Editorial Services
TLC has provided transformative, personalised editorial services to writers since 1996. We are editorial experts and pride ourselves on uncompromising attention to detail, ensuring that every writer is hand-matched to a service and an editor we think is the right fit for them. We work across fiction, non-fiction, poetry, scripts and screenplays and employ 90 professional Readers to deliver these services. We don’t just pick big names at TLC; we work with the best editors.
All fees shown below include VAT. Our full fee structure can be found here.
Manuscript Assessment
Writers are provided with an editorial report by a professional editor, hand-matched by the TLC team and tailored to your writing. The report focuses on key areas for development in the manuscript. You will also receive documents to help you prepare for receiving the report, and to help you implement the feedback. TLC’s most popular editorial service.
Standard turnaround: 4-5 weeks
Quick turnaround: 7-10 working days
Report: 2,000 words plus depending on length
Fees: From £300
Submission Package Report
Ready to submit your work to an agent or publisher? Then our Submission Package Report is for you. We will match you with a TLC Industry Editor who will read your first 8,000 words, synopsis, and ‘Dear Agent’ letter, providing you a written report and mark-up or commentary on your submission material. This service is for writers who have a completed manuscript and are looking to refine and polish their submission to maximise their chances of success.
Turnaround: 2-3 weeks
Report: 1-2 pages plus mark-up
Fees: £350
Developmental Editing
Your TLC editor will provide a feedback report alongside a mark-up of your manuscript. This bespoke service offers writers a way to envisage how they might apply the editorial feedback in order to improve and develop their writing. The focus of a developmental edit is on style, i.e.: content and flow, tone, voice, and consistency.
Turnaround: 6-8 weeks
Report: Minimum 1,500 word report plus mark-up
Fees: From £650
Editor One-to-One
For post-feedback support, trouble-shooting, or generating ideas, book in a one-hour session with a TLC Editor. One-to-ones are also popular with writers who have had an editorial service and need support with incorporating edits. We will provide you with goal-setting worksheets and a recording of your session, so you can watch back at any time.
Feedback: One hour with your editor plus one hour of prep time where your editor reads up to 2,500 words (or the equivalent in poetry/script/treatment)
Fees: £160
Copy-editing and Proofreading
TLC will refer writers to trusted, qualified editors for copy-editing and proofreading. This is the perfect service for independent authors committed to self-publishing their work to professional standards, for writers wanting to polish up their submission materials, or writers less confident with their written English.
Copy-editing will cover basic errors in spelling, punctuation and grammar and look overall at improving the quality of the text. They will look at the overall consistency of the book, watching out for weak areas of writing, and make corrections where necessary. Copy-editing can involve some basic rewriting or highlighting of areas of text that an author needs to look at again. They might also check facts and point out material that could be considered libellous.
Proofreading comes from the publishing process and means corrections to a proof copy, i.e., an already typeset text that is almost ready to go to print. Your proofreader will correct basic errors in spelling, punctuation and grammar. They will also look for consistency in such areas as formatting, capitalisation, italicisation, hyphenation and so on.
N.b., Copy-editing and proofreading are generally not necessary for writers who are still working on developmental or structural edits, as these edits are likely to introduce new errors. Not sure if this is right for you? Please book in a free chat with us to ensure you book the right service.
Feedback: Tracked Changes
Turnaround: Please note these services must be booked in advance. We recommend leaving at least 10-12 weeks due to the intensity of the work and the high demand for our copy-editors, who are all fully qualified through appropriate training bodies
Fees: Circa £30-£60/hour. A project fee will be provided to yo
Editing for agents and publishers
We provide bespoke editorial services to agents and publishers, from instant access to genre-specific and quick turnaround readers’ reports across all genres, through to full developmental edits of manuscripts that need a little extra TLC, and reliable copy-editing and proofreading. We also provide Ethical Editing training as part of our efforts to create more inclusive editorial cultures in the publishing industry. Please get in touch to set up a free discovery call.
Editing Bundles for Charities and Universities
We offer editorial bundles for charities and universities at discount, where services are required in bulk. We are also happy to support bids for funding that include access to TLC services with ‘in kind’ support through this discount. Please do get in touch to set up a free discovery call.
Ghostwriting and Copywriting
Looking for something more bespoke for your writing? You may wish to have a look at our 12-month mentoring programme, Chapter and Verse. Find out more here.
