See exactly what Edith sends back
A sample Stage 1 read on a made-up novel, shown the way it looks inside Edith: the editorial letter, and the points you’d talk through together. Deliberately brief. This is the shape of the letter you get on your first 10,000 words, free; on the whole book, the letter runs much longer and every point opens for discussion.
Editorial letter · Stage 1
The Salt Road
Literary fiction
Dear author,
I've read The Salt Road twice now, and I want to be honest with you: the manuscript has great potential, but it is not yet the book it aspires to be.
An abbreviated sample. Your editorial letter is a full read of your whole manuscript, and runs considerably longer.
This is the letter Edith writes for every book.
A short sample on a fictional novel. Yours is a full read of your whole manuscript: longer, more thorough, honest, and yours to keep.
On a phone? Edith works on your computer. We’ll email you a link.
Email me the link to start
Edith reviews the first 10,000 words of your manuscript for free and provides you with an editorial letter, with no credit card required. Reviewing the entire book, including every point available for discussion, is priced at $15. Your manuscript is never used as data or to train AI, and is yours to delete.
- Honest
- Never rewrites your voice
- Private
The points you’d talk through
developmental
For a hundred pages her goal is the engine of the book. After the midpoint it goes quiet under plot. Let's find the exact page it slips and put her wanting back on the page, so the second half pulls as hard as the first.
Talking it through
Edith
Here's what I mean, concretely. In chapter seven Mara turns down the harbourmaster's offer, and I couldn't tell whether it was fear or pride. Do you know which it is?
You
Fear, mostly. She's afraid that taking it would mean admitting she's staying.
Edith
Good, that's the thing to put on the page. Right now the scene shows the refusal but not the fear underneath it. One line of her noticing what she's afraid of would carry the whole middle. You don't need more plot; you need that.
structural
Your instinct for restraint is a gift, but the confrontation in chapter nine needs room to hurt. The expensive moments, the ones your characters would rather avoid, are where readers actually live. Give them the space.
developmental
The final chapter resolves the harbour subplot beautifully. But the question that actually drives the novel, whether Mara can forgive herself, is left half-open. That may be the right choice, but let's make it on purpose rather than by accident.
developmental
This is the thing not to touch. Your prose earns its silences. Whatever we change in the pages ahead, we protect the restraint that makes the book unmistakably yours.
Four points here, to give you the idea. A full read of your book surfaces many more, across every stage of the edit.
Private, and never used to train AI
Your manuscript is an ambitious and time-consuming piece of work, and we honor it accordingly. We offer three promises, all of which are unwavering:
- Private to your account. Your manuscript is kept private and locked to your account. It is never shared, sold, or shown to anyone else.
- Never used to train AI. Edith reads your manuscript only to give you feedback. It is never used to train any AI model.
- Edith never writes for you. She delivers notes and suggestions only, exactly like a human editor in the margins. Edith never generates content.
This is Stage 1. There are five more.
Stage 1 is your complete editorial letter, an honest read of your book. It starts with your first 10,000 words, free; the whole book is $15. From there, structure, scenes, and the line edit follow, one stage at a time. You choose how far to take it after you’ve seen the letter, a stage at a time or all at once.
An honest read of your entire novel
Notes you settle, one at a time
Line edits you accept or reject
Back in your file. Every word is yours
On a phone? Edith works on your computer. We’ll email you a link.