When You Say Edit…
As Editorial Director of Intrigue Publishing it’s my responsibility to make sure every manuscript we publish is as good as it can be. Of course, I don’t do all the editing myself, but I don’t think most writers understand the challenges involved in just hiring an editor. To acquire the right services, I have to be able to describe just what I want an editor to do. I have to be able to explain what I mean when I say “edit” and I thought you might like to know too.
Let’s start with the easy stuff. Proofreading is not editing, although I expect our proofreader to do more than simply correct grammar and spelling errors. She watches for capitalization, punctuation and proper word use (fowl language is what chickens speak. The writer meant FOUL language.)
Copy editing is a step beyond proofreading. Copy editing actually addresses the mechanics of style, looking for inconsistencies. A good copy editor will notice dialog from a dropout that sounds like a college graduate, or vice versa. Stylistic editing is more about clarifying the writing. This would include eliminating or explaining jargon and smoothing the language. It’s similar to copy editing – in nonfiction work it’s often called line editing.
Once we love a book enough to want to publish it I generally handle copy and stylistic editing myself. Then I return the manuscripts to the author to rewrite based on my input. The heavy lifting, the work I bring in higher-level experts for, involves structural and developmental editing. The manuscript has to already be in a good, readable form before I can ask a pro for these services.
Substantive structural editing involves further clarifying the storyline, often reorganizing the manuscript’s structure. This is where you get the pacing right, smooth the flow, refine the dialogue, and maybe punch up character development. At this stage, suggested changes bring me to negotiating with the author. We don’t want to destroy a writer’s style or voice, but the writer needs to really understand their story so they can make me understand why our recommendations are not for the best.
Again the author makes the actual changes and after some back and forth we have a manuscript we can all agree on. However, after the rewriting, the book gets a final thorough proofreading.
So now you know what I mean when I say a book is in the editing process. This is not necessarily the way it works at any other publishing house, but it’s the series of hoops a book has to jump through to wear the Intrigue Publishing logo.
Let’s start with the easy stuff. Proofreading is not editing, although I expect our proofreader to do more than simply correct grammar and spelling errors. She watches for capitalization, punctuation and proper word use (fowl language is what chickens speak. The writer meant FOUL language.)
Copy editing is a step beyond proofreading. Copy editing actually addresses the mechanics of style, looking for inconsistencies. A good copy editor will notice dialog from a dropout that sounds like a college graduate, or vice versa. Stylistic editing is more about clarifying the writing. This would include eliminating or explaining jargon and smoothing the language. It’s similar to copy editing – in nonfiction work it’s often called line editing.
Once we love a book enough to want to publish it I generally handle copy and stylistic editing myself. Then I return the manuscripts to the author to rewrite based on my input. The heavy lifting, the work I bring in higher-level experts for, involves structural and developmental editing. The manuscript has to already be in a good, readable form before I can ask a pro for these services.
Substantive structural editing involves further clarifying the storyline, often reorganizing the manuscript’s structure. This is where you get the pacing right, smooth the flow, refine the dialogue, and maybe punch up character development. At this stage, suggested changes bring me to negotiating with the author. We don’t want to destroy a writer’s style or voice, but the writer needs to really understand their story so they can make me understand why our recommendations are not for the best.
Again the author makes the actual changes and after some back and forth we have a manuscript we can all agree on. However, after the rewriting, the book gets a final thorough proofreading.
So now you know what I mean when I say a book is in the editing process. This is not necessarily the way it works at any other publishing house, but it’s the series of hoops a book has to jump through to wear the Intrigue Publishing logo.
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