“Writing is thinking – in increasingly clear, verbally precise ways. Carefully nuanced, clear thought is hard work.”
– Betsey Marshfield
After long experience, we’ve concluded that very few authors require a simple copyedit (particularly first-time authors). And so, while we can provide simple copyediting, we primarily concentrate on developmental editing.
What’s the difference?
- Copyediting focuses on the basic elements: grammar, spelling, syntax, consistency of usage, and the elimination of redundancy.
- Developmental editing focuses beyond the basics — on the big picture — and uses restructuring and rewriting to shape, develop, and refine both the manuscript’s message and the quality of its writing.
Here are two specific things developmental editing is designed to accomplish:
- Clarify the book’s message, while making sure that all its elements are designed to support that message.
- Improve the flow of the writing, particularly with regard to transitions and content integration between paragraphs, as well as within and between chapters.
Each manuscript is different, of course, and will require unique kinds of shaping (restructuring); developing (rewriting and enhancing, sometimes with additional information); and refining (integrating and polishing all the parts of the book, so they function smoothly together and read well).
Co-Writing
For authors who want to improve their writing skills, so they can handle the trickier writing that may be needed to complete their book’s final version, we offer “co-writing.”
Co-writing means we will write certain segments of your book, showing you how to work past 
difficult spots in a way that engages your readers. You can either use these segments outright, as ghostwritten parts, or use them as models for rewriting the problematic parts yourself. In either case, you’ll learn how to handle certain writing situations in the future. So this is a “model the writing, practice the writing” book service. And it’s one that few others offer.
