Know the Levels of Editing AvailableBefore you shop for an editor, know the different levels of editing available to you, and choose the most appropriate one. Whether your work is a fiction or non-fiction book manuscript, collection of poetry, an essay, article or master’s thesis, at different stages of its evolution it needs different things: substantive editing, copy editing, proofreading, rewriting, ghost writing, or simply to be published. What are most common levels of editing? Substantive editing In substantive editing, a manuscript is evaluated for its core substance, its story and its style; organizational changes and large revisions may be made or suggested. All the while, every effort is made to retain the author’s intent and voice. Sentences, paragraphs and chapters may be re-organized, or such re-organizations advised, in order to attain smoother flowing text and clarity of meaning. Wording may be strengthened or clarified as well, but that moves into the realm of copy editing. Substantive editing may include all of what is done in copy editing, plus structural changes as necessary, improvement in consistency of information and ideas, and sometimes even minor formatting changes or recommendations. Copy editing Copy editing, or line editing, is more technical and a quicker level of editing than substantive editing. Little attention is paid to structure, flow of the text etc. In copy editing, grammar, spelling, capitalization, punctuation, hyphenation and overall correctness and consistency are the focus. Copy editing is a demanding and time-consuming task for which there are no substitutes or shortcuts, particularly if you are interested in authoring a book of which you can be really proud. Proofreading Proofreading is not a one-time step... and it is not editing, which is a common misunderstanding held by many novices. Whenever any revisions are made to a manuscript it should be proofread once more to catch typos and minor editorial oversights that may have hitched a ride into your work with revisions. The more eyes that inspect a document the better, so an author should double check (proofread) an editor’s work for accuracy at every stage, then, when it’s finally ready for the publication, have it proofread again... by a fresh set of professional eyes. Ghost writing and rewriting Perhaps you’ve never written a book but you’ve had a unique life experience that you are certain would make a good book, so you want someone else to write it for you. That person is a ghost writer. He or she gets paid but his or her name never appears on the finished product. Perhaps you have taken a stab at doing the writing yourself; you’ve got the essentials down but it needs so much more work that you are willing to let a professional writer or an editor take it over and virtually re-write it. This is editing beyond the substantive level. Ghost writing and rewriting are often the choice of very articulate and educated people who simply don’t feel comfortable as “writers”, don’t want to be directly identified as the author, or simply don’t have the time to spend writing a book. Sometimes English is not their first or best language. By the way, you can hire a ghost writer for anything from a book manuscript to a love letter or resume. For more on editing:
Choosing and editor
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