I never thought that writing a book would be the easy part. Then I began searching for an editor…
My first eye-opener was learning there were various levels of the editing process. Suddenly my enthusiasm for completing a book that I believed was ready to publish (spoiler: it was not) got a hard reality check. I had fallen into the same pitfall as countless other “newbie” authors in thinking that my story–my manuscript–was already past the Developmental editing phase. Because I didn’t fully understand what all that level of editing encompassed, learning that I was not in fact ready to skip this level was devastating.
You see, I interpreted this to mean that something was fundamentally wrong with my story and my writing. I’ve always hated this phrase, but it was true for this: It’s not personal. It’s a little embarrassing to admit how long it took me to truly comprehend and embrace what developmental edits could do for my work.
The fact was it wasn’t personal and it shouldn’t be. If it ever feels like suggested edits are a personal attack on you, your story, or your style, take a couple of days to process. I’m not the first author to be devastated by edits and I won’t be the last. It happens to all of us at least once, or more realistically, all the time. Don’t you just love imposter syndrome?
If after you’ve taken time to process the recommendations they still feel like an attack, run and run fast. The world is toxic enough without paying someone who’s supposed to be helping you instead demeaning the thing bringing you joy. That being said, don’t be surprised if after time you realize that maybe there’s something to those suggestions after all.
That’s okay! Do what you can to ignore that big ugly voice in your head telling you to scrap everything as worthless. It’s not. I promise you, it’s not. More than that, I promise the answer you need, that your story needs, is already within your beautiful, imaginative brain. The most important thing to remember as you go through the editing process is that the goal is to make the story shine.
Woo! So that was a really long-winded way of saying that it’s okay to be intimidated by the editing process and/or not know where to start. To help, I’ve broken the levels down to their core purposes.
Developmental
aka structural • level 1 • $0.025 – $0.045 per word
- Goal: To make sure the core story or argument is strong and well-organized.
- Focus: The big picture of the manuscript, including plot, character development, pacing, and overall coherence.
- What it does: Assesses if the manuscript’s structure is sound, if the argument is logical, and if all important points are covered.
Line
style • level 2 • $0.02 – $0.035 per word
- Focus: Sentence-level clarity, style, and flow.
- What it does: Revises awkward phrasing, ensures clarity, and improves the overall quality of the prose to be more professional and coherent.
- Goal: To make the writing more engaging and easier to read at a sentence-by-sentence level.
Copy
consistency • level 3 • $0.015 – $0.028 per word
- Focus: The mechanics of the writing, such as grammar, punctuation, and spelling.
- What it does: Corrects errors in grammar, spelling, and punctuation, and ensures consistency in style and formatting throughout the document.
- Goal: To ensure the text is free of errors and adheres to style guidelines.
Proofreading
last step • level 4 • $0.01 – $0.02
- Focus: The final check for any remaining errors.
- What it does: Catches typos, minor mistakes, and formatting issues after the manuscript has been laid out but before it is published.
- Goal: To ensure the final document is polished and error-free before it is released.
