Nadine Scott's Editorial Services
Which Service Is Right For You?
Service Overviews
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An Alpha read is done very early, on an unedited first draft or very lightly edited draft. If you want to identify what areas might need improvement and what is already working before going into full revisions or intensive edits on your work this is for you.
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A Beta read is similar to an Alpha read but done later in the writing process. Usually after some rounds of self-editing, and possibly after working with a story/developmental editor. This is a good way to get a readers impression on your more polished work, catch issues that have been missed and highlight any final changes that might be needed.
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A Developmental/Story Edit takes place at a similar stage as an Alpha read after some editing to a first draft but before extensive editing has been done. This gives you an in depth, line by line edit of your work where you will receive an editors report at the end focusing on your plot, structure, form, and characters and anything that needs improvement. As well as comments added in the text where improvement or changes might be needed. And it will also highlight and comment on areas that work well and stand out for good reasons.
Alpha/Beta Reading vs Developmental Editing.
Alpha/Beta Reading
Both Alpha and Beta reading give you feedback from a readers perspective. What worked for them, what didn't, and some general advice on what could be improved. While they can be in depth reads, the intention is not to break down each sentence, paragraph, chapter, etc. and give detailed reviews of them all. Some in text comments might be used but mostly it will be an overall impression of the work from the perspective of a reader.
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This means it's a quicker service that will give you a report on what readers are and aren't seeing. If they like or hate the correct characters. If they got to the halfway point and got bored but still loved the ending. But it won't always give you the why. It's there to help guide your attention to these areas with constructive feedback.
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Developmental/Story Editing
A developmental/story edit will cover the above but give you guidance on why things work or don't and help you develop your writing. It will look at the plots and subplots, the characters and their development, the structure and form of the work and help you develop each area to make them better going much deeper than a typical reader.
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This is a longer and more detailed service that will give you guidance on how to perform edits to your work to polish. While it won't tell you exactly what to write, it will help you identify areas where attention is needed and give guidance on what is needed to fix or polish them. It will focus on the bigger elements that make up the story, so isn't there to correct grammar or spelling, but instead make sure the story and characters work as intended.