Different Types of Editing
The words ‘editor’ and ‘editing’ can encapsulate a myriad of ideas in the same way that ‘I’m fine’ can cover a broad range of emotions. Even the Cambridge Dictionary definition of editing being ‘the process of making changes to a text or film’ is rather vague and doesn’t cover the broad range of editing tools and services available to writers.
As we have discussed in some of our other posts, you can’t get a publisher without getting an agent, and you can’t get an agent without having a completely polished piece of work to send them. Nowadays, you should complete most of the editing beforehand.
What Are The Different Types Of Editing You Should Undertake Before Sending Your Work Out?
Developmental Edits
Usually happening early in the writing process, development edits give authors a chance to make sure their idea stacks up, with a developmental editor looking at the book's big picture. They will focus on the structure of the novel, refining your idea, ensuring the narrative flows, fixing central plot or character inconsistencies, and making sure you’re hitting key points in the right places. Unlike other editors, developmental editors will not be proofreading or considering word choice; they will be helping you craft a book that people are dying to read.
During a manuscript assessment, a manuscript editor will evaluate your whole book. They will focus on the project in its entirety, considering the structure, flow, pace, narrative and overall quality, including making sure it is a novel that publishers will want to publish. This all-encompassing service involves your editor providing you with a report summarising areas for concern and providing actionable advice on improving your manuscript, so you can get your work in the best possible position to send it out to agents and publishers.
Line Edits
Coming closer to the end of the writing process, line edits are a microscopic look at your book. Rather than considering the book as a whole, line editors are getting right into the nitty-gritty, like they are putting every word on trial and asking, does this need to be here? Does it feed into the book’s language style? Does this sentence have the intended impact? Could a slight shift in the sentence structure clarify meaning or improve how the sentences flow into each other? This round of editing focuses precisely on the content and flow of your prose.
Copyediting
No matter how many times you check your own work, you can be assured there will be spelling, punctuation or grammar mistakes because that is just the way that it is! Copyeditors search for spelling, punctuation, or grammar mistakes, including small grammatical rules you might not even realise exist. As well as finding errors, copyeditors will check that your book flows in the style of its genre.
Proofreading
Within book publishing, a proofread occurs right at the end, once the book is formatted. As well as looking for any mistakes the copyeditor may have missed, they review how the whole book sits on the page and will be checking for any formatting issues, layout consistency, page numbers, bad line breaks, and more. This is usually the last round of editing for a book.
What Type Of Editing Do I Need?
Hopefully, you now have a better idea of what type of editing your book needs at this stage, but if not, feel free to contact us, and we can run through the details of the editing process and how we can help get your book success ready!
Many thanks to Nicola Bourne, one of our amazing copywriters, for producing this very helpful post!