Developmental edits

A Developmental Edit is a detailed, scene to scene analysis of your novel, focused on the structure and characters of your story.

I analyze how your book fulfills genre conventions so it will satisfy its readers, character arcs, story structure, scene strength and narrative drive and voice.

You will receive detailed comments throughout your manuscript, a personalized Editorial Letter with clear Next Steps in completing your manuscript.

My aim is for you to not only get a professional assessment of your current work, but to gain skills to strengthen your next book.

WHAT YOU GET

  • I will make comments throughout your manuscript with suggestive edits, such as clarifying passages, scenes and sentences. I will comment on big picture themes and structure as well as smaller details of voice, tense, and sentence structure. An overall analysis that is based on these comments will be found within a personalized and detailed Editorial Letter.

  • Personalized Editorial Letter discussing in detail with examples from your work on strengths and weaknesses, including, but not limiting to, my 5 Roadways:

    • Genre Conventions

    • Protagonist Arc of Change

    • Antagonists POV

    • Story Structure

    • Scene Strength

  • You will receive an Excel document cataloging your scenes or chapters of your book. This is a fantastic tool for you to see the big picture strengths and weaknesses of your manuscript and is crucial in structural edits.

  • I will include at least 5 Next Steps that are actionable and will get you closer to finalizing your draft.

  • I will make line edits to the first 2000 words concentrating on tactics that will strengthen your voice throughout your manuscript.

  • Once you receive your manuscript back with your Editorial Letter, you can set up an hour long meeting with me to ask any questions you might have and to discuss next steps.

HOW IT WORKS

  • Hi! In this call we will discuss your project, what your goals are and what type of feedback to expect from the edit.

    You can decide after this meeting to continue with a Developmental Edit, move to the Draft RX package, or to not work with me at all!

    I do like to think of this as a working relationship and so I want to work with you only if we are a good fit for each other.

    There is no commitment needed for an initial meet up, just click the button below, fill out a form with some basic information about you and your story, and I’ll get back to you with options for a 30 minute block of time to meet me via a video link.

  • Once you’ve decided to go forward with a Developmental Edit, I will send you an invoice and a contract. Once these are fulfilled, you send me your manuscript.

    Within six weeks, I will return your manuscript with inline comments throughout the manuscript, the first 2000 words line edited, a personalized Editorial Letter that includes detailed feedback and next steps.

  • You will receive:

    • Manuscript as a Word document with comments throughout your draft.

    • Personalized Revision Roadmap to guide your next steps to finishing your draft.

    • First 2000 words Line Edited.

    • The Line Edit Guidebook.

  • Once you have gone over all of my notes, you can schedule a one hour follow up call where we can discuss any questions you might have and go over your next steps towards finishing your draft.

How much does this cost?

The initial meeting is free, and if you decide on a Developmental Edit, it is $0.04 per word.

1:1 Coaching Add On

Need more structure?

More Feedback?

Add on my 1:1 Coaching Package. You get 5 assignements and 5 meetings with me that we will design together. Find out more information here.

FAQs

What exactly is the difference between the Draft rx program and a developmental edit?

A Developmental Edit is better for manuscripts that have already gone through a few author edits, where the Draft RX program is more for incomplete manuscripts or if you are lost. With a Developmental Edit, you will get inline comments throughout the entire document focusing on big picture issues. Each scene is analyzed to make sure that it’s doing its job for the novel as a whole. The Draft RX package focuses on the same big picture issues, but it does not include the scene level analysis or inline comments. I may not read your entire manuscript for the Draft RX package, depending on what your goals are. I focus more on the Revision Roadmap Workbook and getting you to the finish line.

What if I have additional questions?

I’m always here to answer your questions! Feel free to email me at vdavis@revisionroadmap.com 

What if I’m unsure if my manuscript is ready for a developmental edit or Draft rx?

No worries at all! I’m happy to review a few chapters and then discuss with you if the Draft RX program is a better fit for you. I’m here to help YOU out so which ever you feel is the better fit, I’m here for you!

Do i have to decide on the 1:1 coaching before I sign up for the draft rx program?

Nope! You can add it on after you get my analysis and we have our follow up meeting. You can decide to add it on at any point once I have read your manuscript and created your Revision Roadmap. 

“She was able to put words to what I had been feeling was off about the book, including a lack of stakes and oppositional force in the story. Her encouragement really got me excited and looking forward to diving into my book revisions, and the book has improved drastically thanks to her attention to detail and strong knowledge of great storytelling.”

Robin Nemesszeghy, Author of Convergence Point