By Debra L. Butterfield
What does a book editor do? That’s a question many writers might ask themselves. The simple answer is they edit books [insert smiley face emoji]. So the more specific question is, What’s involved in editing a book? The answer to that will lead us to the answer of the question, Do you need an editor?
What does an editor do for a book?
From the bird’s eye view, what an editor does is improve a book by fixing errors, be they errors in plot or structure or errors in grammar and punctuation.
The confusion enters because there are several types of editing and it can be difficult to get clarity on what each accomplishes. Here is a brief overview.
In a developmental edit, the editor looks at big picture items like plot and character development, story flow, dialog, point of view (POV), show vs. tell, story and character arc, et cetera. In nonfiction, it’s structure, flow, organization, clarity, and more.
A copy edit, according to the The Copyeditor’s Handbook, concerns “imposing mechanical consistency; correcting infelicities of grammar, usage, and diction; and querying internal inconsistencies of fact or tone.” A copyeditor is expected to catch typographical errors, but a copy edit is not the same as proofreading (and proofreading is not editing).
A line edit looks deeply at the writing style, flow, and readability. The editor will look for scene and chapter transitions, POV shifts, redundancies, unnatural dialog, and more. A line edit and copy edit are often used interchangeably; however, the copy edit is primarily concerned with grammatical correctness.
Editor Gina Edwards on the ProWritingAid blog, says, “Line editing focuses on the prose—assuring creative and concise language—and effective execution of the story, both of which are vital for holding your readers.” If you are a beginning writer, this edit will profit you the most with your current manuscript and your future ones.
Each of these types of edits is designed to make your manuscript better.
Do you need an editor?
Editing is the most significant investment you’ll make in your book. You might be tempted to skip it because of the expense, but you must keep your intent for the book in mind. If you want to impact people with positive change in their lives, you’ve got to write a great book. That’s less likely to happen if you skip a professional edit.
You might have read through your manuscript 20 times or more and honestly believe there are no errors or things missing. But you are so familiar with your book that you can’t see the errors anymore. The story is so clear in your head that you’re certain it’s clear on the page. Not so, dear writer. Your familiarity opens you up to all kinds of mistakes. An editor is going to spot the flaws in your manuscript and depending on the type of edit, either fix them or suggest how to fix them.
Be aware that no editor will fix (at least they shouldn’t) the errors in your plot or characters in your fiction or the structure and organization of nonfiction. Big picture elements of your manuscript are items you need to fix, but a good editor will offer direction on how you can do that.
How long it takes to edit a book depends on two primary things: your word count, and how poorly or well-written your manuscript is. A well-written manuscript of 10,000 words can be completed in a day; one with 70,000 might take several weeks. Editors’ rates vary. Some charge by the hour, some per word, and some per page, so it behooves you as a writer to continually improve your skills.
Each type of edit has its own demands as do the elements of nonfiction and all fiction genres. That means many editors specialize in the type of editing they do and the genres they edit. You’ll want to do a bit of shopping to find the editor that’s best for you. This is critical if you write in a specialized field such as science or medicine. I even recommend Christian writers look for Christian editors because they are more likely to catch errors relating to the Bible and can suggest biblical additions for improvement.
In conclusion, an editor’s job is to help you create the best book you can. What you pay that editor is an investment in your future self as a writer, in your future book sales, and in the people who will be impacted by reading your book.
Do all things with excellence.
About the Author
Debra L. Butterfield is the author of eleven books that include Self-editing & Publishing Tips for the Indie Author (https://www.amazon.com/Self-Editing-Publishing-Tips-Indie-Author/dp/1936501864/). She is a freelance author and editor, former editorial director of CrossRiver Media Group, and a former copywriter for Focus on the Family. She blogs about writing at TheMotivationalEditor.com https://www.themotivationaleditor.com/self-editing-checklists/
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