There are some things that you can do to prepare yourself and your book for editing that will help the process go smoothly and leave both you and your editor happy.

Know that editors are on your side

It’s a common misconception that editors are red pen-wielding fiends who want to tear your manuscript apart, but this is not the case. Editors want the best for your book and you as an author; their job is to ensure your content makes sense and is conveyed in the most comprehensible way to your intended readership. Go into editing with an open mind and listen to the suggestions of your editor when their work is complete.

The costs of editing

Editing is not always a cheap service, and some authors can be caught off-guard by the size of their quote. Editors cost their projects either per word or per hour, which can make larger projects costly for an author; even if your manuscript is better put-together than another project with half your word count, you may still end up paying just as much or more.

A way to help bring down costs is to make sure that everything in your book is integral to your story. Does your book need to be as big as it is or talk about something for as long as it does? This is something that can be addressed with my next point:

Draft your work, then draft again

It’s often said that writing is rewriting, and this is very true. An integral part of writing a book is revising your manuscript multiple times to ensure that every chapter, paragraph, sentence, and word is as close to the best that you can make it and is working for your story, not against it. This will help to make the editing process run smoothly and, as mentioned, bring the overall cost down.

Check out our other post for tips on how to successfully draft your manuscript: https://greenhillpublishing.com.au/three-tips-for-drafting-your-own-work/

The different types of editing

Editing is not just limited to checking spelling and grammar. An editor looks at your manuscript through many different lenses, including if the chapters are structured correctly, checking for continuity errors, filtering for a target audience, and more.

There are three distinct types of editing: structural editing, copyediting, and proofreading.

Structural editing

The often-forgotten side to editing. It focuses on the bigger picture rather than the sentence-level details. If your book requires structural edits, this often means that something is wrong with the flow of the manuscript, or that an element (like voice or language) is inconsistent. It could even mean that the chapter placement is illogical to readers, or that the book is too long or short for its audience and purpose.

Copyediting

The nitty-gritty side, the spelling-, punctuation-, and syntax-level detail that’s expected from editing. But it’s also fact checking, ensuring that what’s written couldn’t potentially become a legal liability, making sure that characters or settings don’t appear differently from one page to the next, and more.

Proofreading

The final stage carried out once all other types of editing have been completed. It’s similar to copyediting in the way that it mostly deals with sentence-level detail, but in this instance the editor isn’t dealing with a raw manuscript, they’re double-checking a near-perfect piece for any errors that might have been missed.

Which brings me to my next point:

Multiple sets of eyes are better than one

Books published through traditional publishing houses will have a minimum of three editors working on the book one after the other, each performing a different type of editing and rechecking each other’s work. Employing just a single editor—no matter how skilled they are—will not leave you with an error-free manuscript. It’s simply impossible, which is why it’s a great idea to get at least two editors to comb through your manuscript.

If you can’t afford to employ a second editor, another useful way to pick up anything that the editor has missed is to get an impartial family member or friend who has not seen or heard anything about your manuscript before to look over it. This of course won’t be as good as getting a second professional editor, but it will definitely help your manuscript.

Get familiar with the Microsoft Word revision software

Most editors in this day-and-age use Microsoft Word revision software to edit manuscripts. This involves functions like track changes and commenting.

Track changes

Once you get your edited manuscript back, you’ll have to go through each change that your editor has made and accept or reject these changes. This can be tricky, and a lot of text mistakes at the end of the publishing process can be accredited to edits that have been accepted or rejected incorrectly, so it’s beyond integral to make sure that you’re checking each and every change afterwards.

Comments

If your editor has left comments on a certain piece of your manuscript this could mean a few things, including being unable to advise changes as they cannot decipher your intent, really enjoying something that you’ve done and wanting to point it out, and explaining a change that they believe you may be confused about. Read over each comment carefully and make sure to either implement the changes they suggest and resolve. After the comments have been resolved, go back through and double-check that each comment has been addressed, then you can go ahead and delete them.

It’s also good practise to save two versions of your edited manuscript: one with the track changes and comments still included and another with them resolved. This way you have a record of both and can revisit easily if needed.

Editing can be a rewarding process if you’re well prepared. After you read and take on the information within this blog, you’ll be well on your way to getting your manuscript polished and ready for your editor.

Interested in getting your book edited with our partner Bookmark Edits? Click here to find out more and get your editing assessment.

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