Looking at options for editing your book can be confusing and overwhelming. One of the more blurry lines is that of a manuscript review vs. developmental edit because they both deal with the big-picture view of a story. I definitely was confused about them before I became an editor! I hope this article helps you decide which is best for your story.
Please note: Every editor has their own definition of each edit and what they include, so be sure to check their website before committing to anything. These definitions are based on my own research and what I offer.
What’s a Manuscript Review?
Also known as a manuscript assessment, evaluation, or critique, a manuscript review is where the editor reads your manuscript in full, looking at the main elements of your story from a high-level view:
- Story Hook
- Plot
- Subplot(s)
- Structure
- Pacing/Tension
- Twists
- Character Arc
- Theme
- Worldbuilding/Setting
- Timeline
- Antagonist and Conflict
- POV
- Ending/Resolution
The editor will give you a feedback letter explaining your strengths and weaknesses in each area, sometimes with specific ideas of how to make them stronger.
What you do get: Feedback letter outlining the strengths and weaknesses about the main elements in your story.
What you don’t get: Comments within the document outlining the specific areas of where you struggled.
What’s a Developmental Edit?
Like a manuscript review, the editor will read your article in full. They will then go into the manuscript itself and, looking at the same elements of your story listed above, suggest with TrackChanges specific ways of how to reshape/restructure your manuscript. They may suggest scenes to delete, twists to add, comment on where your worldbuilding is fantastic or flawed, where the pacing slows, etc.
They will then send you a feedback letter listing your strengths and weaknesses in each area with more explanation about some of their comments in the document, if relevant.
What you do get: Comments in the draft as well as a feedback letter.
What you don’t get: Rewrites from the editor. Expect to do all the revisions yourself.
Key Differences of a Manuscript Review Vs. Developmental Edit
- Amount of Feedback: A manuscript review gives you less amount of feedback and less specific feedback. A developmental feedback is much more in-depth.
- Financial Cost: Because developmental edits include detailed in-line comments and pages of feedback, the cost is more substantial.
- Time Cost: Both edits could require the same amount of time for the author to fix, depending on how many issues crop up with the story, but the manuscript review likely won’t unearth as many problems, so it probably won’t take as long.
Because I’m a gardener, that’s how I like to think of the two types of edits. A manuscript review is like a gardener who just wants to sow a few seeds along the sidewalk; the author isn’t ready yet to get their hands very dirty. Developmental edits are when the gardener wants to pull out most of their bed and replant it: they are ready to sweat, dig, and rub against the plants and maybe get bit by a snake or two.
So which are you? The sower of seeds or the ripper of weeds? 😄
Which Edit is Right for You?
If you want help with the big-picture view of your manuscript and are on a tight budget, then go for a manuscript review. Or, if you haven’t finished your manuscript yet, but would like advice on what’s working and what’s not in your manuscript, then a manuscript review would probably be helpful. A developmental edit requires a completed manuscript.
Once you have a completed draft and are ready to dig deep and get your hands dirty changing the main elements of your story, consider a developmental edit. If you believe in your story enough to spend a significant amount of money and time on uprooting all the weeds and replacing them with lovely flowers, then this kind of edit will give you the tools to make the garden of your story blooming and beautiful.
Need More Help?
If you’re still not sure which kind of edit is best for your book, fill out this short form and choose “I’m not sure” about which edit you’d like to undergo. I’ll get back to you as soon as possible for a free 20 minute chat about which edit is best for your story! 😊
You can also take this quiz to help determine which edit is best for you.
