The Roadmap to Revision Package
A comprehensive manuscript assessment and step-by-step revision roadmap for writers ready to turn their draft into a polished, publishable book.
What it is:
The Roadmap to Revision is a full developmental edit plus a personalized, step-by-step revision roadmap that shows you exactly what to do next. You’ll receive a deep, big-picture evaluation (what’s working, what needs strengthening, and exactly how to revise it) all laid out in a prioritized roadmap so you know what to do first, next, and last.
Your package includes:
A personalized 30+ page Roadmap to Revision guide with targeted feedback related to your structure & story arc, character, narration, and voice, along with a prioritized, step-by-step revision plan
A detailed pre-recorded feedback video that walks you through the biggest opportunities in your manuscript, with on-screen examples and a clear, high-level roadmap for your next draft.
One-year access to my mini-course library (12 craft classes) so you have on-demand tools to implement every revision strategy
Designed for writers ready to dive deeply into revision, this package gives you a complete, actionable plan for shaping your draft into a publishable book.
Who it’s for:
This package is designed for writers who:
✦ Have a full draft of a memoir, novel, or narrative nonfiction manuscript
✦ Feel stuck or unsure how to approach their next revision
✦ Struggle to see their manuscript clearly and need clear, honest, actionable feedback
✦ Need concrete, actionable strategies for making their story stronger
✦ Are ready to make meaningful revisions—not just surface-level tweaks — and are committed to making their manuscript publication-ready.
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What you’ll get:
1. A High-Level Developmental Evaluation of Your Manuscript
A full read of your manuscript, focused on the macro-level craft elements that matter most:
Structure & story arc
Narrative momentum & pacing
Character development
Narrative voice & persona
Scene vs. summary
Thematic cohesion
Emotional stakes
Openings, murky middles, and endings
2. Your Personalized Roadmap to Revision Guide (30+ pages)
Your Roadmap is an in-depth, customized editorial letter that includes:
Your Strengths: what’s working and how to build on it
Opportunities for Development: clear guidance grounded in structure & story arc, character, narration, and voice
A Step-by-Step Revision Plan: what to do first, next, and last (macro → micro), so you never have to guess
Specific examples from your manuscript to illustrate issues and solutions
Tailored resources to support your next steps
3. A Recorded Video Walkthrough
Along with your written guide, you’ll receive a recorded screen-share video (created with Loom) where I talk through the biggest patterns in your manuscript and show you real examples directly from your pages. This gives you extra clarity, context, and insight (and you can rewatch it again and again!).
4. One Year of Access to Your Craft Mini-Course Library
Twelve targeted mini-courses covering the core tools of revision:
Structure & story arc
Scene vs. summary
Character development
Voice & sentence craft
Reflection & narrator presence
Nonlinear & braided structures
Building tension
And much more
Your roadmap tells you what to revise. Your course library teaches you how.
Ready to go all-in on your book?
Kind words from clients
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“Working with Katie literally changed my life. When I approached her with a book idea, I was 55 years old and had not written a single article or essay. She taught me how to write for an audience, edited my pages and provided much needed perspective on the publishing industry.When I got a book deal, Katie was the second person I called."
Oona Metz, Author of Unhitched: The Essential Divorce Guide for Women (forthcoming from Simon & Schuster)
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“Hiring Katie to do a developmental edit of my novel was one of the best investments I’ve made in my writing. Not only does she provide clear and helpful guidance related to craft, voice and tone but she is exceptional at 'seeing' a novel as a whole, at showing what is working as well as identifying blindspots. Katie’s greatest asset is her ability to pinpoint and track issues in a manuscript, showing the writer exactly where and why things need fixing and, most essentially, how to fix them."
Suzanne Carver, Author of Flight Path (Manhattan Book Group)
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“Working with Katie was truly a dream. Katie is thoughtful, brilliant, and generous with her writing guidance. With her guidance and feedback, I was able to write an opener and closer for my memoir that I resonated with deeply. Katie is that special kind of teacher that brings out the best in those she mentors.”
Kate Gies, Author of It Must Be Beautiful to Be Finished: A Memoir of My Body (Simon & Schuster)
My feedback style:
With 15 years of developmental editing experience, I specialize in:
X-raying manuscripts to find the deeper issues beneath surface-level problems
Identifying the emotional and thematic heart of a story
Breaking overwhelming revision challenges into clear, doable steps
Helping writers shape raw material into compelling, publishable narratives
I provide a lot of feedback.
I believe feedback is a gift and view critique as a sign of respect. Hiring an editor is an investment, and my job is to make your money worth it. I do this by offering comprehensive, honest feedback that will help your writing reach its full potential. If you’re looking for an editor who will coddle you, I’m probably not the best fit. But if you’re ready to make your writing the most well-crafted, polished work possible, we might be a perfect match.
More about Katie
Katie Bannon is a writer, editor, and coach with a passion for helping others tell their truest stories. Her authors have been published in Big Five presses, independent and hybrid publishers, and in hundreds of literary magazines. Her own work has appeared in The Washington Post, The Rumpus, Narratively, and more. She holds an MFA in Creative Nonfiction from Emerson College, and her memoir manuscript was named a finalist for the Permafrost Nonfiction Book Prize.
She lives in Central Massachusetts with her husband and two very opinionated cats.