Our editorial services

At The Book Edit we’ve designed a range of editorial services to help get your manuscript into its best possible shape.

Developmental Editing

Developmental Editing

Our signature service for transforming your manuscript from draft to publication-ready

Developmental Editing is our most comprehensive editorial offering, providing an in-depth partnership with an experienced editor who will guide your work toward its fullest potential.

This service includes:

  • Complete manuscript analysis examining all critical narrative elements: story arc, genre expectations, plot development, pacing, character, dialogue, setting, voice, structure and tone

  • Comprehensive editorial report with actionable insights on your manuscript's strengths and detailed suggestions for enhancing areas that need development

  • Tracked changes and embedded comments throughout your manuscript, providing specific guidance exactly where you need it

  • Opportunity to submit up to fifteen follow-up questions to your editor after reviewing your edit

  • Optional addition: 50-minute personalised video consultation to discuss revision strategies and create a clear path forward

In those uncertain months before securing an agent and then publisher, Emily’s work as editor on my manuscript was crucial. Her notes were always perceptive and challenging but framed with real encouragement and support. I was lucky to have someone so talented helping me take my story forward: Emily deserves real credit for the fact that it’s being published.
— Hannah Begbie, Mother, 2018, winner of Joan Hessayon Award, Blurred Lines, 2020, and forthcoming The Last Weekend, all HarperCollins

Ideal for writers seeking professional guidance to elevate their work to submission-ready quality, whether you're preparing to approach agents and publishers or planning to self-publish to the highest standard.


My debut novel is based on a story I first showed to Emily. Her perceptive feedback and support gave me the courage to expand it into a book.
— Luiza Sauma, Flesh and Bone and Water, and Everything You Ever Wanted, both Viking

Fundamentals Fix & Redraft Roadmap

Transform your manuscript with our special narrative analysis service

Exclusively offered by our lead story analyst, the Fundamentals Fix & Redraft Roadmap provides a comprehensive framework to elevate your storytelling and guide your revision process with clarity and purpose.

This bespoke service includes:

  • In-depth manuscript analysis pinpointing structural strengths and opportunities

  • Collaborative email consultation to identify and refine your key narrative elements

  • Personalised Redraft Roadmap – a detailed ‘writer's synopsis’ that captures your story's essential foundations and charts a clear path forward

  • 45-minute video consultation to finalise your roadmap and address any questions

Perfect for writers who have completed a draft but sense something isn't quite working, or those seeking expert guidance to maximise their manuscript's potential before submission. NB there is limited availability for this. Contact us to discuss whether this service is right for your manuscript.


High-level Structural Edit following Roadmap

The expert implementation phase that brings your narrative blueprint to life

Available exclusively as a follow-up to our Fundamentals Fix & Redraft Roadmap service, this advanced structural edit is delivered by our specialist story analyst to help you execute your revision plan with precision and confidence.

This targeted service includes:

  • Strategic scene assessment with removal of elements that don't serve your core narrative

  • Expert scene repositioning to enhance pacing, tension, and narrative flow

  • Detailed guidance notes on existing scenes requiring modification, with specific recommendations for improvement

  • Clear identification of narrative gaps with comprehensive summaries for new scenes or sequences needed to strengthen your story

I was just blown away by the insight that Penny had on the story. The conversation, report and margin notes are absolute gold. All of the suggestions feel totally correct, like they’re native to the book, and I can see they’ll make the story stronger. I’m delighted I chose The Book Edit...I just feel so much more confident going forward into the query phase, knowing the MS will be its best possible self. Also, having such encouraging words about my writing from professionals has really boosted my confidence. Thank you.
— Alex Clark, recently signed with Blake Friedman Literary Agency

Perfect for writers who have gained clarity through the Roadmap process and now seek hands-on assistance in restructuring their manuscript for maximum impact before diving into detailed revisions.

Line Editing

If you’d like more input on your writing on a line-by line basis, then you may want to consider a line edit. Our line editors will look at the way you use language to communicate your story and suggest changes to the writing where they see potential for that language to be clearer.

You will receive two documents on return of the line edit: one with tracked changes so that you can see what the suggested changes might be. The other a ‘clean’ copy with the suggested changes accepted so that you can read how it might sound should you accept all the edits.


Emily’s editorial advice has always been invaluable to me. She takes your project as a given, and then sets out to help you perfect it on its own terms. She has helped many writers and has a wealth of experience and insights. And her skills extend to the deepest editorial issues,
— Remy Salters, Butterfly Ranch, Matador Press, winner of International Rubery Award for fiction.
Photo from above of typewriter, glasses, books and a pine cone on wooden floorboards

Proofreading

Proofreading is the final polish on your manuscript. If you’re ready to submit to an agent or publisher or are ready to self-publish, you’ll need that final pair of eyes on your work to make sure there are no pesky errors. Typically a proofreader will look for spelling mistakes, typos, punctuation errors; correct page numbering; text alignment and spacing; headings; font size and style.

Solid and reliable partners with a great eye for detail...The Book Edit help us deliver professional books and publications...
— Theatrum Mundi

Agent Submission Package

If you’re ready to submit to agents, we can provide detailed feedback on your first three chapters, synopsis and covering letter. We can also help you to target your submissions to particular agents who might be interested in your work.

I was extremely happy with the agent submission package from start to finish. Emily also went above and beyond the call of duty answering a few follow-up queries. The feedback on my opening chapters made perfect sense and was easy to follow, she helped me fine-tune my covering letter and was enormously helpful with the tricky process of writing a decent synopsis. I have recently been put in personal contact with a best-selling author who described my synopsis as ‘perfect’. I would strongly recommend The Book Edit and if you’re hesitating, I’d urge you to take the plunge.
— Julian Gilmour

Book Proposal Package

For anyone with an idea for a non-fiction book, our editors can provide detailed feedback on your proposal, ensuring it’s in the best possible shape before you approach agents or publishers.

The Book Edit helped me refine a book proposal with detailed edits and expert suggestions. Their work went beyond what I was expecting, completely transforming the proposal. I have also been able to apply the feedback to other writing – I wish I’d contacted them sooner!
— Amy Ripley, shortlisted for the Tony Lothian Prize 2021

Mentoring for writers

If you would like to work one-to-one with a mentor on your writing project, we offer tailor-made sessions, which typically include pre-reading of an agreed number of words from your work-in-progress and a 50-minute Zoom meeting to discuss the feedback and suggest redrafting strategies.

With Emily’s encouragement I have completed the first draft of a lengthy novel. As a mentor and editor, Emily has always been very empathetic and encouraging. She always provides excellent input on both the finer detail and bigger picture of what is required to get a story to the very best it can be.
— Meera Betab, Dividing Lines, Dahlia Publishing

Self-publishing PACKAGE

While it’s never been easier to get your work out into the world, ensuring your book is the best version of itself can be difficult, especially when you’re responsible for every part of that process.

We can help make that process easier. Our self-publishing package includes the following:

  • Copy and line editing

  • Formatting of manuscript ready for Amazon KDP

  • Book cover design 

  • Proofreading final manuscript before publication

Each service is available individually but if you opt for the total package there is a 10% reduction in the cost.

EDITORIAL CONSULTATION

If you’re not sure which service you need, or just want to book in some time to discuss your emerging ideas, get in touch to see how we can help.

Emily has been helpful at every stage of the process, from generating ideas to finding the right publisher: I was really impressed by her attention to detail and knowledge of independent presses.
— Simon Holmes, Nineveh Fades, The Lanyard.

industry contacts

We also provide advice on literary agent submissions, including synopses and covering letters, book proposals, self-publishing, and marketing yourself as an author. 

If we spot serious potential in your writing, we are well connected to top UK-based literary agents to whom we can make recommendations.


THE ACADEMIC EDIT

Our latest offering is The Academic Edit: The Book Edit’s academic editorial service. We provide developmental editing, line editing and proofreading for academics and universities on Research Proposals; Impact Case Studies; Unit-level and Institutional-level Environment Statements.

Our Academic Edit editorial team have written for the likes of The Independent, The Times, The Financial times, The Washington Post, New Scientist, and The New Statesman and have provided editorial services across a range of sectors from universities to financial institutions.

To see how The Academic Edit can help you or your institution, email info@theacademicedit.co.uk