Writing a book is an enormous accomplishment. Getting it ready for publication is a whole other ball game. The pitch is full of holes, and the ball is on fire, and the people on the side-lines are all shouting different things, and you have no idea what they are talking about. Proofreader? Copy editor? Line editor? What does any of this mean?
On every writer's forum I have been a part of, I see the same kinds of questions. Do I really need an editor? What is copy editor? What is the difference between proofreading and editing? If you're looking for answers to any of these, you have come to the right place. Below you can find answers to all your editing quandaries.
There is a whole spectrum of editing services that go into putting together a professionally published book. Those of us who take the route of self-publishing do so knowing we must uphold those same high standards, perhaps even to a higher degree, to prove our worth, or, to disprove public perceptions about the quality of self-published books. This is where good editing is essential.
Do I really need an editor?
Self-published writers are used to doing things for ourselves that traditionally published authors will have done for them by the publisher. Self-editing is one of those things we all already do. But even the most seasoned of self-editors will miss things. As authors, we are too close to our own writing. We know the plot, the characters, and each line, every twist and turn. We have read them a thousand times. This is precisely why we tend to see what we expect, rather than what we actually typed. A second pair of eyes is always needed to spot typos and other mistakes that slip under our radar.
Of course, we could rely on the kindness of friends or family. Having done so myself with my debut, I can now heartily recommend finding a professional editor. Editors and proofreaders are trained in spotting not just typing errors, but those little mistakes that interrupt the flow or break from consistency. A good editor will preserve your voice and intent while polishing it to a high shine. They will spot where the prose is redundant, inconsistent, or inaccurate, and support you in rewriting to get the most out of every line.
While I always encourage self-editing and revisions, the work of an editor is to bring an outside perspective to ensure that your writing fulfils your vision, and, just as importantly, that it meets the expectations of your target audience.
What kind of editing do I need?
Most people are familiar with the terms editing and proofreading. Often, I see them used interchangeably. In reality, editing and proofreading sit at two different ends of the production process of a book. And editing can be further broken down into different stages of editing.
Developmental Editing
A developmental editor will help with the organisation and structure of your book; they are focused on the big picture. They will help with bringing your ideas together in the most cohesive way possible, for your story to flow seamlessly. They will make recommendations about the overall structure of the plot and arrangement of chapters. A developmental editor may not be as focused on the minutiae of your prose.
Line Editing
Line editing is editing at the sentence level, to make sure that the details are perfected. A good line editor will evaluate each sentence to make sure it is doing exactly what it needs to be, and sometimes, take away those sentences that aren't doing a good job. A line editor is focused on the fine details and will work with you on a final draft once the text is properly structured.
Copy Editing
While some make the distinction between a line editor and a copy editor, most copy editors will also be doing the work of a line editor. A copy editor will begin work once your manuscript is complete—after you have sent it to beta readers, or it has been through an editorial evaluation, and you have incorporated any necessary changes. The copy editor will check for spelling, grammar, and syntax issues, as well as check the overall flow and consistency of the writing, and apply house style. Like a line editor, they will flag up any sentences or word choices that are problematic and polish up the language to make the whole manuscript sing. They also mark up the text in preparation for print, with directions for the typesetter. If you are self-publishing, they will most likely use word styles (or the google equivalent) for this rather than red pen markup, making sure that typography is used consistently, paragraphs are indented correctly and chapter headings are formatted according to the chosen style.
Whilst a copy editor will suggest changes at sentence and paragraph level, they will not help with structural editing. If the overall organisation of the manuscript needs more work, you may need a developmental editor.
Proofreading
A proofreader comes in at the final stages of preparation for publication. After the typesetter has produced a 'proof' copy of the book, the proofreader once more checks that there have been no errors at the typesetting stage. They are not concerned with larger changes to the text, but with spotting and correcting typing errors, spelling, grammar, and syntax errors that affect the readability of the proof.
Most people will look for a proofreader when really, what they need is a copy editor.
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