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It was like removing layers of crumpled brown paper from an awkwardly shaped parcel, and revealing the attractive present which it contained.
Diana Athill, Stet: An Editor’s Life
Editing a writer’s work is, as Diana Athill so aptly phrased it, abut unveiling the beauty within. Of the many writers that have written, revised, rewritten and reviewed their work the final step pre-submission is editing. An edit is the final and crucial step in getting your manuscript ready for submission. If you want to get published and you want to be a professional writer, then you need to ensure that the manuscript you submit to agents and publishing houses is narratively well-paced, well-written, clear, readable, free from errors, mistakes, badly phrased sentences, poor characters, plot holes and a myriad of other possible faults that can stop your work from being read to the end by someone with the power to offer you a publishing deal.
What we Do
If you’ve ever received a rejection letter you’ll know that there can be many reasons why an editor may not chose to request the full manuscript of your work or may reject your ms after reading it. That’s exactly what our TLP editors are trained to do – to find these obstacles to success and help you remove them. They’ll objectively read, reread and review your work and point out and advise you on how to eliminate as many of the reasons for rejection that a publisher and agent might have for saying no to your book.
Our editors have from 5 to 25 years’ experience in Publishing and have edited bestsellers both at home and abroad, they know how to polish your work to reveal the real shine contained within. We offer two types of editing services:
1. Developmental Edit
A developmental edit comes before any other kind of edit.
Essentially, it shapes, structures repairs and improves the manuscripts across all major elements This edit will not only guide you, the writer, in helping to flesh out and share your conception with your reader, it will help you deliver, chapter by chapter the vision of what you aspire to, in a way that is marketable. Developmental editing can be radical or moderate, depending on the shape of the manuscript so prices vary according to the manuscript itself. The better shape your ms is in, the less work we will have to do to bring it to its best self.
Our developmental edit will address structure, concept, clarity, style, narrative voice(s)content, tone, overall presentation, language, chapter outlines, readability and more. Think of our developmental editor as your writing mentor, teacher, coach and editor all rolled into one.
Complete the form below to receive a quote for a developmental edit of your work.
2. Copy Edit
A copy edit is a close edit of a text, line-by-line, to improve the formatting, style and accuracy of the work.
A copy edit, also sometimes called a line edit, will check a manuscript for mistakes and inconsistencies in grammar, format, style, punctuation and will ensure the overall continuity and clarity of your work. Copy editing is done as a final stage before proof-reading and typesetting which are always done by a publisher, and are the last steps in the editorial cycle. The end outcome of the work of a copy editor is a clear and easy to read manuscript with ideas that are neatly and strongly conveyed.
Our copy edits are all about getting you ‘there’. We want you to end up with a manuscript that is as good as it can be. Our copy editors will be alert to the detail of your manuscript, making you’re your characters, places and descriptions are consistently and accurately rendered. We’ll call you on your facts, make sure your chapters and paragraphs are working for you, manage your formatting and helo turn your story into a book.
We’re always honest, so if we feel your work will benefit more from a developmental edit first, we’ll let you know. We want you to learn how to be a better and more successful writer so we don’t pull any punches.
Complete the form below to receive a quote for a copy edit of your work.
