Psychological Thriller Developmental Editor – $23.56 – $27.40 Per Hour
Help Shape the Next Bestselling Psychological Thriller: Seeking Developmental Editor for Long-Term Position (100% Remote)
Mary Stone Publishing is seeking a sharp-eyed, story-savvy Developmental Editor to provide insightful critiques for psychological thriller outlines and novels on a monthly, long-term basis. This flexible, remote position allows you to work on your own schedule—as long as deadlines are met, and communication is prompt.
In this position, you’ll analyze and assess story structure, plot progression, character depth, and psychological tension, offering detailed feedback to help shape gripping, suspense-driven stories. Your keen understanding of the genre’s nuances—twists, tension, unreliable narrators, and psychological depth—will guide authors in refining their work to keep readers hooked until the final page.
If you have a passion for psychological thrillers, a sharp analytical mind, and the ability to see what a story needs to reach its full potential, we’d love to hear from you!
Scope of work:
Utilizing our online platform, you will collaborate closely with authors and other team members, following a series from its inception to completion. You will also participate in a comprehensive training process designed to familiarize you with our distinctive style. As a Developmental Editor, your role is not to make direct edits but to analyze, critique, and refine psychological thriller narratives, helping authors craft unpredictable, immersive, and emotionally resonant stories. Your responsibilities as a Developmental Editor will include:
- Outline Collaboration: Work with the outline team to develop and refine both series and individual book outlines, offering feedback on character arcs, pacing, and the intricate layers of suspense, deception, and psychological depth. Help ensure that twists land effectively, tension builds organically, and character motivations are believable.
- Understanding Author Vision: Partner with authors to enhance their storytelling while preserving their voice. Offer insights that deepen psychological complexity, ensuring characters feel authentic and compelling while maintaining alignment with project goals and deadlines.
- Developmental Critiques: Review novels submitted in four 20,000-word sections, totaling approximately 80,000 words per book. Your critiques will help shape the story early, offering guidance on structure, psychological tension, unreliable narration, emotional depth, and pacing. You’ll identify potential inconsistencies in plot, backstory, point of view, timeline, and character psychology.
- Chapter-by-Chapter Coaching: Provide in-depth, tailored feedback on author submissions as they progress, ensuring each chapter contributes to the escalating suspense, intricate mind games, and slow-burning tension that define a gripping psychological thriller. Your coaching will help authors maintain thematic consistency, enhance their twists, and sharpen their psychological realism.
- Maintaining Character Continuity: Update and reference the Master Character List for each series, ensuring consistency in character motivations, traumas, mental states, physical attributes, and behavioral patterns. This ensures a psychologically believable arc throughout a series.
- Displaying Professionalism: Provide thoughtful, constructive critiques while maintaining a supportive, respectful relationship with authors. Responsively answer questions from outline writers and authors, guiding them through revisions in a collaborative manner.
- Technical Proficiency: Demonstrate proficiency with Microsoft Word’s track changes and commenting system, and adhere to the Chicago Manual of Style, Mary Stone Publishing Style (to be provided), and standard U.S. English conventions.
Note: Editors will be paid separately for each process they are responsible for: manuscript developmental critiquing/coaching and outline critiquing.
Requirements:
To succeed in this role, you must have strong experience in crafting and analyzing psychological thrillers. This includes a deep understanding of suspense-building, character psychology, unreliable narration, tension escalation, and twist execution.
Expertise in Critiquing Psychological Thriller Stories:
- Deep understanding of the differences between critiquing an outline and a full manuscript. Must be able to analyze and strengthen story structure, pacing, and character arcs at the outline stage, ensuring a solid foundation before writing begins. At the manuscript stage, critiques should focus on narrative flow, tension execution, character consistency, psychological depth, and overall reader engagement, identifying areas that need refinement while preserving the author’s voice.
- Extensive experience with character psychology, character development, emotional depth, and realistic motivations, ensuring complex, believable protagonists and antagonists.
- Strong knowledge of suspense-building techniques, including foreshadowing, red herrings, pacing, and slow-burn tension that keeps readers engaged.
- Ability to critique and enhance plot twists, ensuring they are well-executed, surprising, and psychologically plausible.
- Comfortable working in both third-person and first-person points of view, across past and present tense, while handling alternating character POVs per scene.
- Experienced in analyzing unreliable narrators, gaslighting, psychological manipulation, and intricate character dynamics to elevate psychological suspense.
- Able to spot discrepancies in plot, backstory, and character behavior and traits within and across books, using our Master Character List for reference.
Research and Accuracy:
- Strong research skills with the ability to fact-check mental health conditions, psychological behaviors, investigative procedures, and real-world influences to enhance story credibility and authenticity.
- Meticulous attention to detail, ensuring consistency in character psychology, motivations, behavioral patterns, and narrative logic throughout a book and across a series.
- Ability to identify subtle discrepancies in plot, timeline, backstory, and worldbuilding, preventing continuity errors and ensuring a seamless reading experience.
- Proficiency in tracking and maintaining series-wide details using the Master Character List, ensuring accuracy in character development, physical attributes, past events, and evolving relationships.
Collaborative & Professional Approach:
- High levels of discretion, diplomacy, and tact in working with authors and the editorial team.
- Ability to work in a fast-paced, online shared team environment and be open to constructive criticism.
- Willingness to fill in for another editor and finish a series if necessary, ensuring character and tone consistency.
Responsiveness and Commitment:
- Deadline-driven and must respond to communication within 24 hours—very important.
- Excellent communication skills are essential to provide clear, actionable critiques and discuss deadlines, plot development, and revisions with authors.
- You must have time to devote to critiquing full-length novels and outlines.
- Must use an updated version of Microsoft Word and be proficient in its Track Changes and commenting features.
Ownership and Legal:
- Understand that this is a work-for-hire independent contractor position—editors hold no rights to the work and must adhere to all legal and ownership agreements set by Mary Stone Publishing.
- Willing to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) for each book and outline.
- All content must be 100% original—plagiarism or AI-assisted content will not be tolerated.
Additional Notes:
Our psychological thrillers primarily target women, though we also have a strong male readership. As part of our team, you’ll receive support from our Editing Director and editorial team, who will provide guidance, feedback, and collaborative insights as needed. Our shared goal is to craft engaging, high-quality psychological thriller series that captivate readers and keep them coming back for more.
Thanks for your interest in Mary Stone Publishing. We look forward to hearing from you.