The different types of editing
When it comes to editing, the advice I give a lot of authors is to do the free things first then, when they’re happy, reach out to paid editors/readers. Which types of editors you hire will depend on your budget and time contraints, but getting the most out of your beta readers before hiring editors will help you make a book that you’re truly proud of and that connects with readers.
The line between editing can be blurred a lot, but here I’ll go through the stages of editing and what to expect from each type of editor.
With all types of editing, it’s important to have a concrete agreement between you and the editor about the scope of their job and the feedback you would like before any work starts.
The Early Stages
There are three main types of edits for a novel in its early stages: beta reads, manuscript critiques, and developmental editors.
The focus of this stage is to make your story airtight and remove any and all issues with the plot, theme, tone, and characters. The line between each of these reads is blurred and many will have their version of what each type of work means to them.
Beta Reads
Beta reads can be free (often from other authors or avid readers) or paid (often from trained editors offering their insights). They key things to expect from beta reads are:
Subjective comments on the story. What the reader liked and didn’t like, their favourite characters, etc.
Mentions of big issues in the story (plot holes, a character comes back to life with no explanations, etc.).
Questionnaires. Some authors send questionnaires to their beta readers and, provided the questions aren’t too in-depth (asking for a synopsis/blurb is beyond the scope of a beta reader, but asking questions like “Was the book paced well?” is fine).
To get the most out of your beta reads, I recommend getting a mix of free and paid readers and asking preliminary questions about favourite genre, books, or authors to give you context for their feedback.
Additionally, beta readers can double up as sensitivity readers if asked beforehand, and many authors will do a manuscript swap with each other to give and receive critiques.
What not to expect:
Suggestions on how to fix the issues in your novel
Analysis of the plot, tone, theme, and characters (sent as a report)
Commentary in the manuscript (often as in-line comments)
De, tone, charactetailed analysis on the themers, and plot
Detailed suggestions to improve the story and fix errors
Extra material (such as graphs and tables) that further help explain and highlight areas for improvement
An analysis on the genre and readership
Corrections/comments on spelling, grammar, and punctuation
Changes to the manuscript
Corrections/comments on prose style and consistency
A ready-to-publish manuscript
Fact checking
100% of errors removed
Formatting (though errors in the formatting may be raised as queries or changed).
Beta readers are an incredibly useful resource for an author in the early stages of editing, and it’s often a good idea to do a second round of beta readers after implementing the changes from the first round. But they’re not editors and they’re not going to change your book.
Manuscript Critiques
Manuscript Critiques are the next step up from beta reads. They’re done by trained editors and, as a result, are more expensive than paid beta reads. But the detail in them will help you level up your story.
What to expect:
Everything a beta reader does plus…
Suggestions on how to fix the issues in your novel
Analysis of the plot, tone, theme, and characters (sent as a report).
These reports are more detailed than beta reads and come with the experience and training of a qualified editor. They’re a great way to get more detailed insights on your story and cost less than a developmental edit.
What not to expect:
Commentary in the manuscript (often as in-line comments)
Detailed analysis on the theme, tone, characters, and plot
Detailed suggestions to improve the story and fix errors
Extra material (such as graphs and tables) that further help explain and highlight areas for improvement
An analysis on the genre and readership
Corrections/comments on spelling, grammar, and punctuation
Changes to the manuscript
Corrections/comments on prose style and consistency
A ready-to-publish manuscript
Fact checking
100% of errors removed
Formatting (though errors in the formatting may be raised as queries or changed).
Manuscript critiques can be a very useful tool to help you identify and resolve issues in your story. They’re not as expensive as developmental edits and, as such, are not as in-depth, but, like all stages of editing, they are tailored to you and your story.
Developmental Edits
Developmental edits are the next rung on the ladder and often the most expensive. But the time they spend on your novel and the feedback and suggestions they provide will help make your novel spectacular.
What to expect:
Everything in a manuscript critique plus…
Commentary in the manuscript (often as in-line comments)
Detailed analysis on the theme, tone, characters, and plot
Detailed suggestions to improve the story and fix errors
Extra material (such as graphs and tables) that further help explain and highlight areas for improvement
An analysis on the genre and readership.
This kind of editing can take a while as the editor will read your book several times during the course of the edit.
What not to expect:
Corrections/comments on spelling, grammar, and punctuation
Changes to the manuscript
Corrections/comments on prose style and consistency
A ready-to-publish manuscript
Fact checking
100% of errors removed
Formatting (though errors in the formatting may be raised as queries or changed).
A developmental editor often will read your book multiple times to ensure they find as many issues and solutions as possible. This type of editing requires a well-trained eye and an editor who reads widely in your genre. Expect long and detailed reports.
The Second Stage
Now your story is free of plot holes and your tones and themes are fitting for your intended readership, it’s time to refine the language and focus on the small details that turn a great story into a flawless novel.
Copyedits
Copyedits cover a lot of aspects of language and, in the context of novel editing, are key to maintaining a consistent prose fit for the intended readership. Copyedits are done by trained editors with specific qualifications in copyediting.
What to expect:
Changes to the manuscript
Checks and corrections for consistency in spelling, typesetting (bold, italics, etc.), grammar, style, usage
Checks that everything (chapter numbers, lists, illustrations, citations) is in the correct order
Fact checking (if appropriate)
Checks that the physical descriptions of characters, places, and key elements are consistent through the manuscript
Creating formatting and making it consistent
Improvements to clarity of the text (and queries for ambiguous aspects).
What not to expect:
100% of errors removed
A ready-to-publish manuscript
A fully formatted document — this is the job of a typesetter (not covered here) or formatting software (some people prefer to format themselves)
Anything covered in beta reads, manuscript critiques, or developmental edits.
Copyedits are an important step in the editing process. They help ensure you have a consistent prose and that your use of language and styles is consistent.
The role of a copyeditor is to impose styles and make/suggest changes to enhance the author’s voice.
Copyedits will most commonly be done using MS Word’s track changes feature, comments, and heading/paragraph styles.
Proofreads
Proofreads are the final check in the editing process. They come after formatting and are carried out by trained editors with specific qualifications in proofreading.
What to expect:
Changes to your manuscript
Corrections to errors in spelling, punctuation, and grammar
Corrections to maintain consistency in style (often following a style sheet provided by the copyeditor/author)
Queries raised on things that seems wrong but are not in the agreed parameters of the job
Corrections to capitalisation and typesetting.
What not to expect:
Fact checking
100% of errors removed
Formatting (though errors in the formatting may be raised as queries or changed)
Anything covered in beta reads, manuscript critiques, or developmental edits.
Proofreaders will often be happy to widen the scope of their work when working with authors, but this should not be expected. The job of a proofreader is to make the fewest changes possible to ensure consistency and correctness in a manuscript while maintaining the author’s voice.
As with copyedits, proofreads will most commonly be made using MS Word’s track changes feature (excluding silent changes such as double spaces), comments, and heading/paragraph styles.
Proof-edits
Proof-edits are a hybrid form of editing that combine proofreads and copyedits. These are undertaken by trained editors with qualifications specific to these roles and is most commonly a service offered to self-publishing authors.
Things you can expect from this kind of edit should be agreed between you and the editor before any work commences or money is exchanged. The goal of this type of service is to reduce the cost of editing and publishing for self-publishing authors, but keep in mind that less trained eyes may allow more errors to slip through.
No editor is perfect, and no editor will remove every error from your book. Even award-winning series and best-selling novels have mistakes. The goal is to get your book to a publishable standard and help enhance your vision and voice.
Editors aren’t here to cut out a third of your prose or wipe out a character. We’re here to work with you to take your vision and make it the best it can be.