Novel Editing Services - Manuscript Assessments and More

Ensure your story is high-caliber

Hire an experienced editor and polish your writing

Do you have publishing goals but are unsure of specific language use, style or your story’s structure? Do you need the objectivity to see what's working for and against your story? Hire an editor to make your writing stand out and fix inconsistencies, so that your writing meets publishers' and readers' standards.

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What are the stages in editing?

Each writer is at a different stage of their writing process and needs different editorial support.

Each of Now Novel's editing services follow on from each other and we recommend starting with a manuscript assessment (also known as manuscript evaluation or critique) and continuing through to proofreading. Unsure of what type of book editing you need? Submit an editing quote request and get in touch for help.

HERE’S WHAT THE PROCESS LOOKS LIKE:

	01: MANUSCRIPT CRITIQUE
BEST FOR	General feedback - an editor's report on what works and what to improve
YOU GET	A comprehensive, 10-page review
NEXT STEP	Developmental editing
MORE INFO	Get a Quote

	02: DEVELOPMENTAL EDITING
BEST FOR	Line edits and insights to improve your content and style
YOU GET	A consultative process to produce a better story
NEXT STEP	Copy editing
MORE INFO	Get a Quote

	03: COPY EDITING
BEST FOR	Improving language use and style once you have your story's content
YOU GET	A more readable, professional draft
NEXT STEP	Proofreading
MORE INFO	Get a Quote

	04: PROOFREADING
BEST FOR	Checking for small details of formatting and punctuation
YOU GET	An error-free, publishable story
NEXT STEP	Publishing/querying
MORE INFO	Get a Quote

#	01: MANUSCRIPT CRITIQUE	02: DEVELOPMENTAL EDITING	03: COPY EDITING	04: PROOFREADING
BEST FOR	General feedback - an editor's report on what works and what to improve	Line edits and insights to improve your content and style	Improving language use and style once you have your story's content	Checking for small details of formatting and punctuation
YOU GET	A comprehensive, 10-page review	A consultative process to produce a better story	A more readable, professional draft	An error-free, publishable story
NEXT STEP	Developmental editing	Copy editing	Proofreading	Publishing/querying
MORE INFO	Get a Quote	Get a Quote	Get a Quote	Get a Quote

WHAT IS A MANUSCRIPT CRITIQUE OR EVALUATION?

A manuscript critique, evaluation or assessment is a detailed, constructive, critical appraisal of what works in your manuscript and what would benefit from further, specific developmental changes.

Your editor will read your story and write a detailed report including:

Commentary on the content of your manuscript, including but not necessarily limited to narrative structure, plot progression, characterisation, pacing and dialogue
An evaluation of the structure of the narrative and practical suggestions for improvement
Identification of any major narrative issues, including plot inconsistencies or weaknesses (and suggested solutions)
An appraisal of your manuscript’s marketability, based on the intended audience and genre you identify
Detailed answers for up to three direct questions you pose
Advice on how to proceed with further editing if required or querying

If you choose a manuscript critique and later decide that you would like to upgrade to a full developmental edit, the price of your critique will be deducted from the cost of the developmental edit.

Meet the editors:

Hedi Lampert

Mondi Award-winning writer and editor
Experienced features writer
Author of fictionalized memoir, The Trouble with My Aunt
Special interest in creative memoir and life-writing

Zee Monodee

Mauritian author of feel-good romance
Experience as senior editor at Eilander Publishing and Love Africa Press
Bilingual in English and French
Special interest in romance, paranormal, urban fantasy and women’s fiction

Nerine Dorman

Editor and multi-published author
Editor of the Bloody Parchment anthologies
Author of award winning YA novel Sing Down the Stars
Special interest in science fiction, fantasy, horror and YA

Jordan Kantey

10 years' experience editing fiction and content
Now Novel Writing coach since 2016
Honours in English Literature (with distinction)
Special interest in literary, historical, and contemporary fiction

WHAT IS DEVELOPMENTAL EDITING?

Developmental editing is an editing process to discuss and resolve ‘big picture’ issues in your manuscript.

Your editor will read your manuscript or partial manuscript in full and leave in-line commentary as well as tracked changes.

Also known as ‘substantive’, ‘content’ or ‘line’ editing
Your editor delves deeply into the mechanics of your story to identify problems and suggest potential solutions in detail
Your developmental editor will help you finesse plot development and fix continuity problems, characterisation, weak or unnatural dialogue, and other stylistic and structural issues
Comprehensive consultation with your editor who will help you with the content and style of your manuscript
A detailed process, designed to help you to produce your best possible work

WHAT IS COPY EDITING?

Copy-editing entails improving the mechanics of language and style in your writing, rather than story content.

Your copy-editor will fix language errors while also making suggestions for stronger flow, clarity, sentence structure and style.

Ensures consistent, impactful language use
Addresses problems with grammar, spelling and punctuation
Highlights any unclear or awkward dialogue and descriptions (in addition to grammar and punctuation)
Brings to attention any other stylistic errors or inconsistencies

WHAT IS PROOFREADING?

Proofreading is the final pass a manuscript typically undergoes after typesetting, as preparation for digital publication or print.

Your proofreader will correct typos and other errors and provide a summary of corrections showing the line number and page for each change.

Final stage of editing and only occurs after the manuscript has been laid out by a typesetter and is ready to be published
It's the least intensive form of editing and thus usually the most affordable per word
Last step in the book editing process
Your proofreader will look for small errors such as typos, misspellings and formatting errors that may have slipped through the previous editing stages
Before proofreading, all manuscripts need to be professionally edited by a developmental or copy editor to ensure larger errors or inconsistencies have already been addressed

Read our editing reviews:

Jordan was extremely helpful throughout the process of me writing my novel. His notes and feedback were always thorough and well organized. I really liked that he wasn't just telling me what I wanted to hear, which boosted my confidence in my writing. I used Jordan with a previous manuscript, and I was so impressed with his work that I sent him chapters from my second manuscript.

Joe

I am very pleased with the evaluation of my draft novel. It arrived well within the promised schedule. It is exactly at the level that I had hoped for. It is professionally produced, recognising the positives (which are very encouraging) as well as the negatives of my document, giving a clear rationale for each point, and showing an excellent understanding of the novel.

Patrick

Now Novel's MS assessment was perfect for my needs. It highlighted areas of my novel where my writing is at its weakest. Their suggestions I adopted 100% and the read is much better for it. Their attention to detail was impressive. Will continue to use.

Rob

Take the first step to a polished manuscript and get in touch:

When you need editing services for novels, Now Novel will help you polish your final draft. Free novel editing services such as beta readers will help you iron out basic spelling, punctuation and grammar errors. Even fix weaker points in your story. When you hire an editor for a novel, however, you get line-editing insights or hands-on corrections, depending on which editing service you choose. Professional manuscript evaluations, developmental editing, copy-editing and novel proofreading are crucial for a high, consistent level of finesse. Make your final draft novel the best version of your story.

Professional Editing Services