The Big Edit Class
Edit your novel
The final chapter of your writing journey
Polish to publishing-ready perfection.
Have you completed the first draft of your story? Congratulations! Now, it’s time to edit.
You’ll work one-on-one with professional editors (of bestselling and award-winning books) to review, revise and refine to the highest publishing standards.
What’s more, when your final manuscript is ready, we’ll be delighted to make a plan for submission to the most respected literary agencies worldwide.
Editing is what differentiates writing amateurs from published authors
If writing is the heart, editing is the head.
And with The Big Edit Class you’ll be taught all aspects of the process by masters of the craft—from interrogating the structure and shape of your story to developing your technical writing skills on a sentence-by-sentence level and learning how to create a pitch-perfect submission package.
‘The Novelry – from the twinkling of an idea through to a publishing-ready novel.’
‘Recommended by leading literary agencies.’
‘All aboard a different kind of writing school.’
‘The Novelry – from the twinkling of an idea through to a publishing-ready novel.’
‘Recommended by leading literary agencies.’
‘All aboard a different kind of writing school.’
We’re the book editing service with direct submission to literary agencies. (And we partner with more than 25 of the best.)
Just imagine…
Editors from Penguin Random House, Macmillan, HarperCollins and more fine-tuning your story.
(With The Big Edit, they will.)
What if…
You could meet the literary agents who represent Meg Wollitzer, Madeleine Miller, Liane Moriarty, Celeste Ng, Michael Ondaatje, Richard Osman, Marilynne Robinson, Philip Pullman, Tess Gerritsen, Andrew Sean Greer and Tom Clancy?
(With The Big Edit, you can.)
Our editorial team are in conversation with agencies on a weekly basis, so they’re able to tip off literary agents to exciting debut authors…like you!
Achieve your writing dreams and enter the major publishing leagues with The Novelry.
Why the Big Edit Class?
Progress at your own pace
52 lessons. A year’s access to the class.
Stay a little longer
Life. It happens to the best of us.
Money back policy
Our Happy Writing guarantee.
Access to Big Five Publishing Editors
Add further paid feedback sessions when you need them, as a member.
40+ workshops a month
In addition to your class.
Story First Method ™
Discover if your story has commercial value before you begin editing.
Genre expertise
What’s your style?
Video masterclasses
From the likes of Kristin Hannah and Yann Martel.
A supportive writing community
Find your people.
Created by a Booker Prize-listed author
We don’t just talk the talk.
More 5-star reviews
Than any other writing courses.
A clear path to publishing
Yours if you want it. Fine if you don’t.
We’re the writing school most recommended by leading literary agencies.
Work with editors from the world’s major publishers
Your class includes editorial sessions with former acquiring editors from major global publishing companies, including Walker Books, Titan, Oneworld and the Big Five—Penguin Random House, Hachette, HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster, and Macmillan.
They’ll oversee your revision process and help prepare your submission package for querying literary agents.
2 one-on-one editorial sessions
An online beta-reader workshop
A feedback report on your submissions package
Direct literary agency recommendation when ready
Add as many additional feedback sessions from the editorial team as you wish at members’ rates.
A cautionary tale…
Worked with a single editor before?
Each publisher has a specific goal and many commissioning editors work in only one genre. So, when working with just one editor, be careful to ensure that they truly have experience in your niche.
Equally, a single editor might bring some of their own personal taste and judgement to the process. But a broader view can better set you up for success.
At The Novelry, we meet as a team every week to discuss our writers’ works in progress. So you’re guaranteed the unique advantage of combined editorial advice and expertise.
The next step?
Fast-track your submission to top global literary agencies
When your novel is ready, our editorial team will work with you to hone your submission package, including your query letter, synopsis and opening chapters.
The Novelry will then act on your behalf to make personal introductions to acclaimed and influential literary agents—AAA and AAR members who represent award-winning and bestselling authors around the globe.
Typically, over 60% of our submissions to literary agencies are successful within two weeks.
Renowned literary agency partners
Including WME, The Book Group, United Agents, and more.
The Big Edit Class
Edit your novel
Revise and polish your manuscript to the highest publishing standards with in-depth feedback from your professional book editor and management of the submission process.
Turning Pro
Prepare for the publishing process by learning how to format your document the way a professional editor at a publishing company or a literary agent would wish to receive it.
Lesson 1: Welcome
Lesson 2: Becoming the reader
Lesson 3: Order! Order!
Lesson 4: The smart manuscript
Lesson 5: Setting up your folder
Lesson 6: Your check up
The Developmental Edit
You’ll develop your elevator pitch, story theme, structure, narrative arc, character development, midpoint, and more to work toward a chapter outline and a (pain-free) synopsis. Then it’s time for your first review session with a professional editor.
Lessons 7–9: The story, the title and genre
Lessons 10-11: The hook or pitch
Lessons 12-13: The five-part restructure
Lesson 14: The big picture
Lessons 15–17: Approaches to plotting
Lessons 19–20: The synopsis workshop + the chapter outline
Lessons 21–23: Casting characters
Lesson 24: Getting to grips with the material
Lesson 25: Meet the editorial team
Lesson 26: Red light — let’s check the plan (EDITOR SESSION BIG EDIT FIRST SESSION)
Line Edit
You’ll interrogate your plot and characters, rework chapters, drill down into sentence structure and word choice, and eliminate grammatical, spelling and punctuation errors line-by-line. You’ll learn how to apply our unique technique for advanced prose skills: Lucid Compression®.
Next, it’s time for feedback on your writing from beta readers in our online community.
Lesson 27: Interrogation method
Lesson 28: The prologue
Lesson 29: The first chapter
Lesson 30: Cardinal sins
Lesson 31: The first sentence
Lesson 32: Voice and perspective
Lesson 33: Structuring a scene
Lesson 34: Suspense
Lesson 35: Dialogue
Lesson 36: Cure for over-writing
Lesson 37: Lucid Compression®
Lessons 38–42: Sentences, words, punctuation and last checks
Lesson 43: Yellow light — get feedback on your work from our community
The Submission Process
Your second session with a professional book editor will involve reviewing your pitch letter, synopsis and first three chapters, and making a plan to enter the publishing process with world-class literary agency representation.
Lesson 44: Pitch perfect
Lesson 45: The story
Lesson 46: The market
Lesson 47: Agents
Lesson 48: Publicity and promotion
Lesson 49: Career advice
Lesson 50: The final stages
Lesson 51: Green light — are you really ready? (EDITOR SESSION BIG EDIT SECOND SESSION)
Lesson 52: Not there yet?
Lesson 53: Ready? Let’s go!
“The secret of good writing is to cut it back, pare it down, winnow, chop, hack, prune, and trim, remove every superfluous word, compress, compress, compress.”
Time to make your story sing
The Big Edit Class
- Membership (1 Year)
- The Big Edit Class
- 2 Editorial Sessions
- A Year’s Access
The Novel Development Course
- Membership (1 Year)
- The Ninety Day Novel Class
- 6 Coaching Sessions
- The Big Edit Class
- 2 Editorial Sessions
The Finished Novel Course
- Welcome Call
- Membership (1 Year)
- The Classic Storytelling Class
- The Ninety Day Novel Class
- 6 Coaching Sessions
- The Big Edit Class
- 2 Editorial Sessions
- The Ultimate Manuscript Assessment
- Course Completion Certificate
Noteworthy advice
If you are new to The Novelry, we strongly recommend you start with The Novel Development Course in order to reach the standard required for The Big Edit.
Further along than you thought?
If you feel your story is already edited to a high standard, you may be eligible to sign up for our service…
The Ultimate Manuscript Assessment
Your draft will undergo a comprehensive appraisal with Big Five editors, and you’ll receive a fully marked-up manuscript, detailed assessment report and advised next steps for submission to literary agencies.
Now represented by Watson Little after submission by The Novelry
‘The best decision for my book. The course materials offered the tools to excavate the layers and plumb the depths of my story. The fabulous team at The Novelry were brilliant at cutting through to the heart of the problem, and their suggestions on the text helped me understand the nitty-gritty of creating on the page.’
- Shylashri Shankar
FAQs
If you’re bursting with questions we haven’t answered here, check out our full FAQS page or feel free to get in touch.
In this self-paced class, you will enjoy 52 lessons with videos and text giving you guidance to edit your book. Start the course before you touch that manuscript to learn how to approach your edit. You’ll be guided step-by-step within the course and served downloads and tools at just the right time for the revision of your manuscript. Besides your editorial sessions, you’ll enjoy the support of the online community, and be able to join us for live weekly writing classes and regular online workshops for those at every stage of their writing, in every genre.
You will have access to the course for a year, after which it’s easy to maintain access to your course on an annual basis with our extension plans.
To edit a novel, we suggest you work in chunks of time, 2–3 hours a session when you can. Your editing sessions don’t need to be daily because we will ensure you have a brilliant working plan to pick up from where you left off and continue your progress. Take your time – writing is re-writing!
Once you join us for the class, you can purchase a Paid Feedback Sessions for $425 or £350 for a 5000-word section of your manuscript.
You may choose to book a Paid Feedback Session to get a ‘voice-check’ on your writing at any stage of your year with us or to ask for help with any specific questions on the writing from either your writing coach or an editor.
The feedback sessions offer detailed feedback on your writing in a report and a live Zoom session recorded for you to keep.
If you need or would like more comprehensive feedback on your manuscript, we’d suggest you choose The Finished Novel Course which includes a full assessment of your entire manuscript.
A submission package is the material sent to a literary agent so that they can consider whether they are interested in pursuing representation of you as an author. Typically, they require the first 3 chapters (or occasionally the first 30 pages) and a pitch letter by email plus a one-page synopsis.
Your editor will not only review and give feedback on the material but they will help you prepare the submission package and when we agree it is ready, The Novelry will present your work to our trusted literary agencies in a carefully managed submissions process with your involvement every step of the way. (Exciting times!)
Once you join us for the course, you can purchase any further Paid Feedback Sessions.
Our courses are suitable for people with visual or auditory impairment, dyslexia and for those with English as a second language. We offer an app which translates the course into 99 languages and a speak-aloud option too.