Big-picture feedback for the story you’re trying to tell.
You know your story better than anyone—which is exactly why sometimes it's impossible to see what's happening on the page instead of what's happening in your head.
Developmental editing takes a step back from individual sentences to look at the manuscript as a whole: what's working, what's missing, where the story drags, where the emotional beats aren't quite landing, and where something that makes perfect sense to you might leave a reader wondering what the hell just happened.
My goal isn't to turn your book into the story I would have written.
It's to help you make your story stronger.
Every manuscript is different, so every developmental edit is different. Depending on your story and the concerns you bring to me, feedback may include:
Plot & Structure
Does the story hold together? Are conflicts established and resolved effectively? Are setups paying off? Are there plot holes, missing connections, or story threads that disappear somewhere around Chapter Twenty-Seven?
Pacing & Tension
Where does the story fly? Where does it drag? Are important moments given enough room to breathe—or are we spending six chapters getting somewhere readers needed to arrive three chapters ago?
Character Development & Motivation
Do your characters' choices make sense based on what you've shown us? Are their emotional arcs believable? Are changes earned on the page?
Relationships & Romance Arcs
Chemistry, relationship progression, conflict, intimacy, emotional development, and whether the relationship readers are being told exists is the same one they're actually experiencing on the page.
POV & Narrative Effectiveness
Does each POV contribute something meaningful? Are voices distinct? Is information reaching the reader at the right time and through the right character?
Worldbuilding & Reader Orientation
Particularly for fantasy, romantasy, speculative fiction, and complicated fictional worlds: does the reader understand enough to stay grounded without being buried beneath exposition?
Continuity & Internal Consistency
Character details, timelines, established rules, motivations, relationship dynamics, worldbuilding, and those tiny contradictions that become remarkably good at hiding after you've read your own manuscript seventeen times.
Emotional Impact
Are the moments that are supposed to hurt actually hurting? Does the payoff earn the buildup? Are readers given enough reason to care before you're asking them to feel?
Genre & Reader Expectations
Tropes, conventions, expectations, and opportunities to either deliver on them beautifully—or break them intentionally.
What You'll Receive
I'll read your manuscript closely and leave comments throughout with questions, observations, reader reactions, continuity concerns, developmental suggestions, and places where something deserves another look.
Not every comment means change this.
Sometimes it's this worked incredibly well.
Sometimes it's I know what you're trying to do here, but I'm not sure the page is doing it yet.
And occasionally it's probably going to be WAIT, WHAT?!
You should know where your story is succeeding just as clearly as you know where it needs work.
You'll also receive a detailed editorial letter bringing the manuscript-level feedback together into the larger picture.
Rather than handing you hundreds of comments and wishing you luck, I'll identify the biggest developmental priorities, explain recurring issues and patterns, and give you a clearer roadmap for revision.
For most full-length manuscripts, editorial letters will generally run approximately 5–10 pages, depending on the length and complexity of the project.
My Approach
Developmental editing is collaborative.
I'll tell you when something isn't working for me as a reader. I'll explain why. And whenever possible, I'll help you identify ways to address the underlying problem.
What I won't do is prescribe one "correct" way to write your book.
You can take a recommendation, modify it, use it to discover an entirely different solution, or decide that I've completely lost my mind and ignore it.
It's still your book.
My job is to give you another perspective—and enough information to make intentional decisions about what happens next.
What Developmental Editing Is Not
A developmental edit is focused on story-level issues rather than sentence-level correction.
It does not include comprehensive:
Line editing
Copyediting
Proofreading
Fact-checking
Formatting
Rewriting
Authenticity or sensitivity reading
I'll absolutely point out things I happen to notice along the way, because I'm physically incapable of pretending I didn't see them.
But they aren't the focus of this service, and the manuscript should still receive appropriate later-stage editing and proofreading after developmental revisions are complete.
BDSM & Kink Authenticity Reading can be added to a developmental edit for manuscripts where that additional review would be useful.
$500 minimum
For example:
50,000 words $500
75,000 words $750
100,000 words $1000
125,000 words $1250
150,000 words $1500
200,000 words $2000
For particularly long or structurally complex manuscripts, series projects, or manuscripts requiring unusual developmental work, I'll provide a custom quote before booking.
50% deposit reserves your project on my schedule. The remaining balance is due before delivery of completed editorial materials.
Developmental editing may be a good fit if:
You've completed a draft but know something isn't quite working.
You're preparing for revisions and want another perspective before diving in.
Your beta readers identified problems, but you're not sure how to solve them.
You're struggling with pacing, character motivation, plot structure, or relationship development.
Your manuscript has become so familiar that you genuinely cannot tell whether something is brilliant or makes absolutely no fucking sense anymore.
You want detailed, constructive feedback without someone trying to rewrite your voice.
If your manuscript is already structurally complete and you're primarily worried about typos, grammar, and punctuation, you're probably looking for Proofreading instead.
If you only need feedback on a particular section or problem area, check out a Focused Manuscript Critique.
And if you're not sure what you need? Tell me what's going on. I'm happy to help figure out which service makes sense before you pay for one.
Genres & Content
I specialize in romance, romantasy, fantasy, and character-driven fiction, particularly stories involving multiple POVs, complex relationship dynamics, found family, unconventional relationships, high-heat romance, and expansive story worlds.
I am comfortable working with explicit sexual content, BDSM/kink, polyamorous and why-choose relationships, dark or difficult subject matter, profanity, violence, and morally complicated characters.
Other genres are welcome on a case-by-case basis. Tell me about your project, and we'll determine whether I'm the right editor for it.
Ready for Another Set of Eyes?
Tell me a little about your manuscript, where you are in the process, and what you're hoping to accomplish with your next revision.
Submitting an inquiry doesn't obligate you to book. I'll review the project information, make sure I'm a good fit for what you need, and follow up with availability, pricing, and next steps.