I think you're looking for
more of a developmental editor — it's worth getting recommendations from other authors for this type of edit — preferably in a genre you're writing in.
Not exact matches
When trying to find the best
editor for us, we might struggle
more with
developmental editors because the usual technique
of asking for sample edits doesn't work.
I've found that authors are often willing to pay good money for a
developmental editor, someone who walks by their side and helps to shape the book, but when it comes to copyediting and proofreading, especially if and when an author has had a
developmental editor, suspicion arises as to the value or merit
of these
more drilled - down types
of edits.
Your Midnight Publishing
developmental editor would offer suggestions for areas that could benefit from clarification, scenes that feel extraneous, possible restructuring
of certain chapters / scenes, ways to increase the tension via action, romance, etc., and much
more.
In a post on editing, author Ruth Harris concentrates on nine benefits primarily
of «
developmental» editing, as we say in the States, or «structural» editing, as it's called in the UK — the specialization
of editors who work with how you're telling your story and, if necessary, how to reconstruct what you're doing to make it far
more effective.
To me, critique partners are
developmental editors — some have
more experience than others, but when I'm swapping critiques with someone, we are (usually) doing an in - kind swap for
developmental editing (sometimes it's
more of a line edit or copyedit, depending on need or skill
of the person involved).
To learn
more about the role
of a
developmental editor i...
But I and many
of my other author friends treat this professionally and hire a reputable cover artist (mine is used by traditional houses); hire a
developmental / content
editor AND a copyeditor AND one or
more proofreaders (many
of whom are from traditional houses and are working on the side); and hire a professional formatter.
Developmental editors are more expensive, so if you get a price of $ 25 / hour or anything «by the word», that's not a professional level developm
Developmental editors are
more expensive, so if you get a price
of $ 25 / hour or anything «by the word», that's not a professional level
developmentaldevelopmental editor.
As an author, the
more you understand
developmental editing, the better educated you will be when you decide to work with this type
of editor.
Good
developmental editors look for opportunities to increase a story's impact, to make scenes
more powerful and dialogue
more effective, to create multidimensional characters, to build in the kinds
of tension that keep readers turning pages and the kinds
of resolution that leave them satisfied.
To learn
more about the role
of a
developmental editor in traditional and indie publishing, click to read this
more
I've been a freelance
developmental editor and manuscript formatter for
more than ten years and have edited over 200 books in that time, 95 %
of them for self publishing authors.
If you're bootstrapping your book, find even
more betas: good beta readers can mean forgoing the cost
of a
developmental editor.