Developmental Editing
Get actionable, helpful, in-depth feedback on the core structure and content of your story so readers will love it and your stories can thrive!
Great Stories Change Your World
Do you want to make your good story GREAT? One that can truly change the world for you and your readers? Let me tell you a little about how I can help!
Copper Developmental Edit
$0.025
Per Word
Basic structural/content edit
Special attention paid to 1 priority concern of your choosing
1 read-through of the manuscript
Only full scene-level, and some global-level assessment and feedback
No inline comments
Silver Developmental Edit
$0.03
Per Word
Standard structural/content edit
Special attention paid to 2 priority concerns of your choosing
2 read-throughs of the manuscript
Full scene-level, global-level, and some act-level assessment and feedback
Some limited in-line comments
Gold Developmental Edit
$0.035
Per Word
Premium structural/content edit
Special attention paid to 3 priority concerns of your choosing
3 read-throughs of the manuscript, including an audio pass
Full scene, act, and global-level assessment and feedback. Sequence-level assessment and feedback as needed
Full in-line comments pinpointing and highlighting the areas discussed in the editorial letter
Deliverables Details for Developmental Edits
- A full onboarding process to meet and get comfortable with each other, and for me to collect all of the information I need in order to give you precisely the feedback you want and need.
- An organized, in-depth edit letter, including detailed notes on what is and isn’t working at every level applicable for the chosen service. This is primarily an assessment of everything on the full list of things I watch for, pulling out the most relevant aspects for the individual piece, both strengths and weaknesses. You can expect 10-30 double-spaced pages for a 75k word manuscript, which includes explained and actionable suggestions for improvement.
- An optional one-hour follow-up consultation, coaching, or debriefing call (or two 30-minute calls) at any point within a 30-day period of the contract concluding. This can be a discussion about your work and the editorial feedback I have provided, an opportunity to ask any questions, or brainstorming and workshopping any changes you are planning to make. One hour is included, more can be purchased for a per-hour charge.
- Ongoing email support for brain-picking, processing, and whatever else you need for a 90-day period after the contract concludes.
- Steam-level assessment of any romance, and a general assessment of the title's match with the content.
- The option for a free 1-hour coaching session on future books in the same series, discounts for the same, or a heavily discounted re-edit for a piece you've made major changes to after the first edit, see below!
Glass Re-edit
$0.0125
Per Word
"Check that I got it right" Developmental Re-Edit
Only applicable to stories that have already gone through one of the above services, and must be booked for dates within 90 days of the original service.
- Special attention paid to 1 priority concern of your choosing in one full read of the manuscript.
- Some global-level assessment and feedback, and scene-by-scene feedback where needed.
- Assessment watching for any major things I mentioned in the original edit, assessing your success in any changes made, and watching for any new considerations which have been introduced in the new version, both strengths and weaknesses.
- Suggestions for further improvement in an organized edit letter designed to be an addition to the previous edit letter.
- Steam-level reassessment for any romance.
- Ongoing email support, and an optional one-hour follow-up consultation call.

Series Catch-Up
Need me to catch up on the series you are writing in, in order to get to the book you want my help with? I am happy to do focused reads of each of the earlier books in the series. This will help the developmental process in several key areas. First, to make sure that I have all of the needed background information to do the most holistic and accurate developmental edit possible of the book you want to work with me on. Second, it will make me more able to properly assess how the story works as part of the larger series. I offer this service at a cost of $250 per book, as an addition to any developmental edit. I do need a fair bit of warning, at least 30 days, so I suggest letting me know at the time of booking if you want this service. If the books in question aren’t available through KU, you will need to provide me with the relevant eBooks.
Priority/Rush
Do you need to jump the queue and have me start on your piece in a week or less? Need a very specific slot on my calendar I've already booked up? Need your piece finished and returned in a shorter timeframe than normal? I offer priority and rushed booking slots! Standard turnaround for a developmental edit is 2 weeks, a rush turnaround is 1 week.
I offer this service at +25% of the finalized standard cost, capped at $500.
Meet the editor behind Hart Bound Editing
Rebecca Hartwell
Editor, Author, Seamstress, Equestrian
Hello!
My name is Rebecca, and I am a developmental editor who helps authors go from feeling lost, overwhelmed, or uncertain around their writing to having a clear, grounded, hopeful, and actionable plan for their story’s success.
I am an indie author myself, and my passion for learning more about how stories work, my love of reading in the genres that inspired me to write, and my own awful experiences getting my work developmental edited pushed me to start the full-time career I am now in love with. I have been a proud Story Grid Guild member for four years now, and am delighted to have worked with dozens of amazing authors, almost all of which have trusted me with their work multiple times.
I love strengthening and expanding my understanding of what makes good stories great at the highest and deepest levels of the craft through courses, books, and the best teacher of all—experience. I feel honored to help other writers achieve their dreams of telling impactful, unforgettable stories.
I live in Maine with my two cats and a ridiculous amount of craft supplies, and can often be found swing dancing, splaying and singing Irish Trad, and finding every excuse I can to play dress-up.
Optional Add-Ons
Want to make sure you are editing with reader satisfaction and marketability in mind? I offer several add-on services geared specifically towards that which you can be confident in, knowing that the assessments have come from someone who has actually read every word of your story.
- Blurb draft from reading, or a rework of one you already have. $100 as an add-on, $250 as a standalone service.
BONUS: This service also includes a FREE list of relevant tagline ideas for the piece which can be used in social media posts, advertising, A+ content, and more!
- Subgenre and trope assessment/list. Make sure you are satisfying your niche readers, and what plot points are your biggest selling points. $100 as an add-on, $250 as a standalone service.
BONUS: This service also includes a FREE assessment of your title choice; not only how well it fits the story itself, but also the subgenres you will be marketing to!
- Amazon keywords and categories assessment/list. Know exactly where your story fits in the market, and what terms will help the right readers find your work. $100 as an add-on, $250 as a standalone service.
What people say...
“Rebecca has critiqued several of my manuscripts for both novels and short stories. She is a pleasure to work with and timely with her reviews. Her notes are very thorough, and she has a firm grasp on structure and plot beats for a manuscript.”
Evelyn Shine
“Rebecca provided professional, in-depth editorial feedback. Her remarks were useful in strengthening my story. I can’t wait to work with Rebecca again in the future.”
Kera Beliveau
“Rebecca is a detailed, thorough developmental editor, who brings her experienced eye to review the plot, characters, and overall beats of a story to help an author improve. I highly recommend working with Rebecca if you're looking for feedback to help you get your book to the next level.”
Jocelyn Montana
“Rebecca was a pleasure to work with. Her analysis of my manuscript painted a clear picture of the strengths and weaknesses in each scene and the story as a whole. She will definitely be my go-to developmental editor for future projects”
Julie Brydon
Is Hart Bound Editing Right For Me?
Let's find out with a few questions! I love working with first-time authors through seasoned professionals, but I know that's not the only consideration.
What are the different kinds of editors?
Glad you asked! Basically, each kind of editor has a different layer of granulation they specialize in. Let’s go over them in order of use:
-A Developmental editor (a.k.a. a structural, content, substantive, story, or macro editor) like me specializes in the largest story elements like global, act, and scene structure, character arcs, plot issues, genre adherence, and the like. We help you improve the core bones of a story, and decide the shape of the beast.
-A Line editor specializes in the page-level craft of language style and flow, readability, and the like. They help you with the flesh of the story, making sure it fits the bones well and is in good shape over all.
-A Copy editor specializes in the sentence-level technical craft of spelling, grammar, punctuation, and the like. There is the most overlap between line editors and copy editors, and the terms are sometimes interchanged. They help you make sure that the surface of the story is polished and well-presented.
-A Proofreader is the last check on a manuscript. They make sure that there are no glaring errors that the others missed, and help with any last minute polishing and sprucing up of the surface-level writing.
-There are also different kinds of feedback readers I'll touch on briefly, all of which will likely provide only a tiny fraction as much help as an editor: Alpha readers for during drafting, beta readers for after dev/self-editing, critique partners for either stage, and ARC (Advance Reader Copy) readers for after ALL editing, proofing, and formatting is done.
Am I ready for a developmental edit?
That’s something you can decide for yourself, or I can help you decide in a free introductory video call!
Here’s what I personally recommend:
You absolutely CAN get a developmental edit done on a rough first draft, but I suggest doing as much structural self-editing as you can first to make sure that you aren’t paying me for something you could have noticed or figured out on your own.
I also recommend that if you are using alpha and beta readers, that you do a developmental edit after the alpha stage for the reasons I just mentioned, but before the beta readers so that you can use them as a check for any major changes you make after the developmental edit. You should always plan to get a manuscript copy edited or line edited AFTER a developmental edit, but it is both appreciated and recommended that you do polish it a bit for spelling, grammar, and punctuation yourself before a developmental edit using any word processing software like Microsoft Word, or an AI copy editing tool like ProWritingAid (my personal highest recommendation).
At the end of the day, if you have a story written that you need help reshaping so it works, you are ready for a developmental edit, and I'd love to chat!
Which developmental edit is right for me?
That depends! All developmental editing is best used after alpha readers, and before beta readers, if you plan to use either, and all can be used for a rough draft. The primary differences between the different developmental services I offer are their respective price points, the amount of time and attention that goes into them, and how much feedback you get out of it. One other consideration in choosing the right service for you is just how much help your story needs. This can be difficult to judge for yourself as a newer author, but generally, if it needs a lot of work because it really isn’t working and you can’t figure out why, the more intense Gold service is the best choice for you. If you know your story is really mostly working as-is and you are mostly looking for a beefed up beta read, then the Copper service might be all you need. I offer the Silver service specifically as a solid middle ground between the two for folks who aren’t looking for or don’t need either extreme, or aren’t sure what they need.
Just How Much You Get...

Book when YOU want
Rest easy knowing I have flexible booking slots designed to accommodate YOUR deadlines, allowing you to truly be in charge of your author career.
Grow and build
Get the feedback you need in an extensive edit letter giving you kind, in-depth, feedback on everything from scene-level notes to overarching impressions across roughly 250 checkpoints for story structure, characters, pacing, style, tropes, and much more. All to help you write stronger stories that WORK and build the lifelong fans which thriving writers in this ten-BILLION dollar industry build from.
Friendly support
Get actionable, explained suggestions for HOW to make the needed changes, often done by pointing out where you are doing that particular thing WELL somewhere else. I want you to feel great about your writing, and to only feel better equipped and increasingly proud with each new piece you write.
Save time and more
Save yourself hundreds of hours of self-editing or sifting through alpha/beta feedback for the rare gems, money spent or never earned, your precious creative energy reserves, and SO much more! Spare yourself the uncertainty, stress, frustration, disappointment of failure, poor reviews, and more you risk with a story that doesn’t deliver.
Exceptional & Thorough
Introduce
Use my free introductory/onboarding video call to make sure that I have all the information I need to give you the exact, customized feedback you’re looking for to reach YOUR goals.
Implement
Get guidance on how best to handle the time while your manuscript is being edited, as well as advice around successful consumption and application of the feedback when you receive it.
Timeframe
You get a 1-3 week guaranteed turnaround because your time is precious, and the agony of having your manuscript off with someone else to get critiqued should be as short as possible without lessening the quality.
Trust
Get truly expert feedback and guidance, sparing yourself the many long years and close to $10,000 on books, courses, and workshops it took me to learn everything I have in order to help your stories reach their full potential.
Improve
Improve not only this one book but all the others you write with discounts on further books in the same series, FREE 1-hour coaching calls for the same, the option to have me read through and catch up on an ongoing series, and more.
Revisit
Know that you’ll have me in your corner far beyond a one-time edit. Between 90 days of unlimited ongoing email support, a free 1-hour debriefing call, and the option for half-price re-edits to make sure that any major overhauls you do work well, you will be well supported long-term.
Looking for a one-stop editing shop?
Features | ||
---|---|---|
✓ 15% off all services | ✓ Developmental editing | ✓ Start-to-finish polishing |
✓ Multiple perspectives | ✓Line Editing | ✓ All-inclusive contract |
✓ Fresh eyes | ✓Copy Editing/Proofing | ✓ Everything from both |
Oh heck yes, I'm in!
I'm ready to get exactly the help my story needs to be gather lifelong fans in only two weeks, with encouraging and actionable suggestions for improvement and ongoing support!