by Jenn Windrow
You’ve finished your draft. Poured your heart into your characters, built entire worlds, and untangled plots that kept you up at night. Now it’s time to send your baby to a professional developmental editor to ensure your hard work is ready for publication.
But wait—before you hit “send” and hand your manuscript over to a developmental editor, a little preparation can make a huge difference. The better shape your draft is in, the more meaningful and actionable your feedback will be.
Here’s how to set yourself—and your story—up for success.
A developmental edit focuses on the big picture. This includes:
This is not the stage for fixing typos or comma splices. (That’s for copyediting or proofreading.) The goal here is to refine the foundation of your story.
Don’t send a half-finished manuscript or one where the final chapters are still “in your head.” Editors need to see the full arc to provide meaningful insights on structure and resolution. So, don’t hit send until you have a fully finished, fleshed out manuscript.
Your editor will thank you!
This isn’t about perfection—it’s about effort.
Run through your manuscript at least once with your own critical eye. Tighten obvious plot holes, trim scenes that drag, and flag anything that doesn’t feel “right.” A developmental editor can help fix bigger issues, but your work will benefit if you’ve already done some heavy lifting.
Ask yourself:
Also, mark places where you know something is off or doesn’t feel right, so your editor knows you really need help in those areas.
It doesn’t have to be beautiful, but give your editor a 1–2 page summary of the main plot, subplots, and character arcs. This helps them see your intent, which is crucial when recommending changes.
Let your editor know what genre you plan to publish in. This step helps the editor make sure you are hitting all the marks needed to make a book stand out in the market.
Are you planning to query agents? Self-publish? Do you want this story to be a series starter? Let your editor know. They’ll tailor their feedback accordingly.
You can also mention:
Make your manuscript easy on the eyes:
I have had clients send me manuscripts in some odd formats that are not really conducive with tracking changes and leaving decent comments, I almost always ask for a word document or end up importing it into word myself.
This might be the hardest part.
A developmental edit is in-depth, honest, and sometimes brutal. But it’s not personal. Your editor wants your story to succeed, and the best feedback will challenge you to rethink, revise, and reimagine.
Approach it with curiosity, not defensiveness.
A developmental edit can transform your manuscript from “almost there” to “absolutely unputdownable.” With the right prep, you’ll make the most of the process—and come out of it a stronger writer with a sharper story.
Your editor is your ally. So show up ready to work—and ready to grow.
Do you have any questions about developmental editing that you would like to ask an editor? If so, leave them in the comments, and I will answer them all!
* * * * * *
Jenn Windrow is an Award winning author, developmental editor, and illustrator.
She loves characters who have a pinch of spunk, a dash of attitude, and a large dollop of sex appeal. Top it all off with a huge heaping helping of snark, and you’ve got the ingredients for the kind of fast-paced stories she loves to read and write. Home is a suburb of it’s-so-hot-my-shoes-have-melted-to-the-pavement Phoenix. Where she lives with her husband, two teenagers, and a slew of animals that seem to keep following her home, at least that’s what she claims.
Website: https://jennwindrow.com/
Photo credit - Hannah Grace - Unsplash
Copyright © 2025 Writers In The Storm - All Rights Reserved
I always find your posts interesting, many thanks. About developmental editing, two things concern me: it’s a little bit like going into therapy, you have to be a good fit with the editor, since a it’s quite a subjective matter. A lot of new writers will not have the confidence to disagree with the editor on certain points, and I’ve heard a lot of stories where people’s books have been changed out of all recognition, to the point the author ended up by hating their own book. Secondly, authors are encouraged to pay for a developmental edit, then a line edit, proofreading, etc. By the time you’re ready to query, you’ve already spent 2/3k, which you’d be lucky to ever get back. Then, even with a publisher, you have to shell out to market your book. How much of all this is really necessary? I’m interested in your ideas on the subject. Best, Marina
Let’s break this down for you!
It’s always okay to ask an editor to do a sample edit for you. That way you can get a feel for HOW they edit. Most editors won’t have a problem doing the first 10 pages so you both know if you’re comfortable working together. And if they won’t do a sample edit, then they probably aren’t the editor for you.
Also, word of mouth and referrals is a great way to find an editor. The client I’m going to mention below came to me through a referral.
I’m currently working with a client who went through 2 other editors before we started working together. She had almost thrown in the towel and skipped developmental editing all together, but we started working together and it’s going great. I make sure I ask if she’s happy and she makes sure that she ask if she wants to hop on a call and talk something out. We’ve built a great relationship, but it helped that we both had clear goals at the start of working together.
Editing is a partnership.
You should never change your book to a point where it’s not even your book anymore. And it’s best to remember that it is your story, and if you don’t want to make any of the suggested changes, you don’t have to.
As for point 2, if you’re thinking of querying, then you’re probably good with two or three objective critique partners or beta readers. Objective is the key word there. You want readers who are willing to give you honest feedback and not be afraid to hurt your feelings. Publishers offer developmental editing after you sign your contract. BUT, if the plan is to self publish, you’ll need to hire a developmental editor on your own.
I hope this helps a little bit!!
This was a very helpful clarification for me! Thank you.
As someone who has done developmental edits, I always tell clients to go as far as they can with free resources first. Find good critique partners and beta readers. Read blogs like this and follow through. Post for critiques on forums. Once you know there are issues but you can go no further for free, pay for an edit or at least a conference critique. Then take the advice that works for you an go back to the free resources, etc. Hopefully this minimizes the cash outlay. For self publishing, though, always get a copy edit and proofread before going to print.
Free resources are worth their weight in gold, when you are looking at querying. Once you are under contract, you will get the developmental edit anyway.
With self publishing, you still need that professional eye in the end to help find those pesky things you are too close to the MS to find and fix.
Great post, Jenn! Developmental editing is a powerful tool.
Thank you! It really is!
Hello Jen. This sounds a lot like the revision work authors should be doing. Perhaps "developmental editors" should be given credit as co-authors? 🤔🤔
Well, authors should be always be doing revisions, but some newer authors tend to rush to the developmental editing phase before the MS is ready to go. This post is more of a guideline to follow do you're getting the most bang our of your buck when it comes to editing.
A good editor won't be writing your book, the will leave comments and suggestions to help the author shape the story, but it is up to the author to rewrite according to those comments and suggestions.
The emotional preparedness is really important. That first developmental edit can be really hard to take even when you know the editor is mostly right. Yeah, I've been there.
The good thing is that most developmental editors have an understanding of how that first edit feels for the author. They work hard to make their recommendations as nonjudgemental and helpful as possible. Thanks to mine, after a lot of years of practice, I am now on the other side of the aisle and enjoy helping others see how to improve their own work.
BTW, I hope your readers here are reading all the comments and your stellar answers.
That first edit is sooooo hard if you are not emotionally prepared. I'll never forget mine. But in the end, it made me a better writer and a fairly good editor too.
I'm so happy you have had good experiences with them and in the end decided you wanted to be the one to help other authors.
Thank you, I am fully engaged in answering the questions the best that I can!
Lynette is spot on...your answers here are super helpful.
great tips
Thank you!!
Such a great post, Jenn! I love it from the photo, all the way down. 🙂
Thank you! I love that photo!!
This is a great post. On Sunday I started doing research on developmental
editing, and on Monday your post was in the inbox. It is truly helpful for me as I a new wannabe author.
Maybe your post is just a huge coincidence, but I am going to think of it as being on the right path. I have been having doubts. So thank you, Jenn.
I will check out your website.
It sounds like it was meant to be! I hope you find someone you enjoy working with! If you have any questions feel free to reach out!
Hi and thank you for this very helpful article. I have a coming of age memoir, about 50K words. Not quite ready for editing, but I'm curious how do you charge for a developmental edit?
Yay for getting close to the editing phase of book writing, thats an accomplishment!
Here’s a link to my site with my cost.
https://jennwindrow.com/irreverent-publishing/
Thanks for this excellent checklist, with the reasons for each part of the preparation. Really good advice.
I bought the editorial assessment level from an editor, before going the developmental route. It was... interesting. They had a ton of big-publishing-house experience in the genre, and we had a 30-minute zoom meeting ahead of time, for both of us to see if we were a good fit. It seemed so.
They gave me detailed feedback... but until then, I hadn't realized just how much they were focused on marketing and wanting to make my story fit into a checklist of What Had Always Worked Before. My beta readers had loved the story, found the characters engaging... and while the editor had been clear ahead of time that they would be making suggestions, not demands, their strong urging to substantially change significant elements didn't work for me. Not a bruised ego thing; more a like different goals for the final product, and in the way I was telling the story.
So I saved the cost of developmental editing with that person, and continued to work.