How a developmental edit differs from a copy edit or line edit, and why that matters

How a developmental edit differs from a copy edit or line edit, and why that matters

ByJosh Bernoff

I see a lot of publishers and other service companies offering a “developmental edit” for your book manuscript. I’ve seen what a lot of these editors do. In many cases, it’s pretty superficial, and quite far from actual developmental editing. Developmental editing is about making fundamental improvements to the relationship among the author, the reader,…

Need to repair and edit a big, messy, disorganized manuscript? Try using sticky notes.

Need to repair and edit a big, messy, disorganized manuscript? Try using sticky notes.

ByJosh Bernoff

You did it, didn’t you. You wrote a nonfiction book (or most of one). Now you have 50,000, 70,000, maybe 100,000 words. And it’s a mess. You’re feeling desperate. You can’t start over — but how can you turn this mass of goop into something useful? Don’t despair. It’s not as bad as you think….