Spine
Spine for editors

For developmental editors

The structural read of a 130k-word manuscript before you open it. Spine triages so you can charge for the conversation, not the hours of first-pass reading.

01

Spine reads. You write the editorial letter.

Spine produces a structural brief: comparables, voice signature, pacing windows, audience fit, contradictions. The editorial letter — the one your client pays for, the one only you can write — stays yours. Spine is the intern that surfaces the patterns before the senior editor opens the file.

02

Your structural shorthand, made visible

The plot graph shows every scene as a node, every plotline as a lane, every character as a ribbon. When you say 'the middle third loses momentum,' you can point at it. When you say 'this thread peters out,' you can show the orphan badge.

03

Versioned, not destructive

Each version of the author's manuscript is a row. Generate a brief on v3, the author revises, you regenerate on v4 — Spine diffs them automatically and shows you what landed. No more keeping mental notes about what changed.

Your workflow with Spine

  1. 01Author drops the manuscript into Spine; it ingests in the background.
  2. 02You skim the tension ribbon and the cast network — the shape of the book at a glance.
  3. 03Click compose editorial brief. Spine calls eight tools, verifies, writes. ~30 seconds warm.
  4. 04Read the brief. Then write your editorial letter — the one only you can write, in your voice, with your judgement.
  5. 05Author revises; new version automatically diffs. Re-run the brief on the new version.

I'm an amateur novelist. I couldn't afford a developmental editor for the manuscript I was querying. Spine is what I built so the read I couldn't pay for would still happen — and so the editor I'd hire one day could spend their time on the conversation, not the first pass.

Ufuk Karaca · founder, Argonode Studio

Ready?

See the brief, or open Pride & Prejudice to feel the product first.

For developmental editors · Spine