The markup makes the concepts more concrete and directly relevant. Some editors (not all) include light markup as well because the editorial letter can often seem abstract. If you have tons of notes or chapter drafts, or if you’re not yet clear what story you’re telling, or if you don’t have a cohesive manuscript yet, developmental editing is probably more appropriate for you.Ī manuscript evaluation letter typically runs a few pages, usually no more than 10 pages. In an evaluation, I might refer to books, blogs and other resources that explain a given concept in depth. If a developmental edit involves asking the author multiple questions, a manuscript evaluation gives you a high-level overview of what works and what doesn’t. (One editorial letter I wrote was 30+ pages-one client called it a personalized writing handbook.) So, it’s far more comprehensive than a manuscript evaluation however, it’s also proportionately more expensive. And I pose lots of questions, asking the author to be more specific, go deeper, or show how they might develop a given idea in an earlier chapter. I might rewrite lines or paragraphs to show the author what X technique looks like. For example, during a developmental edit, I do multiple deep reads (and then look away and come back). Developmental editing is a deep-dive edit that takes significantly more hours than a manuscript evaluation. For genre fiction, does the manuscript follow the accepted conventions?Ī Manuscript Evaluation Is Not Developmental EditingĪ manuscript evaluation is much less detailed than a developmental edit and therefore will almost always be less expensive. Are there recurring grammatical issues? How effective are your word choices, including adjectives and adverbs? Are the stakes high enough? Is the story goal clear? Is the voice or perspective clear or strong? Does it earn each plot development? Does it require more suspense (or sensuality, or action)? Does the story advance appropriately? How are characters introduced and developed? How is the pacing? It ideally happens only when you’ve taken your manuscript as far as you can-since it’s not going to do you much good if your feedback consists of comments about revisions you already know you have to make.Ī manuscript evaluation is a high-level analysis of your manuscript through multiple lenses:
#Novel manuscript editing professional#
Today’s guest post is by freelance editor Sarah Chauncey ( you’re writing a novel, memoir or how-to book, a manuscript evaluation can be an economical opportunity to have your work reviewed by a professional editor before you begin querying and submitting. Photo credit: e-magic on Visual Hunt / CC BY-ND
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