Fiction Craft Blog

This blog post describes developmental editing services and how they are different from manuscript critiques. The second half covers examples of developmental editing comments an author might expect on their manuscript, with a commentary explaining their purpose. Developmental editing is all about feedback on a complete book manuscript draft to improve it. The first step is usually a manuscript critique, which consists of a first reading of the manuscript, with the editor tak

This blog post describes what a manuscript critique, as a paid developmental editing service , involves. It covers whether authors can really benefit from them, and what kind of specific story advice they might receive. A manuscript critique is a paid service where authors hire a developmental editor to write a critique / assessment / evaluation of their manuscript. The word critique implies that they will tear it to shreds, but this is not a grad school critique. Instead, th

This blog post discusses how social media might be damaging for your business and your well-being, and why the mood has changed so much in 2025. If you're considering leaving social media, read on! Just after the pandemic started, it felt like the world was moving online, and social media was a big part of that. Back in 2020, my business was fairly new, and I was excited to learn how to use all the different social media channels. So I joined the Chartered Institute of Editin

This blog post is packed with tips on how to to navigate the literary magazine space from an editor who writes speculative fiction and translates literary fiction. Literary magazines and overwhelm for new writers When I first became serious about writing fiction, around five years ago, I took some solid advice and used short stories as a canvas to learn fiction writing craft. A novel is a massive investment of time and energy. If you like writing short stories, I heard, why

From time to time, I receive enquiries from authors who have written a really long novel. I consider really long to be anything over 130K words. So what is the ideal fantasy novel length if you are a debut author wanting to find an agent or self-publish? For established authors with a large audience, that can be fine. But for new authors looking to find an agent or self-publish, a very long novel comes with several problems attached: It will almost certainly receive an automa

Looking to hire a book editor? You can work with one directly or you can use a platform such as Upwork, Fiverr, or Reedsy. Reedsy is the platform most strongly associated with the publishing industry so I’ll offer some tips on the pros and cons of using Reedsy versus hiring an editor directly here: What is Reedsy? Reedsy is a platform that connects writers seeking editorial services with book editors and other publishing professionals (translators, book formatters, etc.). The

Editors charge a wide range of rates for editing. The industry is unregulated, so in principle, anyone can claim to offer these services. This means you have to choose an editor carefully if quality is important to you. So how much does quality editing cost? In this blog post, I'll share figures in UK currency, but the vast majority of editors (myself included) work for clients all over North America as well, so the market is roughly the same. Trained proofreaders and editors

Is a comma before ‘as’ ever mandatory? Takeaway: A comma before as hints at a break, which suggests as is being used in the sense of because . A comma before as to mean because is not mandatory but can be helpful for clarity Some editors argue that the comma before as changes the meaning to because , despite the lack of editorial consensus on this issue The different meanings of as The style guides are quiet on this one. Here’s my attempt, as not even the Chicago Manual