Frequently Asked Questions

We read your manuscript and make comments in the margins about what’s working well and what you could do even better to keep your reader engaged. You’ll get big-picture feedback on the theme, structure, tone, and overall flow of the book. Generally, we won’t comment on grammar, word choice, or punctuation. That kind of editing happens later in the process. We sometimes give examples of how a scene or small section could be rewritten, but we coach authors to make their own revisions.

It varies. But you can expect to pay between $1,000 and $4,000 for one or two rounds of developmental feedback on a full-length book.

There are exceptions, on either end of course, but we will discuss your budget ahead of time and will give you as much as we can within that budget.

We will set up a video call with you so that you can tell us about your book, describe the the kind of editing you think it needs, and determine if we’re the right fit for you.

If you decide to work with us, you would email or share an electronic version of your manuscript and we would set a deadline for us to return it to you with comments in the margins. We also would provide you a separate document with a summary of our feedback.

We are not publishing agents and don’t have contacts in the publishing industry, other than with one hybrid publisher who lists us among their developmental editors.

We can connect you with authors who have expertise navigating the traditional publishing field.

If you are interested in self-publishing, we can guide you through that process.

We do not have the capacity to ghost write books. We’ve offered this service in the past and may again in the future, but right now it’s not something we can take on.

We can format the inside of your book and can design the cover in house or in collaboration with an outside graphic designer.

Yes. As long as we have not been your developmental editor, we can proofread your book for grammar, punctuation, and other mechanical issues.

We can also copy edit your book—which is a deeper edit that looks for inconsistencies, factual errors, problems with clarity (maybe because of word choice or phrasing), and opportunities to generally tighten the manuscript.

Most of the authors who come to us are first-timers or at least very new to writing—especially when it comes to full-length books. And we love to help them learn the writing ropes while we help them develop their story.

Among the things we tend to see in first-time authors’ manuscripts are

• telling instead of showing,

• too much summarizing/time-jumping,

• rough transitions, and

• not enough scenes or dialogue.

Working through those common issues does mean the process will take a little longer than it would with a more seasoned author. But we’re ready to work with you!