Most authors know their manuscript will eventually need a book editor. But what many first-time authors don’t know is that there are many different kinds of editors, a fact that can make the search for a freelance book editor confusing and daunting. So to find the right editor for your project, you must first understand the options available to you.
Primarily, you should know about the following:
The most common and best-known editor is a copy editor. A copy editor fixes spelling errors and corrects grammar and technical issues to improve clarity in your writing. But when it comes to the “big picture” or more substantive issues affecting your book manuscript, like characterization and narrative structure for fiction and memoir and organization and authority for prescriptive nonfiction, what you need is a content editor or developmental editor. And if you aim to self-publish, a professional proofreading service may be useful in ensuring that your finished book looks professional.
Let’s take a closer look at these kinds of editors and when you most need their expert guidance.
Developmental Editing
When your completed draft is ready for feedback, the first step is to seek out a developmental editor, also known as a substantive editor or a content editor. The issues addressed by a developmental editor are those most likely to result in further revision—revisions that should be completed before the fine-tuning of a copyedit so that you don’t require a copyeditor multiple times for multiple drafts.
For a novel or memoir, issues addressed by a developmental editor typically include:
- plot structure
- characterization
- conflict and tension
- dialogue
- use of detail (setting, descriptions, etc.)
- writing style
- marketing and categorization
For a work of prescriptive nonfiction, the developmental editor typically looks at:
- structure and organization
- authority
- clarity
- concepts and practices
- special features (exercises, anecdotes, etc.)
- marketing and categorization
A developmental editor is a creative ally through the writing and revision process, expert in the elements that make a manuscript work. Because of this expertise and experience, a developmental editor is uniquely able to help you produce the very best version of your book. This is an important part of the process whether you’re pursuing traditional publishing or self-publishing. Agents and publishers, who receive millions of submissions every year, are naturally more likely to respond to a manuscript that represents your very best work—work that stands out from the rest. In self-publishing, you’re essentially competing against the publication of more than a million new books every year—and that’s not an exaggeration. Assuring that your book looks and feels professional is an easily overlooked but fundamental way to ensure it stands out from the work of other self-published authors, not to mention competing books from established brands and authors.
Copyediting
When all developmental issues have been addressed, it’s time to bring in a copyeditor—especially if you’re pursuing self-publishing. Most publishers will provide their own copyeditor before going to press, so as long as your manuscript is relatively clean you can probably submit to them without extensive copyediting. If you’re self-publishing, however, there are few things more embarrassing than launching into the world a book filled with easily fixable typos and obvious grammatical mistakes. Amazon.com is filled with reviews complaining of exactly this problem all too common among indie projects.
Where developmental editing is a creative skill, copyediting is a technical skill, which is one of the reasons these tasks are best performed by different editors. Even so, a good copyeditor will do more than simply correct things. She will also address syntax, clarity, and consistency, and at the Writer’s Ally, she’ll provide a custom style guide that is essential should you decide to publish more books in the future under your own imprint. Our fiction and memoir clients also receive timeline references and character and location trackers to help ensure their details are consistent within the book and any future books in the series.
If your writing itself is a significant concern, such as if you are not a native English speaker, a copy editor can also often provide line editing. A more intensive service, with line editing the editor will go beyond correcting errors into light rewriting, which involves changing sentence structure, wording, and organization—all to ensure that every sentence is the very best version of itself. This can be especially useful for authors who have less experience in writing or who place a higher priority on their message than their style.
Proofreading
Many people confuse proofreading with copyediting. However, proofreading is the very last step before publication, after layout and every other element of the editing process is complete, which makes it distinct from copyediting despite some overlap. The focus in proofreading is typographical, catching any remaining errors before your book goes out into the world. Depending on the complexity of your project, a proofreader may compare the designed pages, called “proofs,” with earlier copyedited pages to ensure all requested changes were made. This is especially useful if a lot of changes happened in the copyediting phase. Proofreading also includes:
- making sure running heads and page numbers are set where and in the order they should appear
- analyzing the application of fonts and placement for everything from chapter titles to subheadings and captions
- catching any minor errors introduced in the file conversion or layout process
On a freelance editorial basis, proofreading is only worth pursuing if you plan to self-publish; any traditional publisher will provide proofreading for your book prior to publication.
The Editing Process
How long should the editing process take? There’s no absolute answer to that question, but it’s important to keep in mind that a close editorial read of your manuscript takes far more time than simply reading a book. Smaller editorial assessments can often be done in a week, but for more intensive services that sort of time span is unrealistic. A turnaround time that seems too good to be true probably is.
It’s reasonable to expect a developmental edit to take about a month to complete, or a copyedit two or three weeks, depending upon manuscript length—the higher the word count, the more work an editor has to do. It’s also worth keeping in mind that experienced and accomplished editors likely won’t be available to begin work immediately. But a great editor is worth waiting for, and more important than editing your manuscript fast is editing your manuscript right.
Finding a Book Editor
Someone whose background is primarily in copyediting may not be useful in improving the central character arc of your novel. Someone focused on the absence of conflict and tension may miss that you’ve written “lightening” instead of “lightning.” However you find your editor, be sure to research their past work. Ask questions. Contact previous clients. Take the time to ensure that your editor is an expert in exactly the sort of help you need.
At the Writer’s Ally, all of our developmental editors and copyeditors are experienced professionals with backgrounds in traditional publishing and experience serving independent authors. This makes them uniquely adept at helping authors find whatever service will be most helpful to them, whether it’s developmental editing, copyediting, or any number of other related services. If you want to learn more about book editing, or what sort of approach might be best for you, be sure to get in touch with us for your free phone consultation.
You can also find some great editors through the following resources (we’re listed in most of them):
- Editorial Freelancers Association
- Reedsy (for self-publishing authors)
- National Association of Independent Writers and Editors
- MediaBistro’s Freelance Marketplace
- Publisher’s Marketplace member pages for editorial services
- Bibliocrunch
- American Copy Editors Society (ACES) freelancer directory