A Journal of Sin submitted for editorial advice

A little while ago I posted an article assessing various editorial services in preparation for my first novel’s structural edit. I’ll be self-publishing ‘A Journal of Sin’ later this year and decided to go for a developmental manuscript assessment and a copy-edit once I’m happy with the content. I say later this year, it all depends on the advice I suppose. I’ll be happy with anything above ‘throw it away, burn the laptop and never touch a keyboard again.’

The first rather large British organisation (that will remain unnamed) I submitted the manuscript to, lost it. Not only lost it, but took two weeks to tell me about it and chances are wouldn’t have even done that had I not nagged them. I spurned their offer of a partial refund and opted for The Literary Consultancy instead.

TLC are a London-based organisation with an fantastic reputation for editorial and literary standards. I considered a lot of freelance options, but decided I liked the peace of mind of an organisation with a strong background in the industry. They have a quick turnaround service which guarantees the manuscript returned within ten days for an extra third of the price. I like connecting with people directly online and it’s a great way to find high quality and affordable services, but I don’t really know enough about all of this yet to take that risk. Once I’m a little more comfortable with what I can expect from an editor and what my money pays for, I’ll branch out a little further into the freelance world.

I am, of course, as nervous as toffee in a hammer factory about the feedback. I’m sure it will be fine. I’m sure. It will. Be fine.