Editorial Services
We have a team of professional writers and editors offering manuscript assessment, providing feedback and allowing writers to move their writing career forward.
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The relationship between writer and editor is a literary marriage.
Elle Chippendale
Editor: Tess O’Bamber
Tess has been responsive, encouraging and insightful. I’ve gone from feeling worried and knowing nothing to having my mind put at ease with invaluable feedback that I know will help make my book a better read. I couldn’t recommend her services enough.
Adrian Cowderoy
Editor: Oliver James
Oliver cut through to things that will clearly make a significant difference. There’s technique, there’s choices around plot and characters, and he’s helped me look at the potential of what my novel could achieve. In my experience of working with thousands of people in the technical publishing industry, it’s rare to find people who can work competently with strategy, tactics and operations. The quantity of his ideas has helped me cross-check to see if I’ve correctly identified the underlying problems.
Roxy Dunn
Editors: Fiona Mitchell; Frances Merivale
I just wanted to let you know that as of this morning I’ve signed with Cara Lee Simpson at PFD and to thank you once again for your help with the book and for reaching out to agents on my behalf. The current version of the novel wouldn’t be what it is without the work of BPA and Fiona and Frances’ excellent notes.
Anna Richmond
Editor: Frances Merivale
Frances’s comments are so galvanising. I really feel like I know how to tackle this next draft, thanks to her close read and clarity – a good feeling!
Lucy Andia
Editor: Iain Maloney
Iain’s mark up and report are incredibly helpful and have given me a very clear idea of the changes I need to make to get my manuscript ready for submission. It is exactly what I hoped for. As someone who always wanted to take a creative writing course but never had the time or money to do so, Iain’s report has in many ways felt like a crash course in writing and has given me specific tools and insights not only to fix this manuscript but to make me a better writer for when I start the next one.
Tony Arthur
Editor: Tess O’Hara
I’m amazed and deeply impressed by how well Tess understood the book, how clearly she identified its flaws, how incisive her criticisms and how valuable her suggestions were. I am also extremely happy that she could see the potential within the book, and I’m sure that the next draft is going to be much stronger as a result of her comments. I’m so very glad I commissioned this report.
Oliver
Editor: Katya Balen
Katya has reviewed a number of manuscripts now and the service received is always consistently first rate. The critique from Katya is very constructive. Katya obviously has a wonderful knowledge of what works and what doesn’t and is able to suggest things that ultimately improve the story and for me that is the goal – getting the story to be the best it can be. I highly recommend the services of Katya but also that of BPA – a professional team and agency.
Gina de Ferrer
Editor: Oliver James
I couldn’t have asked for a better editor than Oliver, even if his profile photo is utterly terrifying. Whatever happens, the poor man and BPA are stuck with me for life now!
Lewis Rumsby
Editor: Iain Maloney
Having re-drafted various aspects of my first novel, I realised that it still needed more work. However, I was unsure what the priorities should be, and worse, I was beginning to lose faith in what I was doing. On a recommendation, I contacted Bluepencilagency for editorial help. Iain Maloney’s detailed report came through on time, with sections on various key topics such as Plot and Pacing, and was written in a highly supportive style without losing incisiveness. The summary at the end pulled together his main recommendations. I have read the material numerous times: it provided carefully-reasoned insights. Iain emphasised that the nature of editorial guidance is to identify weaknesses and give examples, but he also pointed to certain strengths in my work. As a result of his report, I feel not only more confident in tackling the re-draft, but re-energised and keen to begin the task.
Tom Allen
Editor: Lesley McDowell
Lesley MacDowell reviewed several drafts of my work in progress. Her observations and criticisms were deft, intelligent, clear and entirely apt. They were (almost) a pleasure to receive. But above all, they enabled me to make the book significantly better, something I would not have achieved without her help.
Submission Details
To be fair to all writers we give accurate quotations for our editorial services based on the word count and amount of feedback required. Check with us if you are unsure what service you would benefit from.
Send us a one page synopsis, the first chapter and word count of your complete manuscript. Indicate what type of edit and report you are considering and we will get back to you with a quotation and timeframe. This will generally be in the region of three to five weeks but a faster turnaround time may be possible on request at an additional charge.
Once the fee and timeframe has been agreed we ask for payment in advance by bank transfer. Please note that work cannot start on your manuscript until payment has been received in full.
Your report and if applicable, a marked up copy of your manuscript will be sent by email. Follow up calls and one to one meetings may be arranged on request at an additional cost.
We retain the right to refuse manuscripts we consider to be of an insufficient standard or manuscripts that we do not wish to review for personal reasons.
Before commissioning a report please check our terms and conditions.
Submit a sample of your manuscript today
Please submit the following:
• a one page synopsis,
• the first chapter or first eight pages,
• a word count of your complete manuscript.
Introduction to Agents
We work with leading literary agents and a number of our clients have secured publishing deals. It’s important to remember that getting published is difficult and we can only help with a perfectly polished manuscript that has commercial potential. For clients using our editorial services and whose work we feel is up to standard we may approach agents on your behalf. This would be discussed with you at the time.
SEE OUR TEAM OF EDITORS
Our editors are published authors and professional editors working in every fiction genre. Contact us to find out who would be the best fit for your novel.