Editorial Services
My background and experience
I started my career as a magazine sub-editor and now, over 25 years later, work as an author, editor and copywriter. My first middle grade comedy, Clementine Florentine, was published by UCLan Publishing in January 2022, and my YA romcom The Thing About Lemons (also published by UCLan), came out in June 2023. I’m represented by Lauren Gardener at Bell Lomax Moreton literary agency.
When I’m not working on my own books, my time is divided between copywriting and editing. I’m a course reader for Curtis Brown Creative on their six week Children’s and YA online course, providing feedback and readers reports to students. I’ve also worked as a mentor with WriteMentor and have completed the Introduction to Fiction Editing online course with the Society for Editors and Proofreaders. I offer my own editing services below.
If you’re trying to decide whether it’s worth spending the money on editorial services for your manuscript, please read on.
Agents receive literally hundreds of submissions a week, so if you want them to notice yours, it’s not enough to be good – you need to be outstanding. If your first three chapters shine but thereafter your novel sags, it’ll be rejected. The same if your concept is great, but your character arcs are weak or the writing wanders into too much exposition. Do you drift from present tense to past tense and back? Are your characters convincing? Does your plot have holes in it? Does your timeline add up? Does every scene move the story forward? Can every character justify their existence?
Basically, if an agent thinks your novel “needs too much work”, it’s likely to be rejected. So if your goal is to get a full MS request followed by an offer of representation, you need your novel to be the strongest it can be. For this reason, it helps to view spending money on an editing report as an investment, rather than a cost. I will flag up all your novel’s strengths, weaknesses and potential issues, while providing as much explanation as I can – the aim is to help you see what you need to do in order to make your novel watertight, and therefore way more likely to attract an agent’s interest.
Testimonial: Philip Kavvadias, children’s author
"I met Tasha as part of the WriteMentor programme, where she became my mentor. Tasha critiqued my 41k manuscript and produced an incredibly useful nine-page report, covering many aspects from presentation to plot development to characterisation to the actual writing itself. Her detailed report was accompanied by thorough side-notes on my manuscript. My renewed script has, at the time I'm writing this, attracted the attention of three agents. I would highly recommend Tasha for her professionalism, thoroughness and attention to detail. On top of all that, she has a friendly, easy-going personality that makes her wonderful to work with."
I offer three different services below. If you have any questions or if what you’re looking for isn’t covered here, please do get in touch and ask. (Scroll down for contact form.)
Submission Package Report
(First three chapters/10K words, cover letter & synopsis)
£195
Price includes annotations in margin and feedback report. I also provide a 30 minute video call for an additional £45.
When you’re ready to start querying agents, you’ll need to have the first three chapters or first 10,000 words of your MS ship-shape and ready to go, along with a one-page cover letter and a sharp, one-page synopsis. As well as doing a developmental* edit of your first three chapters/10,000 words, I’ll also advise you on how to tighten your synopsis and write a strong covering letter.
* Developmental edit: A developmental edit is where constructive advice on story and structure as a whole is needed. A ‘line’ edit is more about honing and sharpening up the finer details. I like to take a quick look at the first three chapters before either of us commit so that I can work out which I think you need.
If you go ahead with the Submission Package, please expect a turnaround time of no more than two weeks.
Mini Submission Package Report (First 3,000 words & synopsis)
£110
Price includes annotations in margin and feedback report.
The same as above but a cheaper option. Please expect a turnaround time of no more than two weeks.
Full Manuscript Developmental Report
£10 per 1,000 words
(ie: A 50,000 word MS will be £500)
Price includes annotations in margin, feedback report and optional 45 minute video call.
A “developmental” or “structural” edit means I’ll go through your full manuscript flagging up any potential problems, from minor inconsistencies to major plot holes. As well as highlighting issues in the margin, I’ll provide a detailed report that covers plot development, pace, characterisation, “show, don’t tell”, tone of voice, consistency, timeline issues, presentation, marketability and advice on how to make your novel stronger and tighter. Please expect a turnaround time of no more than four weeks (possibly longer for MSS over 90,000 words). The price also includes an optional 45 minute video chat.
Please note, this is not a final edit or a proofread – the focus is on developing every aspect of the story overall.
It’s also worth noting that if you’re writing for middle grade children (8-12), your story should be in the 30-60,000 word range. If you’re writing YA (12+), then it’s around 70-80,000.
Please note:
If you decide to go ahead with any of the above services, I’ll require 50% of the payment up front, and the balance upon completion.
I usually ask to see the MS/first 3 chapters to ascertain whether it needs line or developmental editing before either of us commit.
I’ll make all my suggestions both in the margin of your manuscript Word doc and/or in my report. I won’t make any changes to your actual text.
Providing feedback on revised work is not included in the price.
If your budget won’t stretch to a Full Manuscript Developmental Report, then another option is to choose the Submission Package Report and apply my feedback to the rest of your MS.
None of the above include proofreading. As you’re likely to make changes to your work after receiving my report, there’s no point in proofreading it yet. (If you’re sending your full MS to an agent who has requested it, it doesn’t need to be 100% typo-free at this stage – although making sure it’s as polished as possible is obviously in your interest!)