The Editing Process for Self-Publishing

What kinds of editing for self-publishing are there?

• Developmental, content, or substantive editing

This is the big picture editing that focuses on the structure of your story or book. A developmental editor for fiction (or narrative nonfiction) will give you feedback throughout your manuscript on your plot, point of view, characters, conflict, description, and dialogue. They can help with things like showing instead of telling and creating strong hooks.

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If you are writing a nonfiction book that isn’t narrative-driven, the developmental editor could provide insight on the organization, sources, and examples throughout your book. They could point out errors in fact or logic and let you know if you get too far off your main topic.

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In How to Edit Your Novel, Karin Beery recommends that you hire a developmental editor to help you if this is one of your first three novels (or your first three in a new genre). It’s probably a good idea for your first few nonfiction books as well. And it’s never wrong to get a developmental edit if you want reassurance that you have crafted the book well.

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Another option to help with these kinds of issues is a manuscript critique. The critique will include the editor’s thoughts on your entire book’s strengths and weaknesses, but it would be up to you to apply the insight to specific portions of your book with further self-edits.

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• Line editing

To me, line editing is the most fuzzy editing area. A line editor will examine each line of your book—but not just to find mistakes. They can suggest ways to improve clarity, sharpen your voice, and keep a consistent tone. Sometimes, a line edit can be included in either a developmental edit or a heavier copyedit. So you might not need this kind of edit as a separate step.

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• Copyediting

In a copyedit, your editor will focus on fixing errors in your book’s punctuation, grammar, usage, and style. For most books, the editor will recommend following Chicago Style, which has guidelines on things like handling numbers, citations, and capitalization. (For example, it specifies that copyedit is one word, though other sources make it two.)

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The copyeditor can also point out inconsistencies or factual errors, possible permission issues with quoted content, or problems with point of view. Creating or correcting citations can also be part of the copyedit. If you want feedback on word choice, clarity, and tone, your copyeditor can also help with that.

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Since there are many aspects that a copyedit can cover, it’s especially important to discuss what you are looking for with your editor so that you are on the same page for this step.

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• Proofreading

The final editing step is proofreading. This can be done in Word or on PDFs of the final formatted book. Corrections are easier to make in Word, but having your final PDFs proofread allows your editor to find issues with the layout as well as with the text.

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In a proofread, the editor will be looking for final typos, spelling, grammar, or punctuation issues that slipped through earlier edits (or were added in the correction process). Fixes are minor at this stage, but the focus on small details is valuable to a polished final product.

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• Cover and description

While your cover and back cover copy (also known as the book description or blurb) may not be finished when you begin the editing process, don’t forget to have these checked by an editor. Readers may not choose to read your wonderful and well-edited book if your description is unclear or full of errors. Make sure that what your audience sees first is polished and representative of the entire book.