Different types of Editing
Which is right for you?
Use this simple guide to map your writing journey to the editing process.
Then you can see which type of edit you need for your text to reach its full potential.
I do not combine types of edit. If you are at the Developmental Edit stage, I offer a Book Audit. If you want a Line Edit, that comes before a Copyedit. All writers need a Copyedit before they submit to publishers or agents, or if they publish their book themselves.
You can ask questions about what level of edit you need on our Fact Finding Call.
Developmental Edit
Line Edit
Copyedit
Proofreading
Creation
➡️
Improvement
➡️
Correction
➡️
Perfection
You will know you need a Developmental Edit if you are wondering if your book is good enough to publish. Maybe, your book has been rejected by agents or publishers or maybe you are publishing independently (self-publishing) and want to be sure you’re putting something good out into the world.
A Developmental Edit helps you to develop your work into a publishable book (fiction, nonfiction or memoir) or a submittable book proposal (non fiction).
It looks at the big picture, at the structure, point and purpose, narrative drive and flow, and internal logic of your work.
In my Book Audit (quicker than a full Developmental Edit), I show you how to take stock of your position, by shining a light on the issues likely being picked up by readers of your work and how you could fix them to increase your book’s appeal to readers.
You get meaningful input from me, a professional trained to know what the book industry expects, so that you write a marketable book.
You are confident you have told the story as you want to tell it, in the best way you can tell it, and now you want a professional’s input on the actual language you have used to write the book.
You want to make your draft look more like a real book.
You wonder if you have been clear enough to show the reader what you really mean.
You suspect you may have ‘verbal tics’ that are invisible to you.
You are looking for someone who really understands how to use the English language and who can also write in your Voice. Someone who can make you say, “That’s exactly what I meant!”
Your Line Editor’s task is to make sure that the style, word choice and tone is right for your work. They look for contradictions, repetitions and factual errors.
You can expect some significant rewriting and rephrasing, all in the service of making your writing shine.
You are feeling confident that your manuscript (book proposal, or nonfiction work, or fiction) is pretty much the best you can make it.
You have a niggling doubt, as all writers who are honest with themselves do, that you might have misspelt, or misused, some words, or that your lack of understanding of punctuating dialogue, or using commas, has tripped you up. Or that you have just overlooked some errors. We all do.
You don’t want someone changing your words because they think it “sounds better”; you want the things that are grammatically wrong to be put right.
You want the grammar, spelling, and punctuation to be correct, line-by-line.
You want to submit a polished piece of work to your publishers or agents, or for your readers, if you are publishing independently. See more about copyediting here.
You have been working with publishers, or have lined up a book producer on a paying basis and are on the point of publication. Proofing is the absolutely last step before publishing.
I don’t undertake proofreading, which involves making corrections to the printer’s proofs or digital layouts. It may involve typesetting, page formatting and reference checks. Most likely, your publisher or book producer will have in-house proofreaders or will outsource the service.
How to get started
If you think I may be able to help you, then click on the pink button to pull up a form so you can tell me about your book. Everything you tell me I’ll hold in strict confidence.
Your answers come straight to my personal inbox, and when I see them I will review them and email you back with my advice for your best next steps.
That might be to hop on a fact finding call with me, so you can ask questions about what book coaching or editing might look like for you.
Or I might point you in the direction of another book coach or editor who can serve you better.
Click on the pink button to pull up the form.
Want more clarity on the exact differences?
Editing is a highly specialised skill and the differences between the four types (Developmental, Line, and Copyediting, and Proofreading) can be confusing when you first encounter them.
The point of jumping on a call with me is so that we can talk about which type of editing – Developmental, Line, or Copy – will suit you best. I don’t offer proofreading as a service.
If you’d like to read more about the Differences between the Types of Editing, click here.
My legal terms for editing can be found here.
Fees
My indicative charges are set out here:
My House Style
I work to my own House Style Sheet, which I share with you before we start work so that we can agree any important editing preferences you may have.
I was educated in the US, and have family there, and am as familiar with US English as I am with UK English. I am a member of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading and I edit UK, American and Australian authors (some examples of my work are here).
Take a look at my House Style Sheet.
Availability to help you
The best way to check my availability is to click on the Get Started button and tell me about your book. That way, you can tell me what you need, and how quickly, and I can tell you if I have capacity to help you.
If you’d like to check how many weeks it usually takes me to carry out an editing job, whether Developmental, Line or Copyediting, take a look on this link. Bear in mind that my start times will vary depending on what I am already committed to at the time you enquire.
What's the bigger picture?
The four stages of editing follow each other in sequence, like this:
Developmental Edit➡️ Line Edit ➡️ Copyedit ➡️ Proofreading
I provide Developmental Editing in the form of a Book Audit, for manuscripts, and for book proposals. See more about Book Audits, here.
I do Line Editing and Copyediting. I make your text accurate, clear and fit for purpose. The aim is always to minimise interference in the reading experience.
If you need a Line Edit, you will also need a Copyedit, because the two edits perform different functions. (See Differences between the Types of Editing.) You don’t need separate Editors: I am happy to perform first a Line Edit and then a Copyedit on your work, or, if you only need a Copyedit, just that.
Another form of editing is ‘Proofreading’. I don’t undertake proofreading in the technical sense of making corrections to proofs, immediately before publication.
Uncertain?
Are you sitting on the fence? Confused?
Wondering if you should invest money and time in seeking my help to make your text reach its full potential?
Click on the pink button to pull up a form so you can tell me about your book and what you think you need.
Everything you tell me I’ll hold in strict confidence. Your answers come straight to my personal inbox, and when I see them I will review them and email you back with my advice for your best next steps.
That might be to hop on a fact finding call with me, so you can ask questions about what editing might look like for you.
Or I might point you in the direction of another book coach or editor who can serve you better.
Clarity lies just a click away.