For authors publishing themselves
Editing tools for authors without a publisher behind them
A traditional deal comes with a developmental editor, a line editor, a copyeditor and a proofreader. Publishing yourself means deciding which of those you can afford, and doing the rest.
- Spend where it counts
- Machines catch typos. People catch story.
- Whole manuscript
- Not a page at a time.
- No lock-in
- Export your book whenever.
A developmental edit on an 80,000-word novel runs into the thousands and takes weeks. Most self-published books never earn that back, which is why so many go out unedited. The realistic middle path is to clear everything countable yourself and buy the human hours that actually need a human.
Do the countable passes yourself
Spelling, mechanics, repetition, crutch words and sentence rhythm are all measurable, and measuring beats a tired author on a fortieth read.
Arrive at your editor cleaner
An editor billing by the hour on a manuscript full of doubled words is expensive typing. The cleaner the draft, the more of their attention goes to story.
Catch what only a whole-book view shows
Phrases you use once a chapter across the book are invisible on any single page and obvious to a reader.
Know what it cannot do
It will not tell you whether the midpoint works or whether readers will like your protagonist. Nothing automated will, and anything claiming otherwise is selling something.
How it goes
- 1
Finish the draft first
Editing an unfinished manuscript mostly means editing scenes you will cut.
- 2
Run the countable passes
Mechanics, repetition, rhythm. Free, and as many times as you like.
- 3
Then buy human hours
With the mechanical noise gone, a shorter engagement goes further.
Questions
Can I publish using only this?
Plenty of authors will, and the result will be mechanically cleaner than most self-published books. It still will not tell you whether the story works, and a beta reader or editor remains the only honest answer to that.
What should I pay a human editor for?
Structure, character, pacing and whether the ending is earned. Those are judgement calls. Paying someone to find doubled words is paying an expert to do arithmetic.
Does it work for a series?
Each book is imported as its own manuscript. Whole-book analysis runs per book, so consistency across a series is still your job.
Will it format my book for publishing?
No. It is an editing tool, not a formatter or a cover designer. You can export your text and take it to whatever tool you use for layout.