The Substantive Edit
You’ve taken advantage of the manuscript evaluation to revise your novel. The structure is solid, there’s conflict and tension abound, and your characters feel like living, breathing people. Now the real work begins.
Compared to the manuscript evaluation, which assesses your story on a macro level, the substantive edit makes sure every chapter, scene, and paragraph works together in seamless harmony until your story sings. We'll move sections for narrative flow, suggest alternate phrases for emotional impact, and highlight passages that can take your readers out of your story. The substantive edit, with marginal comments and pointed advice, takes what’s solid and makes it great.
What it covers:
HOOK & PREMISE
MARKET APPEAL
CHARACTERIZATION
PLOT & STRUCTURE
WORLDBUILDING
MACRO PACE
VOICE & STYLE
MICRO PACE
THEMATICS
CLARITY
The run-down.
What’s the goal?
After you’ve revised your draft with the help of the your manuscript evaluation, the substantive edit assesses every page and paragraph through a magnifying glass so your readers are never tempted to set your story down.
What does it include?
Along with the standard editorial letter, we use track changes to leave comments in the margins of your manuscript with helpful suggestions on how to revise. We'll reorganize paragraphs or tighten up sentences when the work calls for it, but we won’t rewrite your story or revise your scenes.
How much does it cost?
Depending on the genre, the shape of the draft, and the word count after the evaluation, a substantive edit can run anywhere between $0.04 and $0.06 per word.
What’s the turnaround?
Four to five weeks.
What can I submit?
Your revised draft, of course! We only conduct substantive edits for novels that have already been revised according to the manuscript evaluation.