Alle C. Hall is an author and editor from Seattle, WA. She has faced her share of hard times, each experience fueling her work as an author and giving her writing an emotional depth in the characters that make them feel incredibly real and relatable. Her work has been featured in several publications including Seattle Weekly, The Seattle Times, and her collection of essays is featured on CreativeNon-Fiction.org and Another Chicago. Her debut novel, As Far as You Can Go Before You Have to Come Back, won several accolades including the First Finalist for The 2020 Lascaux Prize and was a finalist for The 2024 PNWA Nancy Pearl Book Award.

How much should a developmental editor charge? What, exactly, do they help you with? How long should the revision process take? Will they try to change my voice?

Trigger warning: I will be in-your-face. For a reason. Publishing is a tough, tough industry. If your goal is to hear how great your writing is, ask your grandma. Hire a pro. You will save yourself years of rejection.

Ouch.

I know.

I wish the reality were different.

It is not.

What does a developmental editor do?

A developmental editor should take your manuscript apart as if it were a faulty Chevy, in order for you to be able to put it back together so that it runs like a Jaguar.

Why not ask your friends and family? (So-called beta-readers.)

Why not ask them to help you address the trauma behind your anxiety, depression, or addiction, rather than working with a trained professional.

Soft data: a full quarter of those well-meaning folk simply won’t read the book. They will never bring it up again. Friends and family don’t know how to tell you it wasn’t good enough.

Preparing for a developmental editor

If you’ve gotten down your first draft—even if you took one more run at it, correcting only spelling and grammar, —you will receive much less of the deep editorial guidance you could get, for your money. Before engaging an editor:

  • Trade manuscripts with at least two authors; Expect the reading/feedback process to take up to six months;
  • Join a critique group.
    • A common page allowance per session is ten to fifteen pages.
    • At or before each session, you will have to read and comment on others’ pages.
    • With one meeting a week, you can expect your book of 100,000 words to take about a year.
  • Write a 250- to 500-word description of your book that does not detail the plot. Just key points and anything you think might be problematic. My first novel is about thriving after child sexual trauma. Several editors turned it down. Other issues might include:
    • Edgy sex;
    • Drugs, alcohol, any addiction;
    • Suicide;
    • Miscarriage;
    • Divorce;
    • Violence;
    • Settings in a specific industry;
    • Settings in a culture different than theirs; and
    • Knowledge of a certain language.

The potential issues need not be counted as words in your description. They can be bullet-pointed as above.

So, how much?

Take into account your manuscript’s length, number of words and, more importantly: what shape it is in. All in context of the candidate’s references, experience, and skills. Michelle Levy, aka: The Trauma-Sensitive Editor, does developmental and copy editing. Certified through University of Chicago (originator of Chicago Manual of Style), Levy was on staff at McGraw-Hill, Condé Nast, Springer, and Level4Press before going freelance. “I network with New York publishing professionals in person.”

Those are the stellar credentials I am looking for. I expect to pay the market rate—though not $40,000, the sum I’ve seen a few big agencies quote up to. That ridiculousness won’t bring you an inch closer to an excellent book.

Levy advises checking out the Editorial Freelancers Association. “You can select ‘more experienced’ and “professional training.’ However, their rates always trend low: $0.03-0.04/word. Keep in mind there are intangibles you can’t put a price on.”

Whether you pay by word, page, or project, anywhere $1500 to $4000 for 75,000 to 110,000 words is reasonable.

Finding an editor

Start with writer-friends. You will feel safer and more confident with even a marginally known entity. The next option would be to ask/post to any writing groups you are a part of.

  • Aim for three to five bids.
  • Ask for and check references.
    • If they come recommended, that is your reference and the only one it is professional to ask for.
    • Trust the person who recommends, as well.
  • Interview to gauge not only qualifications but your chemistry:
    • You must like this person and trust that they like you; and that
    • critique reads honestly and as intended to make your book its best.
  • Ask for a sample edit. Levy, for example, will do 1250 words, or about five pages. She does not charge—generous of her!
    • Some editors do. That is fair.
    • Finding myself once in that situation, I was relatively sure I would work with the editor. I negotiated to have the fee deducted from the final total, if we signed.
  • Sign a contract

Your contract:

The editor should have a standard contract (demonstrates experience and professionalism) they adapt to your situation, your manuscript. Levy suggests your contract should include:

  1. A pledge to guard your authorial voice. Most writers who ask me about hiring an editor cite their voice, their vision, as the primary reason against working with an editor.

Also important

You can request (in writing) the below be added to your contract. You might not get them all and you might have to hire a more experienced agent.

  • One pass, or two? Levy says, “I always include two, because the writer gets to integrate suggested changes, and I believe a final proofread is essential.
  • A meeting after each pass, to address your questions, comments, and concerns.
  • Are copy-editing and/or proofreading part of the service?
    • It is fair if they say, “No.”
    • It might be best for you if they say, “No.”
      • Those require different skills; and
      • You should pay less for those services.
  • Edit in two or three sections, or all in one go?
    • One go is most likely a quicker turn-around; however
    • Two or three sections allows you to pay for only a third or a half as you experience your editor’s work

Your contract should also stipulate:

  • Agreed-upon answers to the above;
  • Consequences, should due dates be missed;
  • Payment terms, including if either of you terminates the contract;
  • Confidentiality;
  • Indemnification;
  • Limit of liability; and
  • Non-disclosure.

After the first read

A great editor will come back with a clear, written presentation of what works and why, and what does not work and why not. The response should include:

  • A cover letter with:
    • A description of the story (so that you know they understand what you are am aiming for);
    • An overview of general responses, at least two pages. I want reviewed:
      • What is the main character really after?
      • Where is that not driving the story?
  • Do the secondary and smaller characters have their own archs?
  • How do those stories drive the primary narrative?
  • Are the chapters ordered most effectively?
  • Too many flashbacks?
  • Does the story start where the story should start?
  • Too much backstory in the first chapter? The first few chapters?
  • Are the females, people of color or of traditionally marginalized groups, and the disabled written as individuals rather than stereotypes?
  • Even if their characters are “bad,” are they portrayed with an understanding of their humanity?
  • Are scenes of sex and/or violence gratuitous?
  • Could I better use narration effectively, when choosing to tell and not show?
  • Specific responses in a chapter-by-chapter breakdown
  • Line edits embedded in the draft;
  • Smaller suggestions and questions embedded in the draft

How long should the writer’s revision then take?

  • There are no “shoulds.”
  • Good writing takes time.
  • Expect to put more effort into this revision than you did writing the first draft.
  • That said, if you are writing part-time and life does not intervene:
    • You probably need about a year.
    • If it takes longer, you are not bad.
    • If it takes less, you are not good.
    • Each book takes the time it takes.

The next steps?

  • I strongly suggest you hire the same editor to read it again.
  • Consider third, fourth, fifth (whatever it takes) revision cycle with this or perhaps different editor (if you want fresh eyes on it).
  • Expect to have to put more effort and more time on these revisions than you did into the previous drafts. (Not a typo/repeat.)

Finally: receiving a developmental edit will be at least a bit painful.

  • “I have sooooooo muuuuuuch work ahead of me.”
  • “I don’t think I can do it.” (Note: you can); and most painfully:
  • “My work is not instantaneously perfect!”

Take heart! Undertaking at least some (preferably most) of the above suggestions gives a writer the greatest chance of coming out of developmental feedback seeing your book in a fresh light, and the faculties to approach the work with positivity and energy.

As Far As You Can Go Before You Have To Come Back by Alle C. Hall

A coming of age unlike any other, follow Carlie’s unique and harrowing upbringing that lead her on a path of rebellion and self discovery. After steeling ten thousands dollars, Carlie runs away to Asia, where she heads down a slippery path of alcoholism, self-starvation, drug use, and dangerous hook-ups, as she travels from Hong Kong, the Philippines, Bali, and Thailand, all as just a teenager. Ending her journey in Tokyo, she has the chance to heal from her traumatic childhood and recent journey to discover who she really is.

Buy the book now: Bookshop.org | Amazon