Developmental Editing, Second Edition: A Handbook for Freelancers, Authors, and Publishers

by Scott Norton

The only guide dedicated solely to developmental editing, now revised and updated with new exercises and a chapter on fiction.

Developmental editing—transforming a manuscript into a book that edifies, inspires, and sells—is a special skill, and Scott Norton is one of the best at it. With more than three decades of experience in the field, Norton offers his expert advice on how to approach the task of diagnosing and fixing structural problems with book manuscripts in consultation with authors and publishers. He illustrates these principles through a series of detailed case studies featuring before-and-after tables of contents, samples of edited text, and other materials to make an otherwise invisible process tangible.

This revised edition for the first time includes exercises that allow readers to edit sample materials and compare their work with that of an experienced professional as well as a new chapter on the unique challenges of editing fiction. In addition, it features expanded coverage of freelance business arrangements, self-published authors, e-books, content marketing, and more.

Whether you are an aspiring or experienced developmental editor or an author who works alongside one, you will benefit from Norton’s accessible, collaborative, and realistic approach and guidance. This handbook offers the concrete and essential tools it takes to help books to find their voice and their audience.

Genres: Writing, Nonfiction, Reference

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2023

Reviews

[Sirah]

Tips and advice for how to create an organized manuscript with just the right number of subheaders.

I was very excited to read this book and even put it on my "most anticipated books" list because I figured "hey, I'm a developmental editor; this probably has useful advice." However, nowhere in the synopsis did the publisher think to note that this book is written almost exclusively about nonfiction for publishing houses. Since I edit self-published children's fiction, the education I was able to glean from this book was ... disappointing. That's not to say it's not well-written and full of helpful examples. The tone was friendly and reassuring, and I can't complain about the style. It's just a lot more limited in scope than the title suggests.

[Rachel]

Probably fine as an introduction to nonfiction developmental editing, but fairly useless as far as practical advice for fiction dev editing goes unless you're a complete newcomer to the publishing industry. I found the communication style overly fastidious for my taste, which didn't help. (Plus it's just flat-out incorrect about several genre conventions in the chapter on fiction editing, so make sure to cross-reference with a more knowledgeable source.)

That said, there were some smart things said in the introduction regarding cultural assumptions that was definitely worth a read.

[Katelyn Brehm]

This book is really for nonfiction and the one chapter it has on fiction is very basic.

[Hinterland Hallucinations]

3.75 stars

This was a great resource to gain an understanding on what Developmental Editors do, and to further add skills and processes to my own writing and the steps to publishing.

I felt it handy in laying out the steps of developing a story, or conducting a developmental edit or a first draft, because in following this process I was comparing the results of a dev edit after my first draft to the initial concept before I started writing to see if I’d strayed too far from my intentions, or if I had added and improved on it in some way. It helped tighten up the story/plot, solidify the concept/theme and further develop voice/tone and pacing.

There was a lot of content that wasn’t specifically relevant to my situation, and most of the examples felt long-winded and irrelevant. I would have appreciated more exploration on the mechanics of developmental editing and short examples as opposed to what felt like case studies.
I can see myself referring back to ‘Developmental Editing’ at certain points in my writing and publishing journey; but to be honest, I was anticipating more from this book. But I can add in my own notes to supplement the topics addressed in this novel to tailor the information more to my needs and writing journey. I’d definitely recommend this for career authors looking to improve and check their writing and drafts before they get to the publishing stage.

[Allison Alexander]

I found this informative, though I did not realize that it would mainly focus on editing nonfiction or that the case studies would be written like mini stories. Not really helpful if you want to get into the nitty-gritty of fiction editing, but valuable if you want to edit nonfiction and/or get some insight into the editor/author/publisher relationship.

[Amber]

3.75/5

Helpful book. I really appreciated the story examples to help readers gain an alternative perspective on Norton’s points. Well written and useful.

[Dominique]

I thought this was awful.

[Elyse Thorup]

This was really helpful to me as an editor and writer! The “case studies” were a bit much for me, but other than that it is a great aid.