Manuscript Editing

We strengthen writing through both developmental and mechanical editing. We partner with our clients to minimize our editorial footprint, preserving their voice and enhancing their work.

Our process also provides two expert editors for every manuscript—rare in the industry.

We have edited many hundreds of manuscripts encompassing a wide variety of genres for clients around the world.

  • Autobiography & Memoirs
  • Biography
  • Business & Finance
  • Children’s Literature
  • Cookbooks
  • Fantasy
  • LGBTQIA+ Studies
  • Historical Fiction
  • History
  • Humor
  • Poetry
  • Politics & Government
  • Religion & Spirituality
  • Science Fiction
  • Self-Help
  • Short Stories
  • Textbooks & Manuals
  • Travel & Lifestyle
  • Young Adult

Developmental Editing

Developmental editing (sometimes referred to as substantive editing or content editing) involves providing guidance concerning the overall structure of a manuscript, often including assistance with conceptualizing significant content restructuring. Developmental editing may involve specific recommendations regarding presentation and organization of text, such as smoothness, reorganization and tightening, elimination of ambiguity, and flagging instances of outside source requirement; it may also involve content simplification and offering recommendations for other content-related modifications. At its essence, developmental editing is a collaborative process with the author in order to ascertain and define the scope and intention of the manuscript and to stylize such elements as narrative voice, language choice, sensory descriptions, plot and character development, pacing, overall style, and other key components of the text, depending upon its subject and purpose.


Mechanical Editing

Mechanical editing—often called copyediting—focuses upon such aspects of text as syntax, grammar, spelling, capitalization, table format, hyphenation, number treatment, use of abbreviations, citation format, correctness of punctuation, and regulation between format and requirements. It also includes ensuring consistency between texts, tables, and illustrations. Mechanical editing is particularly concerned with ensuring that the manuscript conforms to the required publishing standard.


Proofreading

Proofreading involves ensuring that a manuscript is free of spelling, punctuation, and capitalization errors. Proofreading also includes verifying appropriate material in all elements of the manuscript (e.g., front matter, back matter), confirming the accuracy of the table of contents against all relevant items, assuring proper end-of-line hyphenation, establishing that all graphics appear in the right location and order, verifying page spread and line spacing, and reviewing typefaces and indentation for accurate display. Additional considerations, such as ensuring consistency with page numbers, running heads, and running feet and checking for errors caused by electronic file conversion, are also included.

Manuscripts of any length and those requiring heavier or more creative editing involving restructuring and script reorganization are welcomed.