Developmental editing services for authors
Strengthen your manuscript’s overall structure and help your readers see the big pictureSupport that gets you unstuck.
Interdisciplinary scholarship asks a lot of authors—original arguments, wide-ranging research, and writing that speaks across fields and communities.
It’s no surprise that once you’re deep inside the work, it becomes hard to tell what’s landing and what needs rethinking.
That’s where we step in.
Our developmental editors read your project with a panoramic view, helping you clarify your argument, deepen your analysis, and shape a structure that elevates your ideas rather than burying them.
We’re here for the full spectrum of scholarly writing: your tenure book, your crossover book for broader publics, your dream-press proposal, or that journal article you want to resonate widely.
This is editing designed for interdisciplinary thinkers: support that strengthens your scholarship, honors your voice, and helps your work make the impact you envision.
Academic developmental editing services
Books and chapters
Strengthen your manuscript’s overall structure and help your readers see the big picture
Developmental editing focuses on the big-picture content of your manuscript.
We identify ways to strengthen your argument, methodology, analysis, organization/structure, engagement with sources, and overall narrative arc—ensuring your ideas are clear, compelling, and positioned to reach your desired audiences.
Our service includes:
- One round of in-text edits in Microsoft Word using Track Changes
- A detailed editorial report outlining your key audiences and interventions, strengths and areas for improvement, and concrete revision strategies
- Guidance for responding to and implementing peer review feedback
We can work with you before submission to a press or journal—so your manuscript is as strong as possible going into review—or after you receive peer review reports, helping you revise strategically and efficiently.
Rate: USD $0.11 per word
Turn-around: starts at 15 business days for single book chapters, and at 30 business days for full books
Book proposals
Craft a winning book proposal that captures publishers' attention
Developmental editing focuses on the big-picture content of your manuscript.
We focus on how the proposal presents the book's argument and stakes, market viability, primary audiences, comparable titles, methodology, analysis, organization/structure, and narrative arc.
Our service includes:
- One round of in-text edits in Microsoft Word using Track Changes
- A detailed editorial report outlining your key audiences and interventions, strengths and areas for improvement, and concrete revision strategies
We can developmentally edit just your proposal draft or your proposal draft + 1–2 chapters you plan to submit to presses.
Rate: USD $0.11 per word
Turn-around: starts at 15 business days for single book chapters, and at 30 business days for full books
Dissertation-to-book projects
Transform the student exercise into a successful book manuscript publishers will be interested in
Developmental editing focuses on the big-picture content of your manuscript.
Our dissertation-to-book developmental editing service offers guidance on revising the manuscript to transition from a dissertation format to a book manuscript suitable for today’s publishing market.
Our service includes:
- One round of in-text edits in Microsoft Word using Track Changes
- A detailed editorial report outlining your key audiences and interventions, strengths and areas for improvement, and concrete revision strategies
We can work with you before submission to a press—so your manuscript is as strong as possible going into review—or after you receive peer review reports, helping you revise strategically and efficiently.
Rate: USD $0.11 per word
Turn-around: starts at 30 business days for full books
Journal articles
Craft a winning book proposal that captures publishers' attention
Developmental editing focuses on the big-picture content of your manuscript.
We identify ways to strengthen your article's argument, methodology, analysis, organization and structure, engagement with sources, and narrative arc.
Our service includes:
- One round of in-text edits in Microsoft Word using Track Changes
- A detailed editorial report outlining your key audiences and interventions, strengths and areas for improvement, and concrete revision strategies
Rate: USD $0.11 per word
Turn-around: starts at 15 business days
Publisher insight report
Craft a winning book proposal that captures publishers' attention
Optional add-on service for book or book proposal editing.
Our publisher insight report provides a tailored analysis, identifying five US academic publishers that align with your book’s key audiences and focus and that suit your publication goals.
Your custom report includes each publisher’s relevant acquisition lists and major fields, detailed book proposal submission requirements, insights into the book proposal review process, series suited to your book, and contact information for acquisition editors.
Rate: USD $495.00 flat rate
Turn-around: starts at 15 business days
How academic developmental editing works
1. We assemble your team
Our CEO Cathy Hannabach personally assembles and leads your editorial team with the help of our editorial director—matching your manuscript with the right editors and project managers for its fields, editorial needs, and publishing context.
2. You deliver your manuscript
You send us your manuscript on the contracted start date, along with the peer review reports, publisher instructions, or specific elements you want us to focus on for your developmental editing service.
3. Your team gets to work on your edit
Your team dives in, working together through the manuscript multiple times, shaping it for clarity, flow, and impact. We refine structure and organization, strengthen your arguments, smooth narrative arc, and ensure your writing speaks effectively to your intended readers. We also create the supporting editorial report to guide you through the revision process and ensure your ideas shine through.
4. We conduct a final review
Our CEO and editorial director conduct a final review to ensure your argument and voice shine through clearly and consistently and that all editing elements have been addressed. We create the final files that present a unified Ideas on Fire edit with detailed tracked changes and revision recommendations.
5. You receive your edited manuscript
We return your edited manuscript and editorial documents, with tracked changes you’ll integrate to create a submission-ready text. You can be confident that your work meets professional publishing standards and truly reflects your scholarly voice.
Recent academic developmental editing projects
Frequently asked questions: academic developmental editing
How do I know what kind of editing I need?
Most manuscripts move through three editing stages:
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Manuscript review and developmental editing: focus on argument, analysis, structure, and organization
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Copyediting: focuses on clarity, style, grammar, consistency, and citation formatting
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Proofreading: a final check of typeset page proofs before publication
If you're just getting started with a dissertation-to-book conversion, you can start with a manuscript review.
If you’re still shaping the argument or structure, you likely need developmental editing.
If the content is set and you’re polishing the writing, you’re ready for copyediting.
If you’re reviewing publisher-issued page proofs, you'd benefit from proofreading.
For a deeper explanation, see our article When to Hire an Academic Editor or Indexer.
Can you help me turn my dissertation into a book?
Yes, this is one of our specialties.
If you’re early in the revision process, we typically recommend a manuscript review, which provides big-picture guidance on how to reshape a dissertation into a publishable book.
You might also check out our First Book Publishing Series, covering everything from finding a great publisher and preparing your book proposal to navigating peer review and marketing your book.
What kind of manuscripts do you edit?
We work on academic and scholarly publishing projects in the interdisciplinary humanities and social sciences, including:
- Academic books, proposals, and chapters
- Scholarly journal articles, special issues, and full journals
- Institutional and department-based editorial projects
We work with individual authors, scholarly publishers, and institutional partners including museums, research institutes, academic departments, scholarly associations, nonprofits, and cultural institutions.
You can see examples of our work on our portfolio page.
How is my editing team assembled?
Each manuscript we work on is supported by a collaborative team throughout the entire publishing journey.
Our CEO Dr. Cathy Hannabach handpicks and leads each team, ensuring the exceptional quality our editing projects are known for.
This collaborative method provides your manuscript the benefit of multiple professional perspectives and Ideas on Fire’s unique, holistic publishing support.
Learn more about our outstanding team members on our team page.
Can I reschedule an editing project?
Yes. Please get in touch with us as soon as possible to adjust your start date.
What other publishing support do you offer?
Unique among editors and indexers, we provide comprehensive publishing support for books, including strategic book promotion and targeted marketing campaigns designed specifically for academic and crossover audiences.
We leverage our extensive interdisciplinary network and expertise to maximize your book’s visibility and impact through coordinated social media campaigns, conference placement, email newsletter features, blog posts, website showcasing, and other strategic promotional opportunities.
We know interdisciplinary scholarship can help build more just worlds, which is why our goal is to ensure your ideas reach the widest possible audience while maintaining the scholarly integrity of your work.
How do I pay for services?
We will send you an invoice with the edited manuscript, and payment is due within 15 days.
We accept credit/debit cards and bank transfers. We do not accept paper checks.
If you are using university funds, please confirm with your university before the project begins that they will pay via credit/debit card or bank transfer.
We are a registered vendor with hundreds of colleges and universities so the process is streamlined for payment.
If we are not already on your institution’s vendor list, we will register to enable direct payment.
Do you offer ghostwriting?
Absolutely not.
We have a strong ethical and political commitment to academic integrity. For scholarship to have credibility, it needs to be researched and written by the person whose name is on it.
Academic editing should never include ghostwriting or creating original content for an author.
Further, we will not edit any manuscript that contains plagiarized material.
Do you have any additional resources on scholarly publishing?
Tons! Check out our extensive scholarly publishing resource library.
And for those of you working on your first book, check out our comprehensive First Book Publishing Series, featuring advice from more than a dozen leading university presses.
Take the stress out of publishing
Make your book, proposal, or journal article stand out with the help of our developmental editing services.