DEVELOPMENTAL EDITING
The deepest look your manuscript will get before anything else happens to it.
A developmental edit isn't about fixing sentences. It's about understanding whether your story is doing what you need it to do. Plot, pacing, character arcs, world-building, point of view. This is where we find out what's working, what's almost working, and what needs to change before you move forward.
🟣 STRENGTHS — These are what is already working. What to protect. Feel good moments to come back to when revisions are hard.
🔴 MOST CRITICAL REVISIONS — These absolutely need to be fixed before any other color. These revisions affect the entire manuscript and plot.
🟠 IMPORTANT REVISIONS — These are crucial to ensure plot holes are fixed and timelines are consistent.
🟢 OPTIONAL IMPROVEMENT — I highly recommend fixing these, but often stylistic choices, like condensing, removing certain repetition, pacing.
🔵 KEEP EYE ON — These might involve other revisions from other chapters, important information we need to remember, keeping track of timeline, certain quotes, etc.
The Color-Coded Assessment
Second Pass: I go chapter by chapter with my developmental assessment guide open, giving you specific, structured feedback on plot, pacing, dialogue, character, setting, and point of view.
First Pass: I read your manuscript the way a reader will: straight through, taking notes on what pulls me in and what pulls me out.
The Process
Developmental editing is priced at $0.026/word, reflecting the full two-pass process, the complete color-coded assessment, and the follow-up call.
(For an 80,000-word manuscript, that's approximately $2,080.)
Available as a full manuscript edit, or in staged chunks if you'd rather revise as you go.
Payment plans are available for all services.
This is what makes the feedback usable instead of overwhelming. Every note in your assessment is color-coded so you always know what to do with it at a glance:
Investment
Every developmental edit includes two full read-throughs:
Plus a 1-Hour Call
Once you have the assessment in hand, we talk through it together—your questions, your revision plan, what order to tackle things in. You don't just receive feedback. You leave knowing what to do with it.
An Alternative Structure: Act-by-Act Editing
This can be a better fit for:
Longer or multi-POV manuscripts where major issues in Act One affect what happens in Act Three.
Writers who want to revise as they go, rather than holding all feedback until the end.
Projects where pacing and structure need close attention at every stage.
Availability and pricing for Act-by-Act Editing are custom-quoted per project. Reach out to see if it's the right fit for your manuscript.
This differs from book coaching because your manuscript is still entirely written
For longer or more complex manuscripts, developmental editing doesn't have to happen all at once. Act-by-act editing breaks the process into stages, following your story's natural structure. You receive feedback and revise one act at a time, rather than waiting for a single edit of the entire manuscript.
Still drafting?
Book Coaching uses this same assessment system throughout your writing process, so you get consistent, structured feedback from first draft to final manuscript. Book Coaching also includes a developmental edit.
You story deserves to be published. You deserve support getting it there.