Book Editing
Why Do Books Need Editing?
Every book, no matter how great, needs editing.
The books you grab off the shelf in bookstores have been through many rounds of edits before they ever see the light of day, and your book deserves the same loving attention.
Book editing is vital for improving the reader experience. The most important thing your novel needs to do is grab the reader’s attention and hold it, and we can facilitate that process by eliminating things that break a reader’s sense of immersion.
This is done on several levels:
- We edit the structure of the story to sure the story makes sense and is compelling and satisfying for the reader
- We edit the prose to make sure it’s working efficiently and effectively and doing enough heavy lifting
- We polish the prose so that minor details such as spelling and grammar don’t interfere with the reader experience
The main two phases of book editing are developmental editing and polishing.
The development phase occurs when you are still making changes to the story’s structure and content (the writing and images.) The polishing phases begin once you are certain no more changes will be made to the book.
The first draft of anything should never be sent out to agents, publishing houses or uploaded to eBook platforms. There is always room for improvement in a story, and you are often too close to the project at this stage to see any plot holes and flaws it may have.
Types Of Book Editing
What Are The Different Types Of Book Editing?
There are myriad types of book editing and just as many names for them. To add to the chaos some terms are used interchangeably (such as structural edit and developmental edit) and different people use different terms to mean different things. No wonder its confusing out there. How can you know what type of editing your book needs and when?
There are 4 main types of novel editing: structural editing, line editing, copy editing, and proof reading. In addition to those there are substantive edits (Like I do, with structural edits and line edits rolled into one, but not as much focus on the technical aspects of grammar and syntax as straight-up copy editors do.)
There are manuscript assessments where no Tracked Changes are made to the manuscript itself, instead you receive a letter or report summarizing the books strengths and weaknesses.) Stand alone editorial assessments or letters tend to function the same as manuscript assessments – no changes are made to the manuscript. Instead you receive a separate letter or report on your manuscript and what you do with that information after that is up to you.
The 4 Main Types Of Book Editing
1. Structural Editing - The Foundation Of Your Story
Structural editing looks at the big picture of the novel.
It focuses on areas such as; plot and character, dialogue, internal story consistency and character motivation, weak areas, plot holes and pacing. It asks the question ‘how can we make this a more compelling story?”
Once you have incorporated your beta feedback as is appropriate for your story, it is time to call in the professionals. You have done everything you can and now it time to get experienced eyes cast over your work. How you go about this is up to you. You don’t necessarily need to get a developmental edit done on your story. If you have received positive feedback from the majority of your beta readers and you yourself are happy with the story you can skip this stage. It really depends on your experience as a writer and your budget.
It is important point to remember that there is no board of accreditation to become an editor. Much like being an agent anyone can build a webpage and start charging for their services. The best way to find a good editor is by word of mouth and reviews. Make sure you do your due diligence. And remember, cost is no guarantee of quality. I know of writers who have paid between one and two thousand dollars for editing services and had their manuscripts come back riddled with typos and inconsistencies. When it comes to hiring professional editors it’s definitely a case of buyer beware.
Also keep in mind that if you sell your novel to a traditional publishing house, they will instigate another round of developmental editing as well as line and copy editing, so be prepared to edit your novel all over again.
The 4 Main Types Of Book Editing
2. Line Editing - The Way You Use Language
A line edit focuses on the prose and the way that you use language, rather than story structure.
Do your sentences flow? Is the imagery fresh and vivid? Are your word choices in keeping with the tone of the novel? A line editor also looks for; redundant information, overused words, run-on sentences, action that is unclear, dialogue that can be tightened and clunky phrasing, to name a few things.
The 4 Main Types Of Editing
3. Copy Editing - Polishing Your Prose
Copy editing focuses on the technical aspects of writing.
Copy editing means that you have finished the developmental editing stage of your manuscript. You are making no more changes to either structure or the writing. It is time to polish that prose and make sure it adheres to industry-standard conventions for grammar, spelling, syntax, and punctuation.
Copy editors have a tough job. They need to have an eye for the overarching structure and elements of your book whilst also having meticulous attention to detail and a love for technical writing.
A good copy editor is worth their weight in gold. Sometimes the titles copy editor and proofreader are used interchangeably, but they really are two very different things. A copy editor ensures that every element of your story is consistent, cohesive, and complete.
Copy editing includes fact checking, continuity checking, as well as checking the character descriptions, and setting remains consistent. A copy editor will also point out problems with the plot and character arcs.
On the technical side a copy editor also checks for errors in grammar, spelling, syntax, and punctuation, as well as ensuring consistency in spelling, capitalization, font usage, numerals, hyphenation. You don’t want to skip copy editing your book before publishing it or sending it to literary agents.
The 4 Main Types Of editing
4. Proof Reading – A Final Check
Proof reading is the final stage of editing and should only be done after you are sure no other changes will be made to the copy.
Proof reading is looking for superficial mistakes like typographical errors and punctuation errors. It is almost impossible to effectively proofread your own work. You will almost always see what should be there rather than what is there. It is best to hire a professional proofreader, someone who is experienced and has an eye for the job. Proofreading is the final check before your book is uploaded to platforms or sent to literary agents or publishing houses. A proofreader’s job is to check for little mistakes that have slipped through all the other rounds of editing.
If you send your book to a proofreader and it has too many mistakes or inconsistencies, they may send it back to you for more editing.
Self Editing
Can You Edit Your Own Book?
The short answer is – yes. To a degree.
The first draft of anything should never be sent out to agents, publishing houses or uploaded to eBook platforms. There is always room for improvement in a story, and you are often too close to it at this stage to see any plot holes and flaws it may have. Sometimes the most obvious things will go straight over your head, and as soon as your alpha readers/beta readers point it out you will kick yourself, wondering how you could have missed it. If I were to hazard a guess, I would say most authors do between five and ten revisions of their manuscripts before releasing them into the world.
Think of the editing process as an upside-down triangle. You want to work on the biggest things first, such as major structural changes like cutting a character or combing two characters who fulfill the same function. Then work your way down the layers of editing until you reach copy editing and proof reading.
Self Editing
Self Editing Your Book
The Steps To Editing & Publishing Your Novel:
1. Finish your novel
2. Immediately go through and fix things you know need fixing (plot holes, fact checking, world building elements, character arcs and so on)
3. Copy and paste it chapter by chapter into the Hemmingway Editor and check for overuse of adverbs, passive writing, and check for readability (you should aim for a year 7 or 8 level)
4. Copy and paste (or upload) your manuscript into ProWritingAid or Grammarly, and correct spelling and grammar and readability
5. Listen to it chapter by chapter using a speech to text program and edit as required
6. Give it to a trusted first reader
7. Revise upon their feedback as is suitable
8. Workshop it through a writing group chapter by chapter and revise upon their feedback as is suitable
9. Give it to several beta readers (5-20 people) and revise upon their feedback
10. If you’re having structural issues that you still can’t fix, either shelve the project and start a new one, or hire a professional structural editor to review the manuscript
11. Depending on your experience and skill level, you may want to hire a line editor to go through your prose line by line and tighten it and make it more impactful and effective
12. Hire a copy editor to check both the overarching structure of the story as well as to edit to mechanics of your sentences
13. The last step before publishing or submitting your manuscript to literary agents is to get it proofread to check for minor inconsistencies and mistakes
14. Publish or submit your book to agents and publishing houses