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Several Open Books

Editing Services

Developmental editing is a deep dive into your manuscript, strengthening and shaping it to best fit your vision. I evaluate it from a global view, pointing out weaknesses in the narrative, flow, character development, dialogue, pacing, etc., and prescribe appropriate fixes. Your voice is never lost in the process—the book maintains its integrity and your creativity. I always keep the genre in mind as well, so readers' expectations are met. My goal is to take your already good story to the next level, giving it that extra polish to make it excellent.

A typical developmental edit will generate hundreds of comments and questions, asking the author to go deeper, or explain a character's motivation, or to develop an idea further. I often rewrite lines or entire paragraphs to illustrate how something could be made stronger. All changes are made with Word's Track Changes feature, giving you the opportunity to "accept" or "reject" the changes.

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Developmental editing is different from line or copy editing, although I will dip into line editing from time to time when conducting a developmental edit, in an effort to find just the right way to word a passage. It is also different from proofreading, as I'm looking at big picture issues and not typos or misspellings. Developmental editing is that initial look at a manuscript, "diagnosing" what could be improved before further rounds of editing bring the manuscript to a high polish.

Developmental Edit Rate

1.5¢ / word (US)

Example:
50,000 words = $750
75,000 words = $1,125
100,000 words = $1,500

Terms: 50% deposit, balance upon completion. Payable via PayPal or Venmo.

"Wow! Yvonne's evaluation of my manuscript was spot on. She identified the trouble spots and inconsistencies I was blind to. More importantly, she infused the dialogue with more emotion, making the characters far more believable."
— Winnie Roberts, Hard to Starboard, publishing Fall 2024.

Email me at yvonne@yvonneaverywrites.com
to discuss your manuscript!

© 2024 Yvonne Avery

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