Share This Story!

Midnight Publishing offers a wide array of editing and writing services to clients in our local Phoenix vicinity, or internationally with online, phone, and Skype correspondence. Our experienced and award-winning staff understand that each manuscript is different, and requires a tailored approach to hone and refine it to a publishable and marketable level. With so many different editing avenues that focus on varying aspects of a book, we felt it would be beneficial to write a blog post on each one of the three editing services Midnight Publishing offers, so that you can collaborate with us having a full understanding of what we will do for your manuscript and author career.

A Midnight Publishing editing package and pricing breakdown, beginning from least intensive to most intensive:

  • Tier 1: Proofreading, starts at $0.025/word
  • Tier 2: Copyediting (a developmental editing/line editing hybrid), starts at $0.04/word
  • Tier 3: Developmental editing, starts at $0.05/word

What is Developmental Editing?

Developmental editing is the most intensive type of editing Midnight Publishing offers for an analysis of the book’s material itself. A developmental edit (also referred to in the industry as a content edit) includes your Midnight Publishing editor reading the material and providing in-line comments and a chapter-by-chapter additional summary on facets of the storyline beyond grammar and syntax.

Topics a Developmental Edit and Adjoining Summary Focus on for a Fiction Manuscript Include:

  1. Character development. (Are the characters interesting? Do their behaviors make sense in accordance with their personalities and motives? Etc.)
  2. Pacing. (Do any areas/chapters feel too slow, too fast, need an increase in tension? Etc.)
  3. World building. (Is the setting described in a clear and cohesive manner? Is too much or too little time spent describing the various details of the setting in comparison to the plot? Etc.)
  4. Dialogue. (Is it trite? Believable? Long-winded, short, peppered with unrealistic word choice? Etc.)
  5. Identifying plot holes. (Do details change from the beginning of the manuscript to the middle or end—i.e. a character’s hair color, the spelling of names/places, etc. Are there forgotten events or storyline details that were never explained?)
  6. Character arcs. (Does each character have a clearly defined goal and are their choices reflecting that goal? Do readers care about characters?)
A look at how @MidnightWriting's #developmentaledits can help your #manuscript. Click To Tweet

Topics a Developmental Edit and Adjoining Summary Focus on for a Nonfiction Manuscript Include:

  1. Material organization. (Do the chapters unfold in a cohesive and clear manner? Do they compel the reader to continue reading? Etc.)
  2. Analysis of current content for more or less material required per chapter. (Would a personal narrative be beneficial in a particular chapter? Is a concept explained clearly enough? Etc.)
  3. Analysis of readability for the intended audience. (Is the material too complicated for desired readership level? Etc.)

**Nonfiction developmental edits can be incorporated with Midnight Publishing’s ghostwriting services to form a hybrid edit/ghostwrite package, in which our writers and editors revise existing material, restructure manuscript for clarity and cohesion, and create fresh content for inclusion in the manuscript based on author’s raw materials and instructions. Inquire with us for more details on this package.**

When to Choose a Developmental Edit

Developmental edits will provide an author with the most detailed and comprehensive manuscript analysis in terms of readability, interest, cohesion, and how to elevate all of these elements for a book that readers and/or publishers will want to invest in. Midnight Publishing recommends a developmental edit for authors who are still early on in their writing careers, and desire in-depth consultation on their story-crafting skills over a simpler grammatical edit.

Midnight Publishing is always available to discuss the vision for your manuscript, and provide insight and direction on which editing tier it would most benefit from. Contact us anytime for a free consult and a spot on our schedule!