What is developmental editing?

For editors interested in getting freelance work from book publishers and packagers, a crucial resource is your colleagues. I don’t mean you should pester random acquaintances to ask their publisher clients to hire you. I do mean you should: Ask what they did to land their first publisher/packager client. While a freelance editor is probably…

As I mentioned in my previous post, I’ve broken my list of red flags into two. Here’s the second list: The Disappearing or Disorganized Client Clients who wander off during the early stages of discussing their project are likely to wander off during the part of the project where they’re supposed to do some work…

The Importance of Separate Developmental Editing and Copyediting Rounds As I mentioned in my previous blog post, indie authors often want editors to combine DE and CE in one round of editing. I mentioned that one problem with doing this is the likelihood of overwhelming the author. Another problem is the complexity. There’s no point…

Amy Acosta is a professional reader, writer, and editor of fiction who specializes in Adult and YA queer romance. In the pursuit of craft knowledge, they completed a Writing Popular Fiction MFA with a focus on YA Lit, and later became a member of the Editorial Freelancers Association, volunteering with their Diversity Initiative. While wrangling…

One of the curious conundrums I’ve experienced as a book editor is encountering characters that the author clearly has contempt for but expects readers to be interested in engaging with. Contempt is as poisonous in writing as it is in relationships. The goal of the author should not be to judge character but to explore…

In my post on editing satirical fiction, I mentioned the message being the driving force in such stories. A recent question from a student made me want to explore the question of editing novels with messages a bit further. The Problem with Message Novels The student pointed out that some authors start novels with a…