Why you need a Developmental Editor for your next book project

So, the first draft of your book is complete. Your friends and family have given you feedback and have praised you for this great accomplishment. You feel confident in your edits and revisions and are ready to publish…but should you? Have you done everything you can to make your book focused, organized, and engaging to your reader?

Here is where developmental editing comes in.

Developmental editing is the process of turning your written ideas into a compelling manuscript that readers won’t want to put down. Most commonly found in non-fiction writing, developmental editing can also help with prose, business writing, essays, and more.

Developmental editors (DEs) start by taking a 10,000 foot view of your work, and offer suggestions on how to strengthen your argument, close any plot holes, narrow your focus, and restructure the narrative so there is a logical development of your ideas. Developmental editors can also zoom in, and bring that same big picture approach to refine chapters, paragraphs and even sentences.

Developmental editing, however, should not be confused with copyediting, proofreading, or ghostwriting. Such level of support is also helpful, but involves more direct rewriting of sentences on the part of the reviewer. 

But why do you need developmental editing, isn’t what you have good enough?

There is an expression applicable to writing that says: “don’t get too attached to your ideas”.

When you develop a book from ideation to publication you have become the subject matter expert of your work. How could someone else possibly know better? But that’s just the problem, your ideas are your ideas, they are not necessarily in a form that will be well received by a mass audience. 

I’ve seen many authors, myself included, pen down all of the interesting research they stumbled across, wanting the world to know all the fun facts that you came across while putting this book together. However, at the end of the day, the book is meant to help the reader answer a question that prompted them to pick up the book in the first place, not be a log of your writing process. Restructuring, trimming, and revising is critical to turning those ideas into a well thought out book. 

Learn to let go, trust the developmental editing process, and see amazing results happen!

Book a session with a developmental editor today and publish the best book possible!