First, what is a manuscript evaluation? Some call it a critique or an assessment, but essentially, it is an editorial letter used as a teaching tool to iron out issues in a manuscript without making direct changes. Whereas a developmental editor might focus more heavily on plot structure and character development, a line editor will focus more on writing techniques.
I use it to discuss showing versus telling, point of view, filter words, tentative language, sentence rhythm, dialogue tags, and action beats, along with a couple dozen other techniques used to keep the writing engaging. I use examples from your manuscript to show you what is working and what can be improved.
Sometimes this is done while editing, and sometimes this is done before editing, but there are a couple of benefits to doing it before. I usually discuss these options after doing a sample edit.
First Benefit
The manuscript evaluation provides an opportunity to discuss more subjective decisions before diving into a line-by-line edit. For example, I had a client who had an unconventional approach to point of view, and this allowed him to give me feedback on my suggestions in the editorial letter, which then allowed me to tailor my edits to his goal. He got the effect he was looking for, and it still made sense to readers.
Second Benefit
This is a chance to catch plot issues before editing. Even though plot structure is not the focus, I will point out holes and suggest revisions as necessary, and doing this first gives an author time to make changes. This means the final copyedit is more comprehensive because I’m editing a version that is closer to the final version of the book.
Third Benefit
The cost is the same. Whether the manuscript evaluation is done first or alongside editing, the final cost remains the same. It is included in the editing package, so I credit the manuscript evaluation toward the cost of that package.
On the other hand, if done with editing, the manuscript evaluation supplements my editing by allowing more room for explanation than is available in MS Word’s comments. I’ve found this to be such a useful tool, which is why I include it in the editing package.
Related Posts:
More Than Proofreading: Four Levels of Editing
Make Every Word Count: Cut dead weight from your novel like a line editor