The editing process can be scary, confusing, frustrating, and discouraging, but it doesn't always have to be.
If you're self publishing, your editor(s) will be one of your biggest cheerleaders. This post will explain how we support you at each editing step, with some extra tips sprinkled in about the when, who, and why.
Lacey at Crossbones Editing was a huge inspiration for this post, and she was kind enough to send me her beautiful graphics to show you!
Self Editing: You've completed your first draft! Now is the time to celebrate and take a long break from looking at your manuscript.
Once your eyes feel fresh again, take a red pen to it (or a sparkly green pen, or a blinking cursor... whatever your style is!). Exhaustive self editing can save you a lot of money in the long run as you can (hopefully) pay for fewer rounds of editing.
Some things to look for when self editing include:
Plot holes
Character development
Redundancy
Overused words
Missed scenes, paragraphs, or sentences (sometimes you have something planned and forget to write it!)
Alpha and Beta Readers: It's time to do something a little scary: share your work with other people. Luckily, most alpha and beta readers are extremely kind, and they do these reads because they care about you and your book! Alpha and beta readers approach your work from the viewpoint of a casual reader, which can be extremely helpful as you decide what works in your manuscript and what doesn't.
I consider alpha readers to be your closest circle: your mom, your boyfriend, your friends. Try to choose someone who will be honest in their feedback!
Having a social media platform can make this stage a lot easier, and searching for beta readers can double as marketing for your book! I've seen a lot of authors put out calls for beta readers on their social media pages, and I always see a lot of responses. People love being helpful, and there's a large community of book lovers that want to beta read for free!
This area is a great example of how the editing process can be different from writer to writer. I would absolutely send out drafts to my alpha readers, likely my editing and writing friends, at this stage, but I personally would wait for beta readers until after a developmental and maybe even a copy edit. This is because I am extremely perfectionistic and I am scared of negative feedback, so I would prefer to have my manuscript more polished before I send it to more people. Yes, even us editors can be scared of feedback!
Developmental Edit: Think "big picture." At this level, editors look at pacing, plot development, the order of scenes, world building, characterization, and so much more.
This is one service I don't offer yet, but I hope to be able to next year after some more training courses!
Sensitivity Read: This step is extremely important for authors writing an identity that is not their own. At this stage, the editor looks at how being marginalized affects characters, settings, worldbuilding, and word choice.
As someone who sensitivity reads mainly for disability representation, some things I specifically look for include how the disabled character is treated by other characters, if how they think and feel are accurate for their condition, and if the author is accidentally using outdated terms that could be harmful.
Copy & Line Edit: A lot of editors, including myself, combine copy editing and line editing into one step. I do this because of how my brain works: I am always looking for how to make your manuscript as clear as possible, without taking away your voice, so it looks for grammar and sentence structure at the same time.
Copy and line editing have the same goal: clarity.
With a copy edit, you should always receive a style sheet. A line edit focuses on language, while a copy edit focuses on grammatical errors, typos, adherence to a style guide, and fact-checking things like dates and places.
Formatting: This step will be different for everyone depending on budget, publishing platform, ebook vs. print, etc. You can hire a typesetter to format your book, or you can put in some hours learning to do it yourself. Draft2Digital is one platform that I've seen authors use to format their books.
Proofread: This will be the final eyes on your work! The proofreader will look for formatting errors, typos, and any lingering grammatical and stylistic errors.
Many people (including myself) recommend that you hire a proofreader who isn't the same person who did your other editing. This is because even if weeks have passed since they read your manuscript, their eyes will never be able to pretend they haven't read the content before. Also, no editor is perfect and a different editor might catch something the first one didn't. The more eyes on your work the better!
ARCs: Advanced Reader Copies are important for marketing your book! The relationship between author and ARC reader is a symbiotic one: the reader gets a free book in a genre they enjoy, and the author gets a review and possibly some promotional content. Reviews on websites like Amazon, Goodreads, and Storygraph help get your books in the hands of the readers that will connect to your book the most!
Publication: Ahh! Yay!! Once you've published, you definitely deserve to throw yourself a party. Your editor(s) will likely want to support you in marketing your book! Don't forget to send us a link to where people (possibly us!) can purchase your book and share your social media posts so we can share to our audiences.
If you are in need of any of these services, please don't hesitate to reach out! One benefit of working with me is that you also get access to my network of amazing editors, sensitivity readers, typesetters, marketers, and more. Need recommendations for something I don't do? Just send me a quick email!
I hope this blog post was helpful! Thank you again to Lacey at Crossbones Editing for being my inspiration for this blog post and letting me use her beautiful graphics.
If you're looking for someone to do a copy/line edit, sensitivity read, or proofread, let's connect!
Mention this blog post in your inquiry form or email to me and I'll give you 20% off your service :)
Happy writing and editing!
A lot of great information about the editing process! Thank you!