Seven Story Publishing offers Line Editing, Copy Editing, Developmental Editing, Proofreading, and Formatting.
It is recommended that authors schedule a free consultation before proceeding with any of our services. To do so, email us at submissions@sevenstorypublishing.com with the Seven Story Publishing Consultation form completed and we will reach out to set a date and time to speak over Google Meet.
Should authors want to proceed without a free consultation, email us at submissions@sevenstorypublishing.com with your manuscript, social media links, author bio, book cover photo, and a signed Editing Services Contract with proof of payment. Once completed, we will reach out to you to go over the terms and services to be rendered in your contract.
Manuscript Assessment
- Evaluates Premise and Market Positioning
- Analyzes Plot Architecture and Structural Pacing
- Tracks Characterization and Internal arcs
- Audits Worldbuilding and Internal Logic
- Examines POV & Narrative Voice
- Devises strategic Revision Roadmap
Proofreading
- Checks for spelling, grammatical, and mechanical errors
- Confirms dialogue and Fiction Conventions
- Double checks Fiction-Specific Consistency
- Examines manuscript topography and layout
- Ensures finalized version is up to standard and there are no errors
Formatting
Includes:
- Front Matter
- Body Matter and Layout Topography
- Chapter Openings
- Back Matter
- Technical File Prep (Character clean-up, Page & Section Breaks, Widow and Orphan control)
- Bespoke Interior Design
Copy Editing
- Focuses on Correctness, Clarity, and Consistency
- Checks spelling, punctuation, grammar, syntax, and timeline accuracy
- Examines word choice and eliminates redundancies
- Ensures factual and continuity verification
- Adheres to Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS)
Line Editing
- Focuses on how language sounds and feels
- Examines rhythm, voice, nuance, pacing, and emotional impact
- Reworks clunky phrases, trims redundancies, strengthens weak similes/metaphors, and tightens prose to serve story
- Examines and helps establish show vs. tell balance
- Enhances scene pacing and maintains narrative economy
Developmental Editing
Evaluates story based on seven foundational pillars:
- Plot & Structure: Evaluates narrative arc, inciting incidents, escalating stakes, midpoint turns, and resolutions. Flags plot holes, contrivances, dropped plot threads, and pacing lulls.
- Characterization & Arcs: Analyzes whether the protagonist’s internal emotional shift matches the external stakes. Checks character motivation, distinct voices, agency, and secondary character utility.
- Pacing & Tension: Measures the narrative rhythm. Checks for scenes that drag, exposition dumps, that stall momentum, or climaxes that feel rushed or unearned.
- Point of View & Psychic Distance: Identifies head hopping, breaks in perspective, and whether the chosen POV maximizes dramatic tension.
- World-Building & Internal Logic: Verifies that magic systems, technology rules, political hierarchies, and cultural frameworks remain consistent and do not contradict established lore.
- Theme & Resonance: Assesses what the book is about beneath the plot mechanics, ensuring key thematic motifs pay off by the final chapter.
- Target Audience & Genre Conventions: Evaluates reader expectations for the specific genre.
Author also receives:
- Editorial Letter: A detailed, high level report of about 5 to 20 pages. It breaks down the manuscript chapter by chapter and details what’s working, what isn’t, and actionable strategies for structural revision.
- In-Manuscript Margin Comments: Annotations throughout the document noting reader reactions, scenes where tension drops, questions about unclear motives, and spots needing expansion or deletion.
Comprehensive Editing
Includes:
- Developmental Editing
- Line Editing
- Copy Editing
- Proofreading
- Formatting
