Editing is not one job. A developmental edit works on structure and argument, a line edit works on the prose sentence by sentence, a copy edit works on correctness and consistency, and a proofread catches what is left after the book is laid out. They are usually done in that order, by different people, and a book rarely needs all four. Knowing which one your manuscript is ready for is the decision that everything else follows from.
This guide gathers our posts on editing in one place: which edit does what, what to do before you hire anyone, how to choose an editor, and what working with one is actually like. Each post answers a single question and stands on its own, so start wherever your question sits rather than at the top. We add to the guide as we cover more ground, so it is worth bookmarking.
One caveat: the names are not standardized across the industry, and two editors can use the same term for different work. Where a post names a kind of edit, treat the description of the work as the definition and the label as a convention, and agree the scope with an editor before the work starts.
Which edit your book needs
- Developmental, copy and proofreading: the three compared, and what each one leaves to the next.
- Line editing and copy editing: where one stops and the other begins.
- What a copy editor does: the work itself, in detail, on a real manuscript.
- Developmental edit or manuscript assessment: two ways of getting structural feedback, and what each costs you.
Before you hire anyone
- Self-editing first: what to fix yourself, and why it changes what you pay for.
- Beta readers, before or after: where reader feedback belongs in the sequence.
- Whether you need an editor at all: an honest look at the question, for a book going to KDP.
- AI editing tools: what they do well, and where they stop being enough.
Choosing an editor
- Where to find one: the directories and marketplaces, and how each is vetted.
- The sample edit: what to ask for, and how to read what comes back.
- What it costs: the going rates by type of edit, and what moves them.
Working with one
- Track changes: how to work through a marked-up manuscript in Word.
- How many rounds: how much editing a book actually needs.
- Your voice: what an editor will and will not change about how you write.
- Getting through it: what to do when the editing stage is where the book stalls.
- Proofreading the finished files: whether the EPUB needs its own read as well as the print PDF.
Style sheets and house style
- What a style sheet is: the document that keeps a book consistent with itself.
- Why your editor uses one: the same object seen from the editor’s side of the work.
- The Conscious Style Guide: a reference for writing about people, and how to use it.