What It's Like To Work With A Developmental Editor

the highs, the lows, and would I do it again.

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Developmental editor: Developmental editing is a phase in the book publishing process where editors work with authors to resolve “big picture” issues in their manuscripts, including structure, form, plot, and character. Because of its focus on wider story elements, this type of editing normally won't address sentence-level errors such as punctuation and grammar typos. Good developmental editing will bear your target audience in mind and assess your work in relation to industry standards and expectations. (Reedsy)

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I’ve spoken about my novel writing journey candidly over the last few months, including the devastating, albeit humbling realization that my book was definitely not ready. If only I’d realized this before sending out 40 ish queries .

Wah Wah

While this was mortifying, it was also on par with the way I’ve always approached creativity. I’m a planner in almost every way, but when it comes to anything career-related I tend to bulldoze my way through until I figure it out. Sometimes this works, mostly it just wastes a lot of time.

Perhaps I can spare you the same fate by sharing what I’ve learned, at what stage it makes sense to consider hiring an editor, and if I’d do it again.

Why did I hire a developmental editor?

My book was not ready. It was good, but it was also littered with all the beginner mistakes that you’d expect. I’m entirely self-taught when it comes to novel writing and made the rookie mistake of thinking being a good essay/article/fill in the blank writer would translate. It didn’t. Novel writing is an entirely different beast.

So, being someone without an MFA, who hadn’t studied writing since college, and had admittedly taken a generous lapse in reading over the years, I was at a disadvantage.

But!

In the weeks that followed rejection number 36 or so, I went down endless Reddit rabbit holes searching things like What to do if manuscript is rejected? and Why is my manuscript getting rejected? and eventually the sad, all too frequent searches of Longest time for literary agent to respond and How many rejections until a yes.

The searches got sadder, the answers more depressing.

Eventually I was forced to face the facts: my book just wasn’t ready.

What did they provide?

Being the kind of person who believes every problem has a solution if only you search long enough (and boy did I!) eventually I learned about developmental editors.

Finally, something I could grab onto!

Every developmental editor will be a little different, but the one I hired (more on that below) took six-weeks to read my manuscript. Then, she provided me with a 50-page report that outlined genre, audience, plot, voice, dialogue, and finally, next steps. In my case, I was doing way too much telling not showing, and had a whole lot of passive voice.

It was a lot to take in.

She also provided 30 pages of sample line edits and a one-hour phone call to go over it all, and then suggested I spend a month absorbing all the feedback before starting the editing process.

This was the hardest part, but she was right. I was in an absoloute when I first got my report back. Taking the month off and reading a lot was the best thing I could have done.

How did I decide who to hire?

I did a lot of research on this. I’ll start by saying it’s pricey and I think, like anything, you get what you pay for. I understand it’s a privilege to be able to throw money at this. For me, dipping into my savings was the best, and honestly only option. I knew this novel needed help, I knew that I couldn’t navigate it on my own, and as they say, I didn’t know what I didn’t know.

This is the thing I want you to take away if you remember nothing else—rejections don’t mean your book isn’t good. It doesn’t mean you’re a bad writer (probably). It could mean literally anything, which is why I hired a developmental editor. I needed someone to point out the book’s flaws; the things I didn’t even know to look for.

In the end, I worked with

Cornerstones

, initially through their free query letter + first 10 pages of analysis. This is a smart step for anyone in the querying stage because it’ll tell you if your package is working.

The free feedback I got was SO thorough that I knew I had to work with them. Now, it was expensive —thousands of dollars expensive. But for me, it was worth it. It’s also worth mentioning they have different tiers of editors you can work with and the price changed accordingly. For instance, the lowest tier are editors and agented writers, the middle tier are editors who have worked in publishing for 3+ years, and the most expensive tier is editors who have worked at a publishing house or agency at a senior level or are bestselling authors. So you have options.

P.s. if you are thinking about it, I just saw they’re doing a special through July 19th!

Would I do it again?

In a heartbeat.

For me, it was worth it because I knew my manuscript wasn’t working but I had no idea what the problem was. I genuinely thought it was in the best shape it could be, so I didn’t understand all the rejections. It was only after having the editor point things out and seriously upping my reading game that I started to see the missing pieces.

Now, if you’re someone who already reads a ton and knows your weaknesses in writing, you might not need a developmental editor. Working with beta readers might be enough. I’ve worked with a few groups via

The Shit About Writing Team

’s Bianca Marais’ Beta Reader Matchup and it’s been amazing for pointing out my weak spots and providing me a regular writing critique group. She usually runs them monthly and you can sign up here.

I highly suggest beta readers prior to querying but I suggest querying before a developmental editor, assuming you’ve had enough eyes on your work. But if you’re getting rejections and you’re not sure why, I think it’s worth doing Cornerstone’s free analysis and seeing how you feel. There is really NO pressure to hire them, but it’ll give you a good sense of where you’re at.

What ultimately made the difference

I think the combination of working with this editor and reading more is what ultimately what made the difference. I needed to read more so I could see these things in action, but I needed to have the editor’s notes so I knew what to look for in the first place.

Bonus tip: Now when I read I take note of lines and sections that show strong execution of the things I struggle with. That way, when I get stuck in my own writing I can go to the Notes app on my phone, search “interiority” and see that in say, The Ballerinas on page 196 there’s a great example of interiority. It helps me get un-stuck every time.

So to wrap this massive post up, hiring a developmental editor has been tremendously helpful, and I wouldn’t have known to do any of this if I hadn’t worked with her.

And I definitely wouldn’t have had this exciting news to share. :)

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Was this helpful? I would love to know if you’ve thought of working with a developmental editor and your thoughts. Are there any questions you have that I didn’t answer?