Developmental editing: use our editors to perfect your book – Jericho Writers
Jericho Writers
167-169 Great Portland street, 5th Floor, London, W1W 5PF
UK: +44 (0)330 043 0150
US: +1 (646) 974 9060
Perfect for authors with a final draft

Developmental Editing

From £473
A Developmental Edit gives you the detailed, structural report of a manuscript assessment but on a deeper, more in-depth level.
6 week turnaround time

Get detailed, structural feedback from a professional book editor

Our Developmental Editing Service provides the same level of rigour you would expect from a Big-Five publishing house.

Your developmental editor will provide line-by-line comments throughout your manuscript with in-depth, actionable feedback. You’ll also have the chance to discuss your work and get advice on your next steps in an hour-long phone call with them.

Undertaking a developmental edit will get your work into the best possible shape to submit to agents or to self-publish, and you’ll get to experience the process of working with a professional editor.

If you’re not sure this service is for you, book a consultation with us. We’ll discuss your options with you until we find the right service for you and your manuscript.

Could you be our next success story?

We’ve helped hundreds of writers like you get published. Many of our clients have gone on to win prizes, become bestsellers, get film deals, achieve huge global sales, and more. Now it’s your turn.

What’s included?

Whether you choose the express or regular service, you’ll receive:

Detailed editorial report

Your developmental edit will include line-by-line comments directly on the manuscript with advice on style, structure, pacing, characterisation, and more.

Actionable feedback on your manuscript

Your developmental editor will provide in-text comments directly to your manuscript.

Advice on how to address issues

In your report, your editor will point out any areas of improvement and suggest ways you can get your manuscript in the best possible condition for submission or self-publishing.

Discussion with your editor

After you receive your developmental edit, you’ll have the opportunity for an hour-long call with your editor to discuss any changes or clarify anything you’re unsure of before you begin polishing your work.

Commercial potential

We’ll assess the commercial viability of your work, ultimately empowering you with the knowledge you need to get your book sold.

Agent referral

If we feel your manuscript is ready for representation, we’ll recommend your book to an agent and offer you advice on your submission pack.

Your report

Developmental Editing reports are usually around 3500 words but can range from 2500 to 4000 words depending on the length of the manuscript.

Need more support?

After you receive your report, if you’re in need of more support you have the opportunity to book one-on-one mentoring with your book editor.

Why choose us?

There are lots of companies promising you the dream of getting your book published. We value ourselves on only ever selling you a service that we think will benefit you. Not sure if this one is right for you? Give us a call, we’d love to hear from you. If we don’t think this service is right for you, we’ll tell you – honestly. This is one of the many values we hold that have helped us run Jericho Writers successfully for over 20 years.

Jericho Writers Developmental Editing Service

What’s included in our developmental editing service?

Other Popular Providers

Feedback on entire manuscript
In-text comments
Feedback on commercial potential
Detailed developmental edit report
3,500 word report
3,000 word report
Work with a professional book editor
One hour follow-up call directly with the Editor
Opportunity to book additional mentoring session/s with your editor
Refer your manuscript to an agent if your book is ready for representation
Discount available for second reads
10% for returning customers

Want to see exactly what you’ll receive from an editor?

Your developmental edit will provide you with the same quality report as a manuscript assessment, but with the addition of in-text comments providing editorial feedback from your book editor.

GET FEEDBACK AND IN-TEXT COMMENTS TO IMPROVE YOUR WORK

Plus, discuss the suggested changes and next steps for your book directly with your developmental editor

Most Popular!
£473.00

Developmental Editing

Get a 3,500 word editorial report on your entire book
Get line-by-line in-text comments directly to your manuscript
Receive actionable and detailed structural feedback
Discuss your report and suggested changes in an hour long call with your developmental editor
Receive your marked-up manuscript and your report within six weeks
Premium Members enjoy 10% off

If you’re looking for a structural edit suitable for early drafts, then check out our manuscript editing service

Compare our Manuscript Editing Service, which is suitable for all, with our premium Developmental Editing service, which is best for those with more polished drafts and equivalent to a editorial report from a Big-5 Publisher.

Manuscript Editing Service

Learn More

Developmental Editing Service

Buy Now
Price
From £395
From £473
Premium Member discount available
Suitable for first drafts
Suitable for later drafts
Full editorial report
In-text comments
Work with a professional book editor
Opportunity to ask follow-up questions directly with editor?
Short email exchange
One-hour call included
Opportunity to book additional mentoring session/s with your editor
Turnaround time
2-4 weeks
6 weeks

Need more info before you decide?

Choosing the right service for your work is hard. But we’re on hand to help! Book a call with our Writer Support team at a time to suit you to talk through the options.

Our Book Editors

Request your dream editor or let our team match you with the editor best suited to your work. We’ve hand-selected our team of expert book editors over the last 20 years, including specialists across trade fiction and non-fiction. Here you’ll find traditionally published authors as well as publishing professionals such as literary agents and editors with Big 5 publisher experience.

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Abby Davies

Abby Davies

Editor

  • Bio
  • Books
  • Genres
  • Awards

Abby Davies is the author of Mother Loves Me (2020) and The Cult (2021), both published by HarperCollins, and Arrietty (2023) by Apple Loft Press.

Abby has an incredible eye for pace and tension, both on a sentence-by-sentence level and across the entirety of your manuscript. She’ll tease out what needs to be done to make a manuscript work, whilst telling you what you’re already doing well.

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  • Thriller
  • Crime
  • Action
  • Women’s fiction
  • Young Adult
  • Mother Loves Me was shortlisted for Mslexia Novel Competition 2018
Claire Gillman

Claire Gillman

Editor

  • Bio
  • Genres

Claire is an experienced journalist, writer and editor. She has been coaching and mentoring writers for nearly 15 years.

Claire has written 30 non-fiction books for adults and creative non-fiction titles for children, some under the pen-name, Rory Storm. Among her titles are three books in the Hodder Teach Yourself series on how to get published and how to make money from freelance writing. She has coached authors for top publishing houses and has also run writers’ workshops, always with the emphasis on fun, style and discovering your inner creativity.

  • Memoir / autobiography
  • Biography
  • Mind/Body/Spirit
  • Travel
  • Parenting
  • Natural health writing
  • Other narrative non-fiction
  • Creative non-fiction
Clare Coombes

Clare Coombes

Editor / Literary Agent

  • Bio
  • Books
  • Genres

Clare Coombes is an author, editor and literary agent with over 15 years’ experience of writing and editing professionally. She is a co-founder of the first Liverpool-based literary agency. Clare is a published author of two novels, Definitions (2015) and We Are of Dust (2018).

Her experience spans the breadth of editorial services and includes work across a variety of forms including full fiction manuscripts, anthologies, non-fiction proposals and pitches for film and TV.

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  • Historical fiction
  • Women’s fiction
  • Crime/Thriller/Action
  • Contemporary
  • Literary (including Book Club)
  • Romance
  • Memoir / Autobiography
  • Other narrative non-fiction
  • Subject-led non-fiction
Jon Curzon

Jon Curzon

Editor / Literary Agent

  • Bio
  • Genres

Jon Curzon is a literary agent at Artellus Ltd., where he represents writers across fiction and non-fiction. Client’s he has represented have been published in the UK, US, Germany, France, India, the Netherlands, South Korea, and Greece.

In addition to his agenting work, Jon has also worked as a freelance editor for literary consultancies and creative writing courses since 2015. His perspective as an agent allows him to precisely identify what’s working in your manuscript and what needs tweaking in order to take your work to the next level.

  • Contemporary
  • Literary (including Book Club)
  • Comic/Satire
  • Short stories / Novellas
  • Memoir / Autobiography
  • Other narrative non-fiction
Lesley McDowell

Lesley McDowell

Editor

  • Bio
  • Books
  • Genres

Lesley is the author of fiction and non-fiction as well as short stories and was a literary critic for major newspapers. She is the recipient of three Creative Scotland awards, a Society of Authors grant, and was Writer in Residence at Gladstone’s Library in 2014. She has been a judge for several literary awards, and chairs regularly at book festivals.

Lesley’s knowledge of the market and publishing as a business shines in every report she does, as does her enthusiasm for the art of storytelling.

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  • Contemporary
  • Women’s Fiction
  • Literary (including Book Club)
  • Crime/Thriller/Action
  • Paranormal
  • Memoir/Autobiography
  • Other narrative non-fiction
Dexter Petley

Dexter Petley

Editor

  • Bio
  • Books
  • Genres

Dexter Petley is an experienced editor, acclaimed literary novelist, memoirist and translator. As a long serving editor with Jericho Writers, (since 2005) many of Dexter’s clients have achieved considerable success in finding agents and publishers.

Dexter does not shy away from complex themes or influences. His expertise spans entire genres, from commercial book club to war fiction. He takes everything in his stride, turning his fastidious, but fair, eye to anything at hand – making you a better writer for it.

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  • Contemporary
  • Literary (Including ‘bookclub’)
  • Crime/Thriller/Action
  • Historical fiction
  • Women’s fiction
  • Comic/satire
  • Young Adult
  • Short Stories & novellas
  • Memoir/autobiography
  • Other Narrative Non-fiction
  • Subject-led Non-fiction
Holly Seddon

Holly Seddon

Editor/Mentor/Tutor

  • Bio
  • Books
  • Genres

Holly is an international bestselling author with six published novels to date. She is also a mentor and tutor on our Ultimate Novel Writing Course.

Holly is endlessly supportive and encouraging of every writer we send her way. We love her concise and on-point editorial style.

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  • Contemporary
  • Literary (Including ‘bookclub’)
  • Crime/Thriller/Action
  • Women’s fiction
  • Short Stories & novellas
  • Plays and screen scripts
Helen Lane

Helen Lane

Editor / Literary Agent

  • Bio
  • Genres

As an agent, Helen is very hands on developmentally, and works with her clients to perfect their manuscripts before submission, encouraging her authors to push their writing to new levels. Before becoming an agent, she spent years producing developmental edit reports for the agents she interned under. Her strengths lie particularly in identifying plot holes and pacing, world building, and character development.

  • Science Fiction
  • Fantasy
  • Paranormal
  • Young Adult
Russel McLean

Russel McLean

Editor

  • Bio
  • Books
  • Genres

A former bookseller, Russel McLean is an author, editor, and teacher. He has worked for publishers of various sizes as a developmental editor, including work on one book that was shortlisted for the McIlvanney Prize for best Scottish Crime Fiction at the Bloody Scotland Festival. He has also run masterclasses in fiction writing for festivals, universities and creative writing groups, as well as advising MLitt students on the fiction element of their dissertations for the University of Dundee’s crime writing and forensics course.

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  • Crime/Thriller/Action
  • Science Fiction
  • Fantasy
  • Comic/satire
  • Paranormal
  • Short Stories & novellas
Philip Womack

Philip Womack

Editor/Tutor

  • Bio
  • Books
  • Genres

Philip is the author of The Other Book and The Liberators (Bloomsbury). The Liberators was a Children’s Book of the Year for 2010. He teaches Creative Writing to BA and MA students at London University, and has been a literary critic for nearly twenty years, as well as a freelance journalist for a variety of national newspapers and magazines.

Philip is known for his honest and well-informed editorial reports – particularly those he does for children’s authors and sci-fi and fantasy writers. Philip is also a Tutor on our Ultimate Novel Writing Course.

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  • Contemporary
  • Literary (Including ‘bookclub’)
  • Crime/Thriller/Action
  • Science Fiction
  • Fantasy
  • Comic/satire
  • Paranormal
  • Short Stories & novellas
  • Children’s
  • Young Adult
  • Memoir/autobiography
  • Other Narrative Non-fiction
Cecile Shanahan

Cecile Shanahan

Editor

  • Bio
  • Genres

Cecile Shanahan is an experienced editor and proofreader who adores helping writers to make their words shine. She has a special interest in children’s and young adult literature and educational publishing, but often works on general fiction and non-fiction titles too.

Since joining Jericho Writers she has assisted more than 20 authors to progress their writing projects through agent submission pack assessments, manuscript assessments, developmental edits, copy edits, line edits, proofreading and post-editorial support.

  • Contemporary
  • Literary (Including ‘bookclub’)
  • Crime / Thriller / Action
  • Women’s
  • Picture books
  • Children’s
  • Young Adult
  • Subject-led Non-fiction
Deirdre Power

Deirdre Power

Editor

  • Bio
  • Genres

Deirdre began her publishing career in a literary agency, working with children’s authors ranging from Tom Fletcher and David Farr to debut novelists and upcoming new authors. Since then, she has gone on to work in children’s editorial at major publishing houses, working across everything from picture books to YA.

Deirdre brings a keen editorial eye and in-depth knowledge of the market, and spends more time reading children’s fiction than anything else.

  • Picture books
  • Children’s
  • Young Adult
  • Other Narrative Non-fiction
Naomi Jones

Naomi Jones

Editor

  • Bio
  • Books
  • Genres

Naomi has over eight years’ experience working in children’s publishing. She began her career at Puffin (Penguin Random House) before moving to Orion and then Hachette Children’s Group. Her previous experience as a Rights Manager brings invaluable insight into maximising a book’s sales potential and she has worked closely with both UK and international editors to develop a good knowledge of global publishing markets and trends.

Naomi has a BA (Hons) in English Studies from the University of Nottingham and is a keen reader and writer. Naomi has been working as a freelance editor and mentor helping other children’s writers to develop their manuscripts and craft for over four years.

 

 

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  • Picture books
  • Children’s
  • Young Adult
Pippa Goodhart

Pippa Goodhart

Editor

  • Bio
  • Books
  • Genres

Pippa began her children’s book career as a bookseller and advisor to publishers before beginning to write books herself. She’s had over a hundred titles published, some of them award-winning.

For the last quarter century, Pippa has combined writing her own books with teaching and critiquing to develop writing for children skills in others.

To date, Pippa has had over 140 picture books, early readers, and MG novels published.

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  • Picture books
  • Children’s
Victoria Lee

Victoria Lee

Editor

  • Bio
  • Genres

Victoria’s wide experience of writing and editing includes children’s picture books through to teen fiction, education and teachers’ books, academic writing, and general fiction and non-fiction. She has worked for publishing houses, universities and individuals. She advises and mentors authors, sometimes over many years.  Children’s books, especially picture books, remain her passion.

Even though her editing background is in traditional publishing, Victoria is very interested in the self-publishing route as it provides opportunities to ‘do things differently’. She is also keen on writing for the pure joy of it.

  • Picture books
  • Children’s
  • Young Adult
Teresa Heapy

Teresa Heapy

Editor

  • Bio
  • Books
  • Genres

Teresa has worked in children’s publishing for 27 years. She’s an editor and an award-winning author, with 11 picture books and 80 educational books published.

Teresa worked in-house as a Commissioning Editor for Heinemann and Oxford University Press before going freelance, and now combines editorial work with writing picture books and books for young readers.

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  • Picture books
  • Children’s
  • Children’s Non-Fiction
Vee Walker

Vee Walker

Editor

  • Bio
  • Books
  • Genres

Love of family history was the start point for Vee Walker’s unique début novel Major Tom’s War (Kashi House), which evolved from a narrative non-fiction account of an unlikely WWI courtship into gripping historical fiction.

Vee writes both fiction and non-fiction. Her novels are so closely based on archive material that they can be used as academic source texts.

Vee honed her writing/editing skills as a heritage consultant for 20+ years, working with museums and natural/cultural/historic sites throughout the UK. Her poetry and descriptive writing can be found within unusual interpretive installations on mountains, in forests and along the coast.

 

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majortomswar
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  • Historical
  • Contemporary
  • Literary (Including ‘bookclub’)
  • Women’s
  • Science Fiction
  • Fantasy
  • Short Stories & novellas
  • Comic/satire
  • Picture books
  • Children’s
  • Memoir/autobiography
  • Other Narrative Non-fiction
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Don’t take just our word for it…

We’ve been helping writers achieve their goals for over 20 years. Here’s what some of them had to say about our editorial services:

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I’ve just received my manuscript after a very detailed line edit and am thrilled with the results! I’ve made use of Jericho’s fine services before for various manuscript assessments and I’m always advised (in the nicest way) that I require a professional editor and thanks to Jericho I’ve found one! And it was so easy.

Karen M

Karen M

Line-Editing customer

I’m so glad I found Jericho Writers. I had been looking for developmental editing on my manuscript and found the very, very best.

Claire W

Claire W

Developmental Editing customer

The critique I received from Jericho Writers was instrumental in my eventual offer of representation. The feedback lit a spark of ideas in me that meant I was able to overhaul the whole book in the right way to get an agent’s attention. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Charlotte O

Charlotte O

Manuscript Assessment customer

I couldn’t be more delighted with the results. My editor gave me so many amazing suggestions and some much needed

Allison M

Allison M

Manuscript Assessment customer

I’ve received my copy edited novel back from Martin Ouvry and I’m really pleased with it. He has done a fabulous job.

Hazel S

Hazel S

Copy-Editing customer

I just had my book copy edited and couldn’t be happier! Julie was amazing.

Adam M

Adam M

Copy-Editing customer

I was very impressed with the standard and attention-to-detail [Martin] provided and found going through his edits very helpful. I’ve been delighted with the effect his suggested word changes made to the impact of my sentences.

Nicole S

Nicole S

Line-Editing customer

You kindly gave me some excellent feedback on the initial stages of my novel. Well, it’s “finished”, and I have been fortunate to have it shortlisted for the Wilbur Smith Foundation Award for Adventure novel of the year (unpublished).

Richard F

Richard F

Opening Section Review customer

Your comments on the random points of view in my opening paragraph left me stunned! I take all your advice gratefully, and all of the technical points like POV, tense, dialogue, etc., went straight on the to do list.

Steve K

Steve K

Opening Section Review customer

Thank you again for your encouragement and many brilliant suggestions for my Cuba novel. I found them very perceptive and incorporated them into another draft.

Marion D

Marion D

Opening Section Review customer

Thank you so much for thorough feedback, kind words and encouragement. It means a lot. I found your report very clear and it sparked many ideas

Aman K

Aman K

Editorial customer

I remain impressed by both the quality and the quantity of Liz’s work. Apart from the overall comments, she goes into such great detail, character by character, chapter by chapter, missing nothing.

Carmella A

Carmella A

Editorial customer

I was also blown away with your encouragement and thoughtfulness. You have given me excellent advice on how to focus on not only the query and synopsis, but also the plot. I encourage other writers to use your service.

Milo P

Milo P

Agent Submission Pack Review customer

Thank you for your perceptive and incisive report. I’ve been desperate for help like this and so much wish that I had found Jericho Writers a few years ago.

Richard F

Richard F

Editorial customer

Pippa’s very clear report was full of encouraging, knowledgeable advice on how to improve the reader experience of the picture-book texts I sent her. Also, because I’m a newcomer to the world of children’s publishing, she filled me in on what the market is like at the moment.

Alison L

Alison L

Picture Book Assessment customer

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Frequently asked
questions

1

How should I format my manuscript?

Please only upload Word documents via the online submission form. Don’t forget to number your pages and double space your lines, and use an easy-to-read font like Times New Roman 12. Editors would prefer if you could also indent your paragraphs and use page breaks throughout the manuscript.

2

How long will it take to match my manuscript with an editor?

We aim to match you with the right editor within 2-4 days. We’ll get back to you as soon as the choice has been confirmed.

3

How do you choose the editor?

We match manuscripts based on over 20 years of experience working with our editors. We consider editor experience, their genres of interest, and whether they themselves feel they are the right fit for your work. As all our editors are freelance, this depends on availability.  

4

Can I choose my editor?

If you have a particular editor in mind, we will of course do our best to match you with them. We cannot guarantee this, however, as all of our editors are freelance and there are times when they are unavailable due to demand and/or other commitments.

Once you have placed your order, you’re welcome to send a shortlist of 4-5 editors from our website (and we’ll do our best to place you with your preferred editors).

5

What if my book is good enough? Will you help me find an agent?

On some occasions, an editor will flag a manuscript as submission ready. When this happens, a member of the Jericho Writers team will look at the author’s agent submission pack and provide some free advice on it, plus access to AgentMatch. On some occasions, where the manuscript shows real promise, we’ll also approach agents on the author’s behalf.

It’s worth noting however, that this service is reserved for manuscripts which editors believe have strong commercial potential and are of a very high quality. Please don’t be disappointed if yours isn’t selected – most manuscripts require quite a few rewrites before reaching submission standard!

6

Which editorial service is right for me?

We offer quite a few editorial services, so you’re right to take the time to consider all of your options. The writing process is a long one, so whether it’s line editing or copy-editing, or something on a larger scale, like a manuscript evaluation or developmental edit, we have the service for you. You can take a look at all of our editorial services here. You might also like to read our article explaining all the different types of editorial services. If you’re still not sure, feel free to get in touch with us and we’ll be happy to offer more advice.

7

How and when do I submit my manuscript?

After purchase, we’ll invite you to upload your full manuscript via our online submission form. Once we’ve received your submission, we’ll get back to you as soon as we’ve matched your work up with the right developmental editor.

8

How do I know if a developmental edit is the right choice for my manuscript?

We recommend our developmental editing service if:  

  • Your manuscript is in pretty good shape (ie: this should be the last major round of work before submitting to publishers or self-publishing the manuscript). 
  • You want both broad and narrow comments. 
  • You want the opportunity to talk at length with one of our developmental editors. 
  • You are OK paying for a premium service. 

We recommend a manuscript assessment if: 

  • Your manuscript is still at a somewhat earlier stage in its journey. 
  • You feel able to handle the narrower issues yourself, so long as you have reasonable guidance from your manuscript assessment report.   
9

What does a developmental editor work on?

The developmental editing process looks at both the broad and the small aspects of a manuscript. Your professional developmental editor will write a long written report containing structural commentary that looks at the big picture elements of your story, such as themes, characterisation, and your narrative arc. Developmental editing involves the more minute details too (like sentence structure, unclear dialogue, and grammar), and our freelance developmental editors provide page-by-page feedback along with annotations on the manuscript itself.

10

What is the difference between substantive and developmental editing?

Developmental editing is also called substantive editing, and the two services are now generally considered to be one and the same. Though this hasn’t always been the case. While developmental editors focus on both large and small scale edits, substantive editors have traditionally dealt with improvements made at the scene, paragraph, and sentence levels. However, the terms are now largely used interchangeably, with both offering enhancements that can be made on a small and a large scale.