Fiction Craft Blog

Not every novel needs developmental editing. But queer speculative fiction is often complex, both structurally and thematically—think sprawling worldbuilding, conscious representation, satisfying character arcs, and layered thematic work. In this blog post, I’ll cover the most common situations when developmental editing feedback will be useful for your queer speculative fiction novel. I usually recommend an editorial assessment (sometimes called a manuscript critique) as a

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I have some more AI thoughts and news this week, as the topic continues to be hotly debated. I’ve joined the Editorial Freelancers Association’s AI taskforce, so you can expect more frequent discussions on this topic. AI in agent submissions First, an article in The Bookseller  (paywalled, but you can register to read a few articles for free), describes how literary agents have noticed a shift to widespread use of AI in submission

Disclosure:  I received free access to this course for review purposes. This post includes two links: one is an affiliate link (which means I may earn a commission if you enroll, at no extra cost to you), and the other is a non-affiliate link. Feel free to use whichever you prefer. This review reflects my honest assessment of the course. Sophie has been running this course in taught and self-paced versions for a decade. I’m an experienced fiction developmental editor who ori

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 an editorial assessment (otherwise known as 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. An editorial assessment 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 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