Editorial
Evaluation
If you're here, then you're probably feeling pretty lost with your novel right now.
Do any of these sound familiar?
I've worked so hard on this draft, but I know it's just not quite ready yet.
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I've had feedback from beta readers, critique partners, or even literary agents, but everyone gives me different, sometimes conflicting feedback, and it's confusing.
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I've finally finished my first draft, but I've never revised a book before, and I'm not sure where to start.
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I'm starting to doubt whether I should even bother continuing to work on this book.
I get it! Revisions are the hardest part of the process for many, many writers. You're not alone in feeling out of your depth. But what if I told you...
You can have a straightforward revision plan that finally gets your book ready for the next step to publication.
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You can evaluate and sift through various feedback to decide what applies to your story and what doesn’t.
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You can tackle your first-ever revisions with courage and confidence that you’re headed in the right direction.
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You can believe in your writing ability again and fearlessly jump back into working on your book.
This is exactly what an Editorial Evaluation is for! You don’t have to feel confused, frustrated, or hopeless every time you sit down to revise your book. You can feel encouraged, determined, and confident instead!
[Before working with Toni] I was not confident in my story at all. I am now a lot more confident in my concept for the story. Toni provides detailed feedback with advice on how to tweak any weaknesses she spots. I would recommend Toni to anyone who needs a pair of eyes that can spot improvements in every aspect of your story.
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Alix Roche
LitRPG author
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Knowing your draft’s strengths and weaknesses is key to making it into a novel that entrances readers.
Get an element-by-element assessment of your manuscript by a trained editorial eye so that you can stop guessing and start making real progress on your quest to publication.
So what exactly is involved in an Editorial Evaluation?
I read through your manuscript from a bird's-eye view, looking at the major elements and how they all work together. This is a broad overview of the entire book, assessing your story’s strengths and weaknesses in each category. That way you know if your worldbuilding is on point but your characters need more work, or if your plot is perfectly paced but your grammar and punctuation could use some cleanup.
An Editorial Evaluation looks at these 8 elements of your novel:
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Storytelling choices. Does the book fit well within its genre and work for its intended readers?
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The hook. Do the first pages grab the reader and make them want to keep reading?
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Characters. Are the characters unique, deep, and realistic?
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Setting/Worldbuilding. Is the setting clear and easy to imagine? Does the worldbuilding make sense and have consistency?
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Plot. Is the plot engaging and interesting? Does it earn its ending?
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Pacing. Does the story move too fast? Too slow?
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Voice/Style. Does the story have a good balance of narrative “telling” and in-scene “showing”? Do the author’s word choices suit the genre and intended readers?
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Mechanics. Are there a lot of distracting spelling mistakes, grammatical errors, or punctuation errors?
I don’t just leave you with a list of problems, either—at the end of every Editorial Evaluation, I list out a personalized set of next steps for your book. For some, that might mean another round of beta reading. For others, it might be a total rewrite of the entire book. For others still, it might be time to hire a proofreader and hit the Publish button!
And it doesn’t end there! Once you’ve read over your Editorial Evaluation, you also get to ask 5 questions of your own choosing about what I wrote in the evaluation, specific problems in your story, or writing and publishing in general. This is to make sure we don’t leave any gaps as you set out to start your revisions.
Revisions aren't just about fixing what's not working—they're about augmenting what's already amazing.
What will I actually get, though?
That depends on what you and your book need! I value your time, so I'm not going to throw in a bunch of extra fluff just because I can. Your Editorial Evaluation will include 1 to 3 documents:
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The evaluation. This PDF document is guaranteed no matter what—this is the main element of an Editorial Evaluation!
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Your marked-up manuscript. (Optional) Sometimes, it's hard to illustrate the points I'm trying to make in the evaluation document without giving you direct examples from your book. If that's the case, I'll leave comments and marks directly in the book to expand on what I mean. Not every book will need this.
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Answers to your 5 questions. (Optional) Every Editorial Evaluation comes with 5 questions. You can ask about my evaluation, your book, or writing and publishing in general. But you don't have to ask any questions if you don't want! Or you can ask just a couple of questions instead of using all 5. This is totally up to you, so don't feel obligated to make up questions if you don't actually have any.
Toni is very skilled at giving specific examples of both what works and what doesn't work. Even when providing feedback about what needs to be improved, she has a great way of leaving me feeling encouraged and motivated. She is insightful and thorough, making my work shine brighter than I could make it on my own.
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SFF author
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Who can benefit from an
Editorial Evaluation?
New Writers
Your first-ever revision can be a hugely overwhelming process. Turns out there's way more to writing than just finishing that first draft! An Editorial Evaluation can light the way forward so you can go from feeling like revision is too much to feeling like it's totally doable. Your second draft will be that much easier to handle!
Experienced Writers
You've revised books before, but maybe this one's just not clicking. You know the book could be better, but you've got analysis paralysis. An Editorial Evaluation can help you take a step back and see more clearly what you might have missed while deep in the depths of your story, so the path forward becomes clear.
Writers on a Budget
As an editor, I know that editing costs add up quickly. Fortunately, Editorial Evaluations are able to provide big-picture developmental feedback at a lower price. If you've got the DIY spirit but need a bit of direction to get going, then an Editorial Evaluation will be perfect for you.
At what point in the writing process is an Editorial Evaluation helpful?
First Draft
After finishing your first draft.
If you want to start your revisions on the right foot, or if you're less experienced and just want some guidance, this is great timing for an Editorial Evaluation.
Second Draft
After draft two or three.
After doing a couple rounds of revision by yourself, you still might not be feeling confident in your story quite yet. An Editorial Evaluation can help you iron out any lingering story problems before you send the book off to beta readers.
Beta Reader/CP Feedback
Third Draft
(& beyond)
Querying/
Self-Pub Prep
When you get confusing reader feedback.
Especially if you're getting conflicting feedback! An Editorial Evaluation can help you untangle what your readers are picking up on so you can decide what advice to leave and what to take.
Publishing!
After querying agents unsuccessfully.
If your book's not getting any bites from agents, it could be because there's a problem with the story. (Or it might just be the market!) If you suspect the story might be the problem, an Editorial Evaluation can help you suss out what's putting agents off.
After self-publishing.
If you're working on a series but your readers just aren't buying book two after finishing book one, it could be a story issue. An Editorial Evaluation can help you pinpoint what's stopping readers from picking up the next book.
Bonus: Any time you're stuck.
Sometimes, you'll reach a point in revisions where you just don't know what to do or if you're making the story better or worse. Revisions start to feel neverending and overwhelming. It happens a lot, especially if you've been working on the book a long time! An Editorial Evaluation can help you take a step back and see your story clearly again.
After incorporating beta reader feedback into my novel manuscript, I knew I needed a professional editor for some guidance. Toni's report took a deep dive into the hook, plot, pacing and characters in my novel. The feedback was honest, and she provided suggestions for improvements. Her experience in the genre (fantasy) and Japanese culture were added bonuses given the focus of my book. I would wholeheartedly recommend Toni as an editor.
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Douglas Feldner
urban fantasy author
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Who will be my editor?
I'm Toni (she/her): SFF editor, bookworm, hobby writer, and your trusty guide through the tricky revision stage of your novel writing journey.
I have a bachelor’s degree in creative writing—which means I did a ton of writing, rewriting, and revising in my college years. I know what it’s like to get stuck in a story and not know how to improve it further!
But I also know how hazardous feedback can be. Unkind, generic, one-note feedback can do more harm than good when you’re trying to improve your story. It can lead you in the wrong direction, confuse you, or even make you feel like giving up writing entirely. I have certainly been on the receiving end of this type of feedback more than once!
That's why I'm so determined to help you through the revision stage with kind, applicable, and personalized feedback on your novel.
I’m not gonna lie—it’ll still be a lot of work. But it’ll be purposeful, directed, impactful work. I want you to come out the other end of your next round of revisions with a draft you’re proud of, whether it still needs more work later or is ready to publish right away.
Besides my creative writing degree, I also have a certificate in editing from the University of Washington, and I've edited 179 SFF books and counting. My love of these genres extends far beyond my education, too—I’ve been reading in them since elementary school (that's more than twenty years now)!
You can rest assured that I’m familiar with the tropes and conventions of SFF, so I won’t give you random advice that only applies to some other genre that has nothing to do with your story. Everything I write about in my evaluation is to help you create the book you want to write, not the book I think you should write.
I can give you the little bit of direction you need fine-tune your story into one that will capture and keep readers for the rest of your writing career. Are you ready to get started?
Toni's keenly aware of sensitivity issues in writing, which are important to me. She values each and every book and writer, and prioritizes their vision.
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Eric Peterson
fantasy author
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Short Stories/Novelettes (up to 20,000 words) - $250
Novellas/Short Novels (up to 50,000 words) - $500
Standard Novels (up to 90,000 words) - $900
Long Novels (up to 130,000 words) - $1,200
Epic Novels (up to 200,000 words) - $1,800
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*If your novel is longer than 200,000 words or if you'd like a whole series evaluated at once, email me directly for a custom quote.
How much does it cost?
What makes an Editorial Evaluation different from feedback I can get from beta readers and critique partners?
It's easy to get led astray by well-meaning but inexperienced critique partners and beta readers, who often tell you what they want to see in the book rather than what's actually not working, even if that has nothing to do with your story goals. In an Editorial Evaluation, you'll get specific, immediately applicable feedback that focuses on what will work to create the effect you are trying to create, not what I as a reader would want to see.
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Beta readers and critique partners are also not bound by a contract, so they may never give any of that extremely necessary feedback at all, or it may be vague statements like "I thought it was good." Your Editorial Evaluation is contracted, so you won't have to wait for months just to get a couple of vague statements that don't help with revisions at all.
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Many times, beta readers and critique partners are even newer to writing or to the genre you're writing than you are. That means you can often end up with feedback that doesn't quite hit the mark. Editorial Evaluations are based on my years of experience as a fantasy and sci-fi editor and over two decades of experience as a fan of both genres. I've been in the SFF realm a long time, and Editorial Evaluations reflect that!
So if you find yourself...
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...struggling to figure out how the craft book advice fits into your own novel.
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...unable to get beta readers or critique partners to actually give timely, applicable, specific feedback.
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...wishing there was someone who could give you some guidance in your revisions.
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...feeling confused about all the different advice you're receiving from beta readers and critique partners.
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...itching to speed up the revision process.
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...yearning for someone else to take a little of the revision load off your shoulders.
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...or even just wanting an editorial opinion on your book.
I'm here to help with that!
Toni’s editorial evaluation of my middle grade draft blew me away. It was thorough, thoughtful, and encouraging.​ I was so appreciative of the amount of time she’d clearly spent considering my story. Toni's feedback was generous, covering the hook, characters, setting, pacing, plot, and voice.
Toni raised some wonderfully insightful questions about stakes and character motivation. This was so helpful, really encouraging me to dig deeper into what my story is truly about at its heart. I was also impressed by how well she understood my story from just a chapter outline and the first 5k words. Her feedback was flawlessly written, packed with insight, and gave me a much-needed confidence boost.
As a new writer to middle grade, I was doubting everything. But Toni re-energised me, feeling excited to dive back into rewrites. And feeling confident - I can do this!
Toni is an amazing editor, and I’m so grateful for her guidance. I will definitely be using her again to help me navigate the murky yet magical waters of my first middle grade novel.
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children's lit author
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FAQ
What kinds of books do you evaluate?
I evaluate fantasy and sci-fi written for middle grade, young adult, new adult, and adult audiences. This includes all SFF subgenres (except for grimdark). If you're not sure what your book's genre is, don't hesitate to get in touch!
How soon will I get my Editorial Evaluation back?
This depends on the length of your project. Shorter projects can be turned around as quickly as two weeks, while longer projects could take as long as four weeks. I'll give you an estimate when you book!
Is there anything you don't read?
Thanks for asking! I can handle most content, but my tolerance does go up and down depending on my current life circumstances. If you could provide a list of content warnings when you contact me, I would really appreciate it!
Do you offer payment plans?
Yes, I do offer payment plans in multiple installments. If you need an extended payment plan, feel free to reach out to me. But do keep in mind that this will likely affect how quickly I can return your completed evaluation.
Other questions? I'm just an email away!
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Or, if you're ready, book your Editorial Evaluation below.