Developmental Editing

I have been working as a developmental editor since 2010, when I began to consistently consult on colleagues’ manuscripts, from conference papers and journal articles to full book manuscripts. With them, I’ve learned how to give feedback at all stages of a project’s developing, and to create revision plans that can best support scholars in shaping their ideas, tightening their prose, and moving their manuscripts from draft to submission.

I have also served as a peer reviewer for academic journals including archipelagos, Anthurium, and small axe, among others, and evaluated book monograph submissions for the University of Virginia Press and Rutgers University Press. I therefore have an intimate sense of the other side of the manuscript submission process.

I work with manuscripts before the line edit or copy edit stages—typically, when the author is completing a version of their full draft in preparation for peer review, or when the author is working through revisions of their draft after peer review. I therefore read your work with an eye to provide suggestions towards :

  • revising the manuscript’s structure to eliminate redundancies as well as strengthen concepts;

  • signposting your argument and aligning it with evidence throughout the manuscript;

  • stabilizing your nomenclature to support cohesive prose;

  • engaging the field through citational politics to reflect your scholarly values.

It is one of my greatest professional joys to work with the genres of academic writing so that they can house our most experimental, brilliant, and heart-held ideas, and I look forward to collaborating with you in this shared aim.

If you would like to work with me, please email me at jmr@sfwritingtutor.com to tell me about your writing project or use this intake form.

developmental editing : written work

Book manuscripts, chapters, and journal articles

contact for pricing

I analyze your book manuscript in its totality with an eye towards argument, structure and conceptual organization, and voice. While this is not a line edit, I do highlight patterns in vocabulary, syntax, and paragraph structure in terms of how they can best develop your argumentation.

  • You receive an initial consultation call about the kind of feedback you want at this juncture of your project

  • a pdf mark-up of the document

  • a detailed memo synthesizing the mark-ups into remarks about the strengths and challenges of the document, as well as an outline for a provisional plan for revision

  • a half hour call to discuss implementation.

Book session

developmental editing : oral presentations

Keynote and job talk presentations

$300 flat fee

I analyze your manuscript and all visual presentational materials with an emphasis on argument, structure and conceptual organization, and voice as appropriate for oral presentation.

  • You receive an initial 1.5-hour video call where you read and present your talk to me and discuss the kind of feedback you want at this juncture of your project

  • a pdf mark-up of the document

  • a detailed memo synthesizing the mark-ups into remarks about the strengths and challenges of the document, as well as an outline for a provisional plan for revision.

Book session

TESTIMONIALS

Jeannine has been extraordinarily helpful as a sounding board to develop long-term projects and in providing specific advice and recommendations for writing up and presenting new research.  She helped me see things from new perspectives, helped me clarify key concepts for my audience, and helped surface critical issues that needed better articulation. Her advice was thorough, detailed, and always on point. She is also an extremely good listener and will help you define your goals and objectives. I will gladly work with Jeannine again on future projects.

Robert Stilling, Associate Professor of English

FAQs

  • I do not use large language generative text models in my scholarship or my coaching. I will not enter any of your work into any “AI” or third-party editing tool. I will never consult a chatbot for ideas for how to work with your manuscript in any way.

  • Confidentiality is, for me, the foundation for working on writing together. I will never share the broad strokes or details of your research; and I will never share that you work with me as a tutor or a coach without your express and written consent.

    If you are considering working with me and would like a personal reference, I can connect you with clients who have already offered to share their experiences about working with me.