Developmental Editing
What is Developmental Editing?
Developmental editing is the first phases of editing which dives into the foundations of your story to analyze your plot, story progression, character arcs, and more. The focus of this type of editing is the form of your story and helping you keep the big picture in mind. It does not focus on sentence level content or grammar.
What can I expect?
Elizabeth evaluates each manuscript first from the view of a fellow author, and then from the perspective of a potential reader. She keeps your ideal reader front and center while leaving in-line feedback. After she finishes her read, she crafts a 10-30 page developmental letter that discusses: her first impression, detailed evaluation of plot progression, character critique that looks at flaws and strengths, relationship dynamics, story pacing, worldbuilding, point of view analysis, potential social media strategy, and helping you identify your ideal reader.
After you have had a chance to review all comments and the developmental letter, she will then have a 60 minute coaching call with you discussing your thoughts on the edit and verbally help you find solutions to problems or elaborate further on requested topics. She also offers continued support after the developmental edit is complete to answer any questions that may come up.
All manuscripts are personally edited by Elizabeth. No programs, no AI, no artificial analysis. Just a real, human being.
Developmental Editing Rate -
$0.030 per word
Payment plans accepted
A 20% deposit is required to secure your booking
Debut authors get a 20% discount!
Returning clients get a 30% discount!
What clients are saying…
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"She never once tried to change the story from my vision. She helped find the missing pieces but it was still my writing, my words, my story."
Katie Walker
YA Modern Fantasy
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"Absolutely amazing across the board. Really enjoyed working with her and all of her advice and edits were so helpful."
Raquel Raelynn, Author of The Balance of Fates
Sapphic New Adult Fantasy
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"Elizabeth Skarpnes has, no exaggeration, changed the path of this story in the best way. She approaches her work with a care and consideration that kept my voice front and center, but helped fill in those holes I was missing."
Katharine M Sweet, Author of Love Stories Are…
Contemporary RomCom
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"She had great thorough feedback that was easy to follow. I really appreciated the her quick turnaround time and how much care she put into my project."
Jasmine Little, Author of If We Say Goodbye
YA Coming of Age
Q&A with the Editor
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Yes, I do! Let me know during our initial conversations that you are interested in coming up with a payment plan and I will happily work with you to develop one. I understand editing prices can be a hardship so I am willing to tailor payment plans to suit your needs.
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Approximately 30 days depending on manuscript length.
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I primarily work on fictional stories. I am adaptable to many different genres and age group including but not limited to: fantasy, contemporary, romance, middle grade, young adult, new adult, & adult just to name a few!
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*Trigger warning for mentions of sensitive an upsetting subjects*
I will not read stories that include: nonconsensual sexual contact (rape), incest, sexual abuse, racist/homophobic/transphobic content. If you are unsure if your stories content will fall into any of these categories, please ask and discuss with me prior to discussing booking.
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The downpayment is to secure your booking.
The contract is to protect the client and the editor by making sure there is clear understanding. This is especially important for payment plans. Contracts are revisable for word count only up until 30 days before the start date.
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Absolutely! Please fill out the interst form and we can discuss further. I offer free 15 minute no obligation consultations upon request where we can discuss your work and needs to determine if we are a good match for each other. I think that open dialogue and communication are key to mutual understanding.