The Big Edit

Our step-by-step process for editing a book begins with raising your standards to those required for submission to traditional publishing houses before you begin work so that you can take pride in your own work as you begin self-editing. An author never sends out any work that falls short of their standards. Your standards are ‘your brand’. Prepare for the publishing process by learning how to format your document the way a professional editor at a publishing company or a literary agent would wish to receive it.

A professional edit begins with taking the first step towards a great hook or elevator pitch, looking at the theme of the entire story and how to best serve the story with the structure. You’ll consider the narrative arc, character development, the midpoint and more, working towards a chaptered outline and a (pain-free) synopsis.

Then it’s time to book your first session with our developmental editors. In your recorded session we’ll review the pitch, the main character, secondary characters and the storyline, looking at each plot point in turn, and filling any plot holes so that you can edit your own book with fresh eyes and new enthusiasm.

Our editing checklist will guide how to use the developmental edit to fill the plot holes, reviewing character development, all the way through to line editing, your line by line style. You’ll become your own copy editor, reworking your chapters and drilling down into sentence structure and word choice. You’ll use active voice over passive voice, eliminating crutch words and overwriting, and creating enough tension and momentum to keep your reader engrossed for hundreds of pages. You’ll learn how to apply our unique technique for advanced prose skills and language usage: Lucid Compression ®. In the final stages you’ll be shown how to eliminate grammatical errors, spelling mistakes and punctuation errors line by line. All of these small things contribute towards the reading experience. The finer points of punctuation and grammatical rules are more important than you may think. 

Then, it’s time to get feedback on your own writing from beta readers at our online community. With hundreds of serious writer members worldwide, you’ll find the perfect beta reader at The Novelry. 

With the substantive editing and line-editing complete, our professional editors will guide you on how to prepare for submission to literary agents, and a career as a published author.

Then it’s time for your second session with a professional book editor to review your pitch letter, synopsis and first three chapters, and make a plan for you to enter the publishing process with world-class literary agency representation.

In this self-paced course, you will enjoy 50 lessons with videos and text giving you guidance to edit your book. Start the course before you touch that manuscript to learn how to approach your edit. You’ll be guided step-by-step within the course and served downloads and tools at just the right time for the revision of your manuscript. Besides your editorial sessions, you’ll enjoy the support of the online community, and be able to join us for live weekly writing classes and regular online workshops for those at every stage of their writing, in every genre.

You will have access to the course for a year, after which it’s easy to maintain access to your course on an annual basis with our extension plans.

A submissions package is the material sent to a literary agent sufficient for them to consider whether they are interested in pursuing representation of you as an author further. Typically, they require the first 3 chapters (or occasionally the first 50 pages, whichever is shortest in wordcount) and a pitch letter by email plus a one-page synopsis.

Your editor will not only review and give feedback on the material but they will help you prepare the submissions package and when we agree it is ready, The Novelry will be glad to present to our literary agency partners on your behalf in a carefully managed bespoke submissions process with your permission and involvement every step of the way. (Exciting times!)

Once you join us for the course, you can purchase any further or pre-emptive Paid Feedback Sessions from £199 or $250 for a 2500-word submission with options to upgrade and add more word count at checkout. ( A 5000-word feedback report is £299 or $359.)

If you need or would like more comprehensive feedback on your manuscript, we’d suggest you choose The Finished Novel program which includes a full assessment of your entire manuscript.

To edit a novel, we suggest you work in chunks of time, 2–3 hours a session when you can. Your editing sessions don’t need to be daily because we will ensure you have a brilliant working plan to pick up from where you left off and continue your progress. Take your time – writing is re-writing!

Once you join us for the course, you can purchase Paid Feedback Sessions for £350 or $425 for a 5000-word submission with options to upgrade and add more word count at checkout. 

You may choose to book a Paid Feedback Session to get a ‘voice-check’ on your writing at any stage of your year with us or to ask for help with any specific questions on the writing from either your writing coach or an editor.

The feedback sessions offer detailed feedback on your writing in a report and a live Zoom session recorded for you to keep.

If you need or would like more comprehensive feedback on your manuscript, we’d suggest you choose The Finished Novel program which includes a full assessment of your entire manuscript.

We’ll be able to advise you if you can’t find an obvious fit by reading the profiles of our editorial team. Our Editorial Director reviews all bookings and we will be sure to suggest the very best editor for your storyline and genre.  

Our courses are suitable for people with visual or auditory impairment, dyslexia and for those with English as a second language. We offer an app which translates the course into 99 languages and offers a speak-aloud option too. Learn more here.

Yes, we are all for Happy Writing. You can review our terms and conditions here. If for any reason at all the course is not for you, you can get a full no-questions-asked refund within the first 7 days after purchase. Just email us and let us know.