Manuscript Editing Services

The question I get asked most often is what manuscript editing services do I recommend. Rather than having to keep repeating myself, I decided to write this article.

Actually, the above paragraph isn't strictly true - the most common question of all asks if I can edit the person's manuscript myself. Or if I don't have the time to edit it, could I at least read the first couple of chapters and offer feedback on the writing.

Sorry, but I can't, not even for money.

It isn't that I'm not grateful to every single one of you for visiting Novel Writing Help. But with something like 50,000 visitors a month, and no one working on the website but me, I have to be careful with how I allocate my time.

Are Manuscript Editing Services Necessary?

Yes and no. It depends on all sorts of things...

• Do you have good writing skills? I'm not talking about the artistic, imaginative, creative side of novel writing, but how good you are at turning your ideas into well-structured and well-written prose.
• Who do you know? If you have friends or family with good editing skills, have you considered asking them for help with your writing? (Though this comes with the caveat that your loved ones will be far less inclined than a professional editor to be brutally honest.)
• How deep are your pockets? Criticism and editing services don't come cheap, I'm afraid.

The bottom line is that, if your novel is accepted for publication by a traditional publishing house, your manuscript will be extensively copy-edited and proofread prior to publication - and it won't cost you a penny.

The "Catch-22" is that, if the book is too rough and ready when you submit it for publication, it stands a much lower chance of being accepted and receiving the editing it badly needs.

So what are you meant to do?

One solution might be to join an online writing community, where you can receive feedback on your writing from your peers.

Another solution might be to invest in writing software - in particular, proofreading and editing software such as AutoCrit or Grammarly.

If you still feel the need to invest in editing but don't have the resources to pay for a full, professional critique of your work, consider having just a small portion of the manuscript edited (the first two or three chapters, say).

• Having an 80,000 word novel edited line by line will cost many hundreds of dollars. Having the first 10,000 words line-edited will obviously be cheaper - and you can use the feedback you receive to edit the rest of the novel yourself.
• Another more cost-effective solution might be to have a "critique" of your manuscript (rather than a full edit). In other words, you will pay for more general feedback on the quality of your writing and storytelling, and how you might improve it.

What Editing Services Do I Recommend?

Because I have never used criticism services myself, I am clearly not in a position to make personal recommendations.

But based on research, and on positive feedback I have received from a couple of Novel Writing Help visitors, the best I can do is point you in the direction of Scribendi (opens in new window).

If anyone reading this has had a good experience with other editing services, please let me know and I'll be happy to pass on your recommendation.