As a developmental fiction editor, you’ll help authors improve their novels – and get paid for it. This course teaches you how to actually conduct your service and work with clients.
Developmental editors provide feedback to authors before they publish, looking at the story as a whole and figuring out how it could be told better.
To be able to offer this as a professional service, though, you need more than a good grasp of literary theory. You also need to know how to deconstruct a manuscript, communicate appropriately with authors, and make suitable suggestions.
Which is what this course is all about.
In this course, I’ll provide you with a broad overview of the service.
You’ll learn how to write an editorial report (also known as a manuscript critique or assessment) as well as how to edit a manuscript page-by-page.
By the end of the course, you’ll have a much clearer idea of what your developmental editing service will include and how to offer, price and conduct it.
Alexandra DawningIt really was a super valuable course, and I’m so glad that I invested in it!
Tara AveryYour style is engaging, knowledgeable, and approachable. I’ve been a professional writer and editor for many years [and] your course affirmed that I’ve been on the right track while also providing a lot of streamlined, useful information I’ll enthusiastically incorporate into my business. Oh, and I used the new client questionnaire I developed in this course and the client loved it so much he hired me almost immediately.
This course isn’t for you if you aren’t already knowledgeable about writing-craft theory and don’t know how to offer suitable suggestions on how a manuscript can be improved.
The three-act structure. Third-person limited narration. Character motivation. Narrative thrust. Universal theme … If these terms mean nothing to you, don’t take this course. (Take this one first!)
*Refers to lifetime of the course. If/when the course retires, access will be revoked – but you are able to download and keep all the written resources.
Melina RodriguezI am very glad that I took this course. I learned a lot from Sophie. I would definitely recommend her course to anyone interested in it!
Howard WalwynThe course more than met my expectations because I did not appreciate that so much of it would be directly re-useable in my business. I really enjoyed it – the notes, the videos, really everything about it.
Bonus resources:
Bonus resources:
Bonus resources:
Bonus resources:
In this additional mini module, I’ll outline ways of finding your first paying clients.
Aly KidwellI took this course hoping it would provide more knowledge on the administrative side of developmental editing, and that’s exactly what I feel I’ve gained! I appreciated how the course started out with the more administrative sides of editing and then delved deeper into the real legwork of editing in the last two modules. I’ll certainly be recommending this course to my friends!
Janina RusieckiThe class has been great. Thank you! I really liked your bonus material on finding work. It was excellent!
I studied English Literature with Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia, and I have an MA in Creative Writing from Royal Holloway, University of London. I used to work for publishing-giant Pearson, and have completed a ton of in-depth editing training.
I ran my own freelance editing practice for over a decade, with manuscript critiquing and developmental editing being the foundations of my work.
You’ll receive a PDF certificate confirming you’ve completed the course. You can include this in your training credentials!
In the editing industry, training is recognised based on the provider’s credibility. My courses, for example, are recognised by the Chartered Institute for Editing and Proofreading and count towards membership upgrades.
Certification, however, is different. It requires an assessment to meet a certifying body’s standards, and there are ongoing requirements to maintain it. It’s quite complex, and rare in the editing industry. Liminal Pages does not offer certification.
No. This course assumes you already have a solid understanding of what goes into a well-written novel, and that you know how to analyse a piece of writing. If you’re looking for a course that teaches this, try Developmental Editing: Fiction Theory.
Not as long as you feel confident in your knowledge of writing-craft theory. Perhaps you’ve got a degree in English Literature, or perhaps you’re an established writer, or perhaps you’ve just read a lot of books on literary analysis and writing craft.
I recommend carefully reading the outline for each course and seeing if it fits with what you think you need to learn. You can always do this course another time if you decide you do want to learn more fiction theory – the courses don’t necessarily need to be done in order (see above).
No, unless you don’t have Microsoft Word – in which case, I recommend you buy it. This is the industry’s standard software and I’ll be teaching you how to use some of its functions to conduct your edits.
To watch or read through the main modules usually takes just over 2 hours, but there’s also a bonus module and lots of resources for you to digest, and systems for you to put into practice. It varies from person to person, but around 5 hours is fairly typical. Think of it like a day of training (but at your own pace and without the free pastries – sorry).
Not at all. Americans, Canadians, Australians, Europeans, Wakandans … everyone is welcome. Editing is a global community, and I won’t be addressing any UK-specific publishing conventions.
Indeed I do! You can puchase both courses with a whopping 20% discount, but have to buy them both at the same time: buy the bundle here.
SeselisThe course definitely met my expectations. In fact, this is by far the best online course I’ve taken. This course was wonderful, and I’ll certainly be attending more of your courses. Thank you!
Karen McKellarI thoroughly enjoyed this course. The modules were well-presented, clear and insightful. Having taken both [the] practical and theory courses, I would definitely recommend them to anyone interested in developmental editing.
