If you're having to pick and choose, I would argue that every book should have at least one
developmental editing round, followed up by one copy editing round.
Not exact matches
Depending on your manuscript, I may recommend one or more
rounds of
developmental editing followed by one or more
rounds of line
editing.
My rates for
developmental editing vary depending on what you as an author are looking for and on the state of the manuscript, but fall anywhere between $ 0.016 per word and $ 0.05 per word for a single
round.
Working with a
developmental editor usually means at least a
round or two of
editing and rewriting before you can send the book to the next stage in
editing.
Round I: Your editor will complete a
developmental edit on your manuscript.
As you revise your manuscript, additional
rounds of
developmental editing are available at a reduced cost.
I highly recommend getting two
rounds of proofreading / copyediting, especially if you DO need
developmental / substantive
editing before the book goes to your copyeditor.
After
developmental / substantive
editing, one
round of copy
editing before typesetting and one after.
They should have gone through another
round or two of
developmental editing, line
editing, copy
editing, all of the above.
That's for
developmental and FLE, (Final line
edit)-- three
rounds in all.
I don't pay for
developmental editing because I go through several
rounds of beta reading with other authors as crit partners, some bloggers, some voracious readers.
My Montlake books, which go through three
rounds of
developmental editing, a copyedit, and a proofread, are ranked about the same as my indie books: for books written in the past few years, everything has a 4.4 to 4.8 - star review average.
If you could only afford one
round of
editing, should you choose
developmental editing or copyediting?
When the
developmental editor at Writer's Digest got her hands on the manuscript, which was after I'd done one
round of
editing and revising, she found one or two pieces of copy that needed to be moved.
My plan is to send it off for one more
round of
developmental edits some time in Feburary.
Comprehensive
Edit: one
round of
developmental editing + one
round of copyediting 4.
Once you've done this, send it on to a professional book editor for a
round or two (or three) of
developmental editing and then a
round of line
editing.
It has been simply amazing to work with Leah as she completed two
rounds of
developmental editing.