When Should You Hire a Developmental Editor for Your Academic Book?

There are two points in the book drafting and revising process when academic authors usually hire me as an academic developmental editor. These are:

1. When you have a complete, revised draft, but before peer review

2. Alongside peer review

Developmental editing is holistic. Because of the focus on structure, cohesion, argument, and reader experience, the suggestions an editor can make are vastly improved if they can read and work with a draft of the whole book.

Why hire a developmental editor before peer review?

This timing helps authors who want to enter the peer review process with more confidence. Developmental editing concerns are one aspect of what peer reviewers consider, and developmental editors have the time, energy, and training to focus much more intensively on the organization of the text and reader experience.

Why hire a developmental editor alongside peer review?

This suits academic authors who are confident entering the peer review process and want a developmental editing perspective perhaps to triangulate the feedback the peer reviewers give. This extra data point and usually more detailed engagement with the text (because for developmental editors, consulting is their main job) is often invaluable.

What about after peer review?

While less common, this can help academics confused by the different directions the peer reviewers have suggested for taking the text. A developmental editor can offer extra input, and provided the publisher isn’t being strict with an urgent submission deadline, this can work well.

After rejection

Finally, sometimes a press asks an author to make heavy revisions with no guarantee of publication, or outright rejects a manuscript. These are situations in which a developmental editor can help with improving the editorial qualities of the book, which usually increases the chances of publication further down the line, with another press.

And a final situation that sometimes comes up: When a publisher commissions a developmental editor

Sometimes a scholar is working on a very hot topic or has a big readership, but they can’t come up with a suitably developed manuscript on time. In these situations, a press might commission an academic developmental editor or do significant developmental work in-house.

Several acquisitions editors have told me (either directly or via scholarly authors) that publishing presses welcome a manuscript benefiting from professional developmental editing. A scholarly author invested in improving structure and reader experience is likely to deliver a stronger manuscript, and acquisitions editors are often working on many books and lists at the same time and cannot offer much help in that department themselves.

Developmental editing versus writing coaching

Occasionally academic authors reach out for help earlier on, usually because they are stuck at the drafting stage. If this is you, the service you need is writing coaching and there are a few kinds:

1. If you are stuck and contemplating not finishing the book or even leaving academia, then I recommend working with an academic writing coach who is also a trained psychotherapist because big life decisions can often involve big emotions and shifts in identity. If you are based in the UK, then I can recommend the coach who supervises my own editing and coaching practice, who has also worked as an academic.

2. If you are looking for feedback on the text as you go, alongside gentle accountability, then take a look at my revisions coaching service.

3. Some academics just need the accountability coaching, although if issues like writer’s block or severe procrastination persist, it can quickly get into territory where a trained psychotherapist coach is the best fit.

As a rule of thumb, here’s some practical advice:

If you’re still drafting, consider coaching.

If you have a complete draft, assess when to engage a developmental editor, but remember, it’s best to contact them well in advance. It’s common for them to book up several months in advance.

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Does your book manuscript, journal article, or book proposal need this kind of structural work? If so, contact me about my developmental editing services.