you honestly which ones yours calls for. If that's fewer than you expected, I'll say so.
Manuscript Evaluation
You've finished a draft, or you're close. You've read it enough times that the sentences have stopped meaning anything, and you genuinely can't tell any more whether it works.
Maybe you suspect something is off but can't name it. Maybe nobody has read it yet and you'd like that to be someone whose job is books rather than someone who loves you.
All of those are the same question: is this working, and what would I fix first?
What an evaluation is
I read your manuscript from beginning to end, the way a reader would, and then I write you a letter about it.
What it isn't: I don't make changes inside your document. Nothing gets rewritten. You get a plan, and the revising stays yours.
What you get
-
A detailed editorial letter—as long as your manuscript needs it to be, and always specific
-
A clear priority order: what to fix first, and what genuinely doesn't matter
-
An honest read on whether the book is close, or whether it needs another full draft
-
A recommendation on which stage of editing to book next, if any
-
A conversation once you've had time to sit with it
What it costs
$0.015 to $0.02 per word
Flat rates available for shorter works. An evaluation costs less than any edit, and it's the one that tells you where the money should go—it stops writers spending thousands fixing the wrong problem.
I'll give you your exact figure in your proposal, once I've read the whole thing. It's based on the manuscript as it reaches me, so if the word count shifts before we start, we'll adjust it together before anyone begins work.
This is the right stage if:
-
nobody with editorial experience has read the manuscript yet
-
you want to know what the work involves before you commit to it
-
you'd rather do the revising yourself and just need to know what to revise
-
you're working to a budget and want to spend it in the right place
Evaluation or developmental editing?
Both stages look at the same things: whether your argument builds, whether the chapters are in the right order, whether a reader can follow you. The difference is what happens next.
With an evaluation, you take the letter and do the revising. With developmental editing, I'm in the manuscript with you doing it.
Not sure where to start? A few questions will point you to the right stage.
