Often the first step of editing after you complete a manuscript, a developmental edit (DE) can be one to three rounds and is collaborative—we work with the authors, as a dialogue, to strengthen your piece and your writing overall.

During a developmental edit, we are looking for inconsistencies in tone, tense, structure, characters, or intended audience. Unlike a copyedit, a DE doesn’t usually include corrections directly on the manuscript. We might highlight a paragraph that corresponds to a section of the editorial note that will be included in a completed developmental edit. We will also highlight areas where the writing is done well and how to use that to help any areas that might need improvement.

A developmental edit is focused on the big picture and direction of your work to make it the best possible version.

A copyedit (CE), at minimum, will address grammar, spelling, adherence to a recognized style guide (such as The Chicago Manual of Style, Associated Press Stylebook, or a house style guide when working with a publisher), and, in some cases, fact-checking of names, events, quotes, etc.

The copyedit will be the final stage of editing before the book is put into layout and design. After a copyedit, no further writing is recommended. Some aspects of copyediting are addressed in a line-level edit, but they are not the same kind of editing.

Ghostwriting is very common in celebrity and political books, especially in the memoir and autobiography genre. Ghostwriting of nonfiction may involve several rounds of interviews with the author and others involved in the book.

Ghostwriting in fiction is less common and includes expanding on what the author has already written. A ghostwriter will develop the dialogue and descriptions throughout the book, without changing much of the plot, etc.

Ghostwriting does take the longest—from several months to a year.