Children’s Book Editing Services
Unlock the magic of your story
You’ve got the makings of a wonderful children’s story. But to truly make it stand out, you know it needs to be polished to perfection.
Just because your book is for a younger audience, doesn’t mean it needs the same level of attention to make it something really great.
(Do you know how sophisticated a ten-year-old can be?)
Children’s book editing is designed to give your manuscript the attention it needs before going to publishing. It ensures you’re creating a work that truly stands out, appeals to your audience and becomes a beloved piece of work.
We work with you to unlock the mysteries and enhance the magic of your books.
Flying Pants Editing helped us with editing, spell checking and formatting our pitch document to publishers. They were fast and fantastic to work with. It gave us the confidence to know that our presentation was the best it could be. The result was a publishing deal with Allen & Unwin, we are very thankful for their speed and professionalism.
Giving your story the magic touch
Manuscript appraisal
Discover what’s involved to take your work from draft to completed work. A manuscript appraisal gives you the insight you need to polish and perfect your piece. You’ll receive a considered, detailed report on the first impressions, setting, characters, themes, structure and plot.
You’ll know exactly what you need to consider to get your work ready for publication.
Structural edit
Perfect if you’re looking for advice on how to best structure your manuscript and get it to completion. This comprehensive service involves a detailed appraisal, along with a manuscript markup focusing on story arcs and growth of characters, and the success of multiple plotlines – how they intersect and work with each other. As well as comprehensive notes on tone, voice, point-of-view and the underlying themes.
Picture edit
We will help you to find the right flow and offer advice on storytelling visually. We’ll help you to understand what to put into your pictures and, most importantly, what to leave out. Getting the balance between text and imagery is key to any illustrated book and we will be there with you to find what works.
I reached out to Flying Pants Editing for a manuscript appraisal for my picture book. Emma and Lucinda provided thoughtful, considered – and most importantly, actionable – feedback. I came away understanding exactly what I needed to do to get my manuscript to a publish-worthy state, and inspired to put those recommendations into action. There is immeasurable value in receiving feedback from industry professionals, and Emma and Lucinda deliver their findings with clarity and empathy. I couldn’t recommend Flying Pants Editing highly enough.
How It Works
For new clients we recommend starting with a manuscript appraisal as its the best way for us to provide insight before editing or commissioning artists.
You’ll receive a comprehensive report covering all aspects of the manuscript. Structure, plot, themes, character, setting, title, voice, dialogue, pov if applicable, market precedents. We take a deep dive into the ms and both work on it. The benefit of two editors with different experiences commenting on your work.
Step 2: Follow up editing
For work previously submitted and appraised.
Step 3: Proofreading
What’s the difference between a copy edit, a proofread, a structural edit, an appraisal?
The aim of our manuscript appraisal is to make your work as attractive as possible to a publisher (or for self-publishing if a client is going in that direction) – and we look at the structure, plot, characters, underlying theme, voice, point of view and age range. We also will give you some copy edit notes if you require them – so you can polish it yourself – or we can do you a package that includes a follow-up copy edit if you wish. However, as you know there is no guarantee of getting publishing as there are so many other factors that go into a publisher’s decision – budgets, trends, their current slate, if the author is on social media… etc etc! But – we will certainly do our best to help you, and we can look at your synopsis or pitch page that you are sending out as well.
We usually suggest a manuscript appraisal first, as it provides a lot of information for you as a writer and looks at everything in a detailed way, and it’s delivered to you as a report – and as part of that we would definitely look at structure. It helps you to shape and rewrite (where needed) the book. As part of that we could also look at the imagery and help you with the direction.
A structural edit is great if you’re looking for advice on how to best structure your manuscript and get it to completion. This comprehensive service involves a detailed appraisal, along with a manuscript markup focusing on story arcs and growth of characters, and the success of multiple plotlines – how they intersect and work with each other. As well as comprehensive notes on tone, voice, point-of-view and the underlying themes.
Packages
Picture Books:
Under 1000 words: $450
Early Readers up to 10,000 words: $600
Novels/Non-fiction:
10,000 to 40,000 words:$700
40,000+: $800
First three chapters plus synopsis report: $450
Graphic Novels:
Draft up to 10.000 words $600. Will include feedback on draft graphics.
Completed up to 40,000 words + graphics $750
Over 40,000: POA
All prices listed are per manuscript, even if the books are part of a series. If you have more than
one manuscript, we are happy to discuss a package.
For work previously submitted and appraised.
Picture Book under 1000 words: $350
Novel: POA or $100 off the initial report cost.
Ongoing follow up work (where you change a few stanzas here and there): $50 an hour.
Structural Editing
Up to 10,000 words: $800
10 – 50000 words:$1000
50000 words+ $1500
Copy Editing
$70 per 1000 words
$60 per 1000 words
Developmental Editing
POA. Depends on needs per project but similar to Structural Editing prices.
Over the past 17 years I have run 2 publishing companies and a printing company and have worked with quite a few editors during that time. I have found no one better than Flying Pants Editing. If you’re looking for expert editors, then look no further.
They have edited a number of children’s books for me and I was blown away by the job they did. Their attention to detail was excellent and they improved the storylines, increasing the magic for children immensely. I highly recommend this service to anyone who needs editing done at a fair and reasonable price – you will not be disappointed with the result.
Thank you Emma and Lucinda
FAQs
I’ve written a children’s book. Now what?
Congratulations! We generally suggest a Manuscript Appraisal as it covers the big picture elements of your story and we can pivot the appraisal as we need to (shift our focus). We usually offer a couple of options – either a general appraisal to cover off on the big picture. Or, we can do a mix of both! We can copy edit if you think it is only the detail that requires work, but get in touch and we can chat about it.
What will I receive?
You’ll receive a comprehensive report, and, where appropriate, your manuscript with marked up notes. You’ll receive a comprehensive report, and, where appropriate, your manuscript with marked up notes.
What files do you work with?
We can accept your manuscript in Word or Google Doc. We accept PDFs for images and proofreading.
Do you accept rhyming manuscripts?
We do! We have worked with many writers who prefer to work in rhyme.
Who will review my manuscript?
We work together on your manuscript, and go back and forth between us. You’ll get the benefit of both our experience as we work through it and discuss.
If you’re wondering who to get in contact with, just include us both on any emails and, depending what our movements are, one of us will get back to you.
I’m not sure what I need exactly.
We usually suggest a manuscript appraisal first, as it provides a lot of information for you as a writer and looks at everything in a detailed way.We usually suggest a manuscript appraisal first, as it provides a lot of information for you as a writer and looks at everything in a detailed way.
A structural edit is great if you’re looking for advice on how to best structure your manuscript and get it to completion.
In terms of assessing the imagery alone, we would be more than happy to provide feedback and thoughts on the direction.
Writing is more of a hobby for me. Can I work with you even though I’m not sure I want to publish?
That sounds great – even when writing is a hobby, there does come a time when you want to see if you can get even closer. We love that!
Do you only work with writers wanting to use traditional publishing?
Self-publishing vs traditional publishing houses doesn’t really make a difference to you at this stage – we have worked lately with a lot of self-publishers and have developed a long list of tips that we share as part of the report. It’s just that we can gear a report specifically one way or another depending on your needs 🙂
Do you provide feedback on the writing only, or also the pictures?
We met at art school and we both have a lot of love for the visual parts of any picture book, so we are very happy to add our thoughts to the report.
I’ve got an idea for a story, but am not sure which direction to go.
Not sure where to head next with your manuscript and looking for ideas? Or maybe you’re not sure how your manuscript would fit in the market and are looking for help with how to approach this.
With over 25 years experience in the children’s industry, we can help you get the insight you need.