SERVICES
I offer freelance developmental editing services. Developmental editing helps authors realize their vision for their story and helps authors elevate their writing. Developmental editors evaluate elements of craft: setting, pacing, structure, style, point of view, theme, plot, scene development, character, dialogue, and overall organization (see below for a more detailed discussion of what developmental editing is).
When reading a manuscript, I believe it is important to read it in a concentrated amount of time to comprehensively take in all aspects of the manuscript and to keep a unified picture of the progress of the plot, characters, and other aspects of the novel. While reading the manuscript, I make margin notes. After reading the manuscript, I then revisit it as I write at least a 5-page, single-spaced commentary (commentaries are as long as they need to be to address the big-picture issues of the manuscript). My usual turnaround time is two weeks from the day I begin to read the manuscript. When the annotated manuscript is returned, you may request a 40-minute video conference which takes place within a week after the manuscript is returned.
How can developmental editing improve your novel manuscript?
As the publishing world becomes increasingly competitive, it’s vital for a manuscript to be of publishable quality before authors begin querying agents and presses. Developmental editing is one of several important steps to ensure a manuscript is ready for submission.
Authors may be too invested in their story to recognize what is not working, and a developmental editor can help by providing an honest opinion about the work. Through a significant written commentary and margin notes on the manuscript, a developmental editor will offer strategic suggestions to revise and improve the manuscript by addressing questions, such as:
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Does the story have a strong foundation?
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Does the story make sense?
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Are there gaps in the plot or storytelling?
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Is the setting (or world) believable?
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Is there a cohesive beginning, middle, and end?
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Are the characters convincing and well-developed?
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Is there a believable climax and resolution?
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Is the ending earned?
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Is the writing consistent?
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Has the author achieved their vision for the book?
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Does the writing work for the target audience?
Developmental editing is also called structural, substantive, content, or comprehensive editing. Developmental editing is NOT line editing, grammar checking, proofreading, or copy editing. Developmental editing happens before all those steps.
In the end, developmental editing is subjective and is only a step in the process of getting published. An experienced developmental editor can offer suggestions to improve the work. Having a developmental editor does not guarantee a book deal, nor will it result in referrals to agents or publishers, but it can identify areas that need revision or re-thinking.
ASK YOURSELF
Are you ready for a developmental editor?
Developmental editing usually takes place after the first or second draft of a novel manuscript is complete. Most likely the manuscript has been read by a beta reader or two.
ABOUT ME
Karen Mann has thirty years of developmental editing and other writing-related experience. When working as managing editor for the national literary magazine The Louisville Review (1986-2013), she discovered she enjoyed encouraging writers, and it became important to her to help writers achieve their writing goals. Karen has been the Administrative Director of the low-residency Naslund-Mann Graduate School of Writing at Spalding University in Louisville since 2000, when she co-founded the MFA program with Sena Jeter Naslund. The School now has more than 800 alumni, and Karen has been able to continue supporting writers in many ways.
Karen graduated from Indiana University—Bloomington with a bachelor’s in English Literature and from University of Louisville, with a master’s in English with a concentration in creative writing. She taught creative writing at University of Louisville and Spalding University for several years. She is the author of two novels, The Woman of La Mancha (Fleur-de-Lis Press) and The Saved Man (Page Turners Press). She has published essays and short stories in a variety of anthologies. Karen had been awarded two artist encouragement grants from Kentucky Foundation for Women and has been a grant reader for the Indiana Arts Council and the Kentucky Foundation for Women. Karen has comprehensively read dozens of novel manuscripts for new and experienced authors of manuscripts for adults, young adults, and middle-grade. The manuscripts she has commented on include literary, mystery, fantasy, popular fiction, and science fiction.
RATES
How much does it cost?
My fee is from 1½ to 2 cents a word. The fee is based on the quality of the work and the feasibility of progress to a successful novel. See my contact information below to ask for an assessment and sample edit.
If you accept, I send an agreement outlining the timeframe to read your manuscript, the fee, and payment information. Half the fee is paid up front, and the other half is paid when the annotated manuscript and commentary are returned to the author.
Years ago, long before our friendship blossomed, Karen Mann helped me re-organize and re-write my first published novel Sherlock in Love. Since then, her editorial expertise, her encouragement, and advice have made major contributions to the success of my critically acclaimed, national bestselling novels Ahab's Wife, Four Spirits, and Abundance, a Novel of Marie Antoinette. If you want to find an experienced, hard-working, insightful, encouraging reader for your unpublished book, I highly recommend you contact Karen Mann. I don't think I would have gotten to first base without Karen's kind help, keen eye, and valuable comments.
—Sena Jeter Naslund, author; founding Program Director of the Spalding University MFA in Writing.
Karen Mann has a valuable gift for understanding what you’re trying to accomplish in your manuscript, what works and doesn’t, what sings—or sputters—and, from big picture to little, offers strategies to ready your work for the wider world. I’ve found her keen-eyed, sensitive critiques of my novel drafts enormously helpful. And what a delight she is to work with.
—Roy Hoffman, author of the novels The Promise of the Pelican and Come Landfall
Karen’s five pages of insight into storytelling issues both large and small were a revelation as she brought up all kinds of specific problems that needed attention, but never in a way that felt overwhelming. Instead, her editorial feedback made me feel hopeful. I could do this! Even better, Karen’s words of appreciation for my characters encouraged me that their story was worth telling, which then gave me the momentum to continue revising. Karen’s expert feedback—dealing with both positive and needs-improvement aspects of my novel—proved invaluable to the development of Louie’s Treasure, and I highly recommend her kind, timely, and knowledgeable editorial services to other writers looking for a combination of encouragement and revision possibilities.
–Thea Gavin, author of middle-grade manuscript Louie’s Treasure
I’m so thankful for the feedback Karen Mann offered—she was such a thoughtful and thorough reader. I think I took 99 percent of her suggestions and quickly found a publisher.
–Kelly Hill, author of A Home for Friendless Woman
Karen Mann’s comments and suggestions on Stealing Renoir were equal or better than any feedback I ever received from my college instructors.”
–Stephen Allten Brown, author of Steeling Renoir: A Mystery Thriller where Art, Crime, and History Converge
Karen, thank you for your wonderful and close reading of The Button Soldier. I am going through your notes carefully and making changes to the manuscript. Your observations are so astute! Your summary of the book with comments is so helpful. Thank you so much for all the energy you put into this!”
–Kaylene Johnson-Sullivan, writer and photojournalist, author of six books, including A Tender Distance: Adventures Raising My Sons in Alaska
I know firsthand that Karen has a good eye for editing a manuscript. I found her feedback valuable and holistic, always with a sense of how the whole book should work together—characters, plot, and the little details that help create and maintain the consistency a reader needs to get the most from a book.
–Jason Hill, fiction writer
Karen went above and beyond what I expected. Her clear and detailed feedback showed that she had done a thorough and attentive reading of my manuscript. I felt confident that her responses were completely objective.
–Bobbi Lewin, Colorado fiction writer
TESTIMONIALS
CONTACT ME
How do I engage Karen Mann as a developmental editor?
For an assessment of whether I think I can make significant suggestions on your manuscript, email the following to info@karenmannedits.com: the opening 25 pages of the novel (double-spaced, as .doc, .docx or PDF) and a no longer than one-page, double-spaced synopsis, which identifies the intended audience, gives the total word count, and gives a brief overview of the plot. In your email, tell me what you want to achieve in our work together.
After reading the 25 pages and the synopsis, I reply within a week to let you know whether I believe I am the right developmental editor for you. Upon request, I will include a sample edit of your 25 pages.