Editing - Writing Wednesday

 

Writing Wednesday

You have your book done, and now you need to have it edited. We all know that no matter how much we read over our book ourselves, we will miss something. We cannot be expected to be 100% accurate reviewing our own work. I know I swear I am right on spelling and grammar, but I continuously find errors.

There are different types of editing. 

Spelling/Grammar

When nearly all of us write the program, we are using will give us alerts for spelling or grammar corrections. There are also add on programs to take spelling and grammar to a new level. I personally use Word with the Grammarly plugin. Having a new set of eyes on the manuscript will help catch a majority of those errors as well. But, even these tools cannot catch everything. I find it strange how I can have a manuscript clean, not open it for a week, and then have a couple hundred issues again.

Spelling and grammar is essential to have as close to perfect as possible. There are times when you, the editor, and the reader will see things slightly differently. But, where there are blatant errors, it makes it impossible to follow the story.

Line & Copyediting

Line editing is when an editor examines your book on the sentence and paragraph level and address awkward or unclear writing, wordiness, redundancies, clichés, and weak dialogue. Hopefully, this will strengthen your book without requiring a full rewrite.

Copyediting is a line-by-line correction of your manuscript. The goal here is to make your writing clear and professional. This type will also include spelling and grammar correction.

 

Developmental Editing

Developmental editing is a thorough big-picture edit of your book that includes a written critique and extensive margin notes. You'll get a detailed editorial letter that addresses the strengths and weaknesses of your book. Also, structural issues will be discussed. You can also receive feedback on marketability. Some editors will include extensive feedback and suggestions inserted into the margins of your manuscript. Lots of coaching on craft and examples will be covered.

Many new authors should have this level of editing done to their book. This is the level I went with for my initial manuscript. I am HOPING that this will allow me to improve my follow on books and avoid going this route for each continuous book.

Proofreading

Proofreading is the final polish of your book before it's published and is recommended only for previously copyedited manuscripts.

Depending on the level of editing, your turn around time can be a few weeks to several months. My developmental edit is scheduled for 3 ½ months. I have seen some editors give 4-5 month turn around times on the in-depth edits. After I am given 2 months to do the rewrite, I also submit my manuscript to have a final proofread/polish.

Editing is essential to have your finished book to be successful. I imagine we all can agree that when we read anything if there are errors, we find it hard to read. I personally will stop reading. I know a person who had a book of poems published, and they did their own editing, it showed.

Another person, I know who published a book written in a cumbersome backwoods style of dialogue. It was hard to read, and he told me his initial editor stepped down due to the writing style. The book is hard to read due to the poor language used (It is part of the setting). This was the writer's preference, but it hurt the book overall. The author openly admitted to me, "That editor didn't know a lick about how I write."

I know from my technical writing days, editing is essential. I did not like getting my first few projects back with red marks everywhere. But, I learned from it. When I receive my manuscript back, I know it will be a learning experience, if not very humbling.

Another aspect of editing is cost. I saw prices as low as a couple hundred dollars up to around $10,000. Price was important to me, and I ended up spending more than I originally planned. But, I did feel it was the right thing for me to do.

When Iw as looking for editors, I sent samples to several. Nearly all sent me feedback, but only one felt right. They were very personable to me, and the feedback I got just felt right. I know that sounds odd, but it just clicked. Getting a good fit on a personal level with your editor is essential. If you pick an editor based only on cost, it could turn into a bad experience. A good fit/feeling is also important.