Professional Novel Editing Services

Effective writing boosts one’s career, attracts followers, and enhances sales for those in the online writing business. The first draft is not sufficient in maintaining a specific intellectual standard and standing out of the many publications available for readers to choose from. A novel needs a series of editing with the consideration of writing mechanisms, style, format, language, and specific terminologies based on the genre and subject matter. The editing involves checking, re-checking, and re-writing the first draft of the document to make it more formal, error-free, standard, and outstanding before publication.

The global book publishers market report of 2021-2030 projects growth from $87.92 billion in 2020 to $92.68 billion in 2021 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.4%. The growth is driven by the companies’ zeal and attempts to rearrange their operations to recover from the COVID-19 impact. The market is expected to reach $104.21 billion in 2025 at a CAGR of 3%. Novelists must strive to remain relevant in their niche in the growing market by writing effectively and efficiently to ensure what they publish is excellent and outstanding to attract the attention of readers.

All elements of the novel such as plot, character development, scenes, chapters, and writing mechanics must be reviewed during editing. The process needs maximum concentration, patience, and attention to detail. The author may choose to edit the novel themselves or seek novel editing help from professional novel editors. When self-editing, having a plan and a schedule saves one from the stress and time wastage that may arise without knowing where to start or what to review next.

Our professional book editors possess a clear understanding of the different levels of editing and order the activities in order to be effective. We give a free sample edit to our first-time clients, whether from literary fiction, science fiction, and all potential customers seeking quality manuscript editing. This article provides a discussion on the various factors we consider when editing a novel, under the different levels of novel editing.

Structural/Developmental Fiction Editing

Structural or developmental editing is the initial stage after completing novel manuscript writing, which encompasses reviewing the overall story to establish the general idea of the novel. It involves checking which of the vast elements of the story are working, which needs improvement, or which sections should be eliminated to make the story better.

Factors We Consider When Editing a Novel at the Structural Level

Our team of dedicated fiction editors carefully conducts a manuscript review in addition to query letter editing to help writers to say exactly what they meant to say through the story. The following are some of the factors we review under the structural editing stage for a novel which are the major elements that make up the story.

1. The plot

The plot in this context implies the sequential occurrence of events from the beginning to the end of the manuscript. During the novel manuscript review, our professional editors evaluate whether the twists of the plot are practical and believable from the readers’ perspective. Reading from the introduction, middle, to the end of the novel, the plot should be clear on the occurrence and order of events.

2. Structure of the novel

It is in the structure of a novel that the reader gets to know the organization of the plot. The expertise of our novel editing experts enables them to check whether the events are naturally unfolding or confusing the reader and whether the characters realistically react to the events. We ensure that every scene is positioned in a manner that contributes to story development.

3. Character development in fiction editing

Character development and characterization involve representing the characters in the story such that the reader is able to derive sense or themes out of their behavior. We offer the best professional editing service to check whether the protagonist’s roles, goals, and motivations are clear in revealing the major themes of the novel. Our professional novel editors review and evaluate whether the believability of the characters’ relationships, their desires, and proactivity in accomplishing the goals is clearly depicted in the story.

4. The pace of the story

Pacing in novel writing implies the speed at which events are unfolding and occurrences within the story. We are skilled in reviewing the entire manuscript to assess and evaluate the effectiveness of the pace, ensuring that the story is not rushing or boring readers. If the story contains some sections that hold up or bore the audience, we highlighted for improvement, rewriting, or removal.

5. The narrative style and point of view

The narrative style is determined by the viewpoint; whether the voice of the narrative is in the first, second, or third person. In addition to book editing services, our editors also possess excellent creative writing skills to establish the suitability of the voice with regard to the genre of the narrative and the target audience. Throughout the manuscript, the voice portrayed should be engaging and consistent so that it does not detach the reader from following the story. The novel editing experts should be in a position to identify and fix anything that hinders the reader from understanding the reality of the story.

6. The story setting

On this factor, the editor assesses whether there is clarity in the sense of location where the events took place, the timeliness of events, and how time passes throughout the entire manuscript. We are keen to arrange the story set in a manner that is believable in real-life.

7. Tense in which the story is narrated

It is necessary to establish whether the story is narrated in the present or past tense. Whichever tense is used, there should be consistency, bearing in mind the limitations and benefits of each choice throughout the novel.

Developmental editing can also be divided into three categories, which include full-novel edits, manuscript evaluation, and sensitivity reads. Each of these categories has its role in the refinement and improvement of the novel.

When offering editorial services, our novel editing experts in full-novel editing give suggestions for revision aimed at improving the story. The manuscript critiques entail giving a report of the strengths and weaknesses of the story. The final category; the sensitivity reads is specifically aimed at giving specialist reports about possible misrepresentation or devaluation of the story. Professional novel editors are the most suited in offering novel editing services at this level to ensure it attains the highest quality level.

Factors We Consider at Line Editing Level

Line editing is the stylistic work, also known as substantive or stylistic editing. The main factors we address at the substantive edits level include the following.

8. Prose

The writing style and voice tend to be unique for every writer. When editing for prose, we evaluate whether the fiction writers considered showing instead of telling things, use of dialogue, and the effectiveness of character description.

9. Dialogue

When dialogue is used as part of the narrative, its clarity and sense in revealing themes should be evaluated. The best professional editor should ensure that the dialogue clearly conveys the mood, intention, and voice of the characters while maintaining proper and correct tagging and punctuation.

10. Pace and flow of sentences

When editing for flow and pace at the sentence level, we evaluate whether there is repetition or overwriting. These can bring redundancy and boredom to the readers; making them lose interest in the story line and disrupting word count requirements.

Fiction writers and successful authors should embrace book editing services in order to thrive in the publishing industry. Our manuscript editing improves the overall quality of writing, corrects grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, and all other issues while ensuring compliance to the specified word count. The extensive experience of our editors helps independent authors to achieve their self-publish goals by providing valuable feedback and manuscript critiques aimed at quality improvement.

Factors Related to Copyediting

Copyediting a novel mostly addresses the technical issues of the manuscript. These include:

11. Chapters and scenes sequencing

At this stage, any scenes that were found difficult to fix during revision are analyzed slowly but thoroughly, checking what works and what is irrelevant in the context of the story, and eliminating any problematic scenes that do not contribute to the story development. The chapters must be sequenced to unfold goals subsequently ensuring a seamless flow throughout the novel.

In order to be sure that the chapters are excellent enough to enable readers to appreciate the reading experience at their own pace, one should seek novel editing help from specialists in that specific field and genre. Dealing with specialists who have the required expertise is an assurance that the novel gets the best novel editing service, hence the best quality.

12. Logic in scene timelines

We confirm whether the chronology of the scenes is appropriate for keeping the readers engaged in every step of the story. The action and reaction phases should reveal the development of character traits from the beginning to the end of each scene. Our professional novel editors assess the engagement and cohesion of the story.

13. General Formatting

The general format of the novel manuscript should be standard and aligned to a particular writing style. The book editor evaluates the style consistency so that the novel does not switch or mix up various formats.

13. Spacing

The spacing between letters, words, lines, and paragraphs should be uniform throughout the novel unless intentionally varied to bring out a particular theme. During copy-editing, our novel editors highlight for correction or fix any sections that indicate variation in spacing.

15. General mechanics of writing

At this stage of manuscript editing, the technical issues of the manuscript are addressed. These include spelling errors, punctuation, abbreviations, grammar and word choice, capitalization, syntax, and any other technical issues affecting the readability of the novel. The copy editor ensures the correct use of mechanics to enhance the quality and present the story in a simple language that is easy for the readers to read and understand.

In order to present the novel in the most effective manner, authors should consider getting novel editing help from trained professionals who can easily sense when information is missing or the language used is not clear. They ensure the final version of the novel is interesting and attracts attention.

General Factors that a Book Editor Would Consider when editing a Novel

Other general factors we consider when editing a novel include the following, most of which are influenced by the type of genre and purpose of writing the novel.

16. The genre of the narrative

Novel editing experts must understand the genre of the narrative in order to effectively evaluate the suitability of the story, plot, characterization, among other factors for the target audience. Our professional editing services deal with a wide scope of genres, including literary and science fiction to ensure the manuscript attains the publishing industry standards.

17. Marketability of the novel

Our editors give an honest evaluation on whether the novel offers real value and tangible benefits to the market or target audience. The marketability of a novel can be evaluated on the basis of the themes, subjects, or other issues in the story that are practically helpful to the immediate society and the readers. For the best novel editing service, the author should consider hiring an editor who has the experience, knowledge, and is updated on the current market affairs so that they can effectively advise on what can be improved to enhance the marketability.

17. Clarity and brevity

This involves getting rid of anything that does not contribute to the development of the story, including filter or filler words that are not necessary, repetitive words or phrases, or superfluous modifiers.

All the factors discussed in this article can help novel authors and editors. Experienced writers who trust their knowledge and skills can self-edit their novels after reading this article. For the newbies in the field or those who lack the time or self-editing know-how, our novel editing services are readily available in case they need experts’ help. The advantages of hiring a person to edit a novel after finishing the first draft cannot be outweighed by the cost implication of outsourcing the editing services.

Advantages of Using Novel Editing Services

We offer line edits as well as and developmental and copy-editing services for both fiction and non-fiction novels. The following are some of the advantages of outsourcing novel editing services.

• Professional novel editing services enable the author to effectively say exactly what they meant to say so that readers get a delightful reading experience.
• It helps in fixing one’s weaknesses while enhancing their strengths and improving effectiveness and writing skills.
• Editing can increase the impact of the narrative on readers by refining and eliminating all potential distracters from the novel.
• It is helpful in developing the text, getting rid of unnecessary sections, identifying and correcting common writing mistakes.
• Our novel editing experts help in enhancing character development, plot structure, and appropriate pacing.
• The editor may become friends and a mentor with the author to help in career development.

Along the writing and development course of the story, the author does not need to hire a person to edit the novel at every editing level. One should only seek novel editing help at their weakest points. Other viable editing options include the use of beta readers or self-editing.

Nevertheless, the order of the story is important in order for the editing process to be carried out chronologically. When seeking the help of betta readers, especially at the structural level, one should consider readers who can give their honest feedback without holding back criticism so that what is working and what is not can be fixed in the early stages of editing.

When hiring professional novel editing experts to assist in manuscript improvement, the author should be specific on the job, or level of editing they need. The option to outsource professional editing services is the most helpful especially when the author is new in the industry or yet to establish a network where they can get help from beta readers.

Considering professional novel editors can help in the manuscript review, assessment, and appraisal to provide a reader’s report as well as general structural edit of the novel; giving suggestions and comments. The charges for the services are determined by the novel editing experts’ experience, the word count of the manuscript, and the expected turnaround time.