As an indie author, you know that writing your novel is only part of the work involved in self-publishing. Revising, editing, and proofing your story are crucial parts of the publishing process.
When you haven’t worked with an editor before, the four types of editing can be really confusing. What are they? Should you tackle them in a specific order? Can you handle them on your own? How do you find a reputable editor? What can you expect from each stage of the editing process?
Lucky for you, I’m here to walk you through it all. I’m Kaitlin, a freelance editor for indie romance authors, and I specialize in working with those newer to the world of self-publishing.
There are four types of editing for fiction novels: developmental editing, line editing, copyediting, and proofreading. Keep reading to learn all about how each stage benefits your manuscript!
First, before we get into the nitty-gritty of editing types, I want to answer a question I see a lot from newer authors.
Do I really need to hire an editor?
Short answer? Yes!
Long answer? If you want people to read and love your novel, then hiring an editor is essential. It doesn’t matter how many times you have read through your manuscript—there is no way you can catch all of the errors, plot holes, characterization issues, or continuity problems yourself.
And, yeah, your alpha readers or beta readers can absolutely help you find some of those things, but they likely aren’t trained in the art of editing. Have you ever heard the phrase “you don’t know what you don’t know”? Same concept applies here. Your alpha or beta readers just won’t know some of the things that are standard for fiction editing. The editing you need should come from a trained professional.
Partnering with a trained editor on your manuscript will help you create a stronger story for your audience. You are a professional writer. (Yes, even if you just finished writing your first book! You wrote a book—you’re a professional writer!) Professional writers need to work with professional editors.
Think of developmental editing as a big-picture look at your story. This type of book editing comes first, and focuses on major elements of the content.
A developmental editor will look at your whole story and provide you with an editorial letter that outlines your story’s strengths and weaknesses. Each editor’s editorial letter will be customized for their editing business, but should include comments on:
Your editor should tell you what’s working well and what needs improvement. A typical editorial letter (sometimes called an editorial assessment) will consist of around ten pages of feedback focused on ways you can strengthen your story.
1. This is the first stage of editing. This doesn’t mean you should send your editor your first draft! You absolutely need to complete some self-editing before you send your manuscript to a professional.
2. The focus here is on content, NOT grammar or mechanics. Don’t expect to see in-line comments about the correct way to punctuate a sentence. Remember, this edit is all about the story itself.
3. It typically takes four weeks to get a developmental edit (sometimes called a substantive edit or structural edit) back. This is a good thing! A developmental editor sits with your story and composes feedback designed to help you improve. You don’t want to rush this process.
Line editing looks at your story at the sentence level, focusing on style and voice. Think of this as stylistic editing.
This is a thorough edit that focuses on stylistic choices. A line editor looks at the clarity, consistency, and effectiveness of the language and story. Style and flow are the heart of line editing, so the content of your story should be mapped out and tight before you start this process.
What do I mean by style, flow, and voice? These edits could include comments on things like:
Your editor will provide in-line comments on your novel. The purpose of this edit is to help your prose become tighter and more readable.
1. Some editors combine line edits with copyedits. Hi, I’m one of those editors! This is mostly because if I see something and I’m already making comments on your document, it’s just easy for me to tell you about it. Plus, I realize that most indie authors don’t have a huge publishing budget and combining these two editing types can help more authors get the most bang for their buck. (If this is you, send me a message so we can talk more about the details!)
2. This is the second stage of editing. Developmental editing helped get your content right, now line editing will help you with your prose.
3. A line edit typically takes three or four weeks. I know this seems like a long time, but you’re asking your editor to go through your novel sentence by sentence looking for ways to improve your text. It’s not something that can be completed in a week!
(OK, first things first, is it copyediting or copy editing? Copyeditor or copy editor? Honestly, both are fine as long as you are being consistent with your usage. I like copyedit, copyediting, and copyeditor, so that’s what I use.)
Copyediting is all about the details. Its focus is on grammar, usage, and consistency.
You may be wondering if an online tool like Grammarly can handle your copyedits, and I’m here to beg you not to try to do this! Yes, an online grammar tool can flag certain issues, but it cannot be trusted to find every inconsistency in your story. An online tool is not an editing service.
Continuity and consistency errors are what pull readers out of a story. If your neighbor in chapter five is named Paul, but then in chapter ten you call him Bill…that’s a problem. If your heroine gets someone’s phone number at the end of chapter six, but then asks for that same phone number in chapter seven…that’s a problem. If you say your characters are eating lunch, but then talk about the colors of the sunset…that’s a problem.
Copyeditors catch those problems! A copyeditor will look at:
1. This is the third stage of editing, and it catches the smaller errors (that make a big impact!). Story elements and content should be finalized, so the editor is free to look at the micro-elements of your novel.
2. Clarity and consistency are the name of the game here! As a copyeditor I am always working in the service of the reader. What exists in the manuscript that will take a reader out of the story? Those are the things I flag, change, or query when copyediting.
3. A copyedit takes three or four weeks to complete. A copyedit does come with a style sheet. This ensures that you as the indie author know why your editor made the changes they did. (If you’re writing a series, save these style sheets! They will be invaluable to you AND your next editor when you begin working on subsequent books.)
Proofreading is the last thing you do before putting your book into the hands of readers. Think of it as quality control. Your proofreader is looking at proofs of your formatted book for any errors that exist.
No, the errors aren’t just grammatical in nature! Your editor may look for errors in:
You have probably read your novel at least ten times. Your eyes will not catch every error. In fact, they will skip over a lot of words! Your eyes are more likely to fill in what should be there, instead of letting you see what is actually there. A proofreader helps you catch things you aren’t able to see on your own.
1. Your manuscript will never be perfect. #sorrynotsorry No matter how good your editors are, you will probably still find a few errors in your novel once you publish. We are all humans just doing our best—sometimes a comma slips through the cracks! The industry standard for traditionally published books is four or five errors per 100,000 words.
2. A proofreader does not focus on content, voice, or clarity. The text of your novel is finished when it goes to a proofreader. My job as a proofreader is to find the little things that other people have missed. This is the final stage of editing, and it should be handled after you have finished formatting your book.
3. A proofread takes around two weeks to complete. It’s the shortest stage of editing because as your proofreader I’m not searching for ways to improve the content of your story, I’m just meticulously going through your manuscript looking for errors.
OK, you know all about the different types of editing, and you’re ready to hire an editor. Great! Here are some tips once you begin your search:
1. You don’t have to hire an editor for each stage. Yes, ideally you would, but I know as an indie author your publishing budget can be tight. Look at what you think you need the most help with, and hire an editor for that. Your editor can help you figure out where you’ll get the most bang for your buck.
2. Your editor should understand genre conventions. Look, I’m not going to take on a nonfiction or academic editing job. I don’t have the experience. It wouldn’t be right of me to take your money because I would only be giving you a subpar edit. However, I am an expert on the genre conventions of romance. It’s my niche, it’s my specialty, and I love it. I understand what makes a swoony romance, and what doesn’t. Your editor should be an expert in your chosen genre.
3. Your editor should provide a free sample edit. I offer 1,000-word sample edits, and all reputable editors offer something similar. You shouldn’t pay for something until you know it’s the right fit. The relationship between an editor and author is important, and you should have a good idea of an editor’s style before paying them.
4. Your editor should treat editing like a business. Professional editors have contracts. Absolutely do NOT ever work with an editor without a contract in place. Typically, your editor will have a contract for you—you should not need to draw one up yourself.
5. Your editor should work with realistic timelines. Is an editor promising you a developmental edit in a week? Run the other way!
6. Your editor should have professional qualifications. No, this doesn’t mean every editor needs to have a professional certification, but it DOES mean that they should have taken professional courses, belong to a professional organization, or have practical experience in the field. Being an avid reader with a strong understanding of grammar does not qualify someone as an editor! Yes, those things are important, but investing in the necessary training to edit with kindness and carefulness is essential. For example, I have taken many courses from the Editorial Freelancers Association, and am a member of their professional organization. I have invested in my education in order to help you craft the best story.
Now that you know all about developmental editing, line editing, copyediting, and proofreading you will be able to determine what kind of fiction editor you need to hire for your novel.
Need an editor for your indie romance novel? Send me an email or fill out my contact form and let’s get started!
Are you an author wondering if you should include content warnings for books? Content warnings (sometimes called trigger warnings) inform readers about specific triggers before they begin reading your book. This blog will tell you what content warnings are, why you need them, and how to include them in your book.
If you’re ready to send your book to your editor, here are some basic formatting standards and tips that you can do to prepare your manuscript and make your editor’s life easier (and they’ll love you for it!).
Discover seven things book editors don’t do for authors or their manuscripts in this blog post written by a professional freelance copyeditor.