II · Of Editorial Practice
Editorial Offices
The editorial offices of Silver Current Press accept manuscripts from writers preparing work for submission, self-publication, or private circulation. Each project is read by an editor with literary training and a long apprenticeship in the form. We work line by line, in conversation, never by template — the editor’s task is to clarify the writer’s intention, not to overlay her own.
Looking for courses, salons, or memoir consulting rather than editorial work on a manuscript? See the teaching hub at salon.silvercurrentpress.com/teaching. All live teaching is in person in the Philadelphia region.
Manuscript Evaluation
A diagnostic read of the whole manuscript, delivered as a single editorial letter. No marks in the manuscript itself. Best when a writer wants to know whether the book is working — and where — before committing to a full edit.
- Deliverable
- One editorial letter of roughly 4–6 double-spaced pages, in PDF.
- Included
- Assessment of premise, structure, pacing, character, voice, and prose; a prioritized revision roadmap; one 45-minute follow-up call within 30 days.
- Not included
- In-manuscript margin comments; line-level rewrites; copyediting; proofreading; a second letter.
- Best for
- A complete first or second draft when you are deciding what to do next.
Developmental Editing
The deepest edit we offer — a scene-by-scene reading of the manuscript with editorial queries throughout, followed by a long revision letter. For manuscripts that need rethinking more than polishing.
- Deliverable
- Your manuscript in Microsoft Word with tracked changes and margin comments at the scene, chapter, and section level; plus an editorial letter of roughly 8–12 double-spaced pages, in PDF.
- Included
- Structural and craft response throughout; one 45-minute call after delivery; 30 days of clarifying questions by email at no additional charge.
- Not included
- Line-level rewrites paragraph by paragraph; copyediting; proofreading; fact-checking; a second pass after revision (quoted separately).
- Best for
- A complete draft that needs structural work before it can be polished.
Line Edit
Sentence-by-sentence work on the prose itself — rhythm, clarity, tone, image, and the slow business of finding the writer’s truest voice on the page. Assumes the structure is settled.
- Deliverable
- Your manuscript in Microsoft Word with tracked-changes edits to nearly every paragraph and margin queries where alternatives are offered; plus a short editorial note of 600–1,200 words summarizing recurring patterns and stylistic choices.
- Included
- Paragraph-level revisions; cuts, condensings, and reorderings within passages; suggested rewordings; consistency of voice; 30 days of clarifying questions at no charge.
- Not included
- Structural changes or chapter reorganization (those belong to developmental editing); grammar-only correction (that’s copyediting); proofreading; rewriting in another voice.
- Best for
- A revised, structurally finished manuscript ready for craft-level attention.
Copyedit
Grammar, syntax, usage, punctuation, and house style applied with a light editorial hand. The manuscript’s last serious read before it is typeset.
- Deliverable
- Your manuscript in Microsoft Word with tracked changes; a one-page style sheet listing spelling, hyphenation, and house decisions made for the book; and a brief cover note.
- Included
- Correction to Chicago Manual of Style (17th ed.) unless you prefer otherwise; consistency of names, dates, and recurring terms; light fact checks where errors are obvious; 30 days of clarifying questions at no charge.
- Not included
- Rewriting for voice (that’s line editing); developmental notes; proofreading after typesetting; comprehensive fact-checking or permissions work.
- Best for
- A manuscript that is craft-finished and needs grammatical and stylistic uniformity before design.
Proofread
A final, unhurried reading against the typeset page — for the silent errors that survive every prior pass.
- Deliverable
- An annotated PDF of the typeset manuscript or laid-out galley with corrections marked, plus a short cover note listing recurring issues.
- Included
- Typographical errors; misspellings; punctuation slips; bad breaks, widows, orphans, and layout snags; running-head and page-number checks; one round of corrections.
- Not included
- Editorial changes; rephrasing; copyediting (assumed to have been done); style-sheet decisions; design changes.
- Best for
- The galley stage — after copyediting and typesetting, before publication.
Correspondence answered within three business days.
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