Posted by Writing a book and then publishing it is not a one-person show. But books can only achieve deserved success if they are properly edited, formatted, and marketed. Your book can make up to the mark if all these steps are followed in the right way.
Therefore, after completing your manuscript, the first step to transform your manuscript is editing. The book editing process will help you check your manuscript and look for the mistakes that you unintentionally overlooked in the writing process. You can edit your manuscript yourself, but opting for manuscript editing services can also give you numerous benefits, as it will provide you with an editing professional who knows how to make your book impeccable. Moreover, these editing professionals also have the skills and knowledge to turn your manuscript into a masterpiece.
This blog will discuss the many book editing types and how they can benefit you and your book. So, let’s start.
The Different Types Of Book Editing
Book editing is one of the most important steps in the publishing process as it ensures that your book is perfectly written, polished, and ready to be published. Numerous types of book editing with different purposes showcase different aspects of the manuscript. Let’s take a closer look at the different types of book editing and their roles in the book editing process.
Developmental Editing
When professional editors start the editing process, they start with developmental editing. The main purpose of developmental editing is to provide detailed feedback on your manuscript and check the mistakes that you have overlooked. The professional editors will polish your ideas, refine or reshape your narrative, and fix the major inconsistencies in plots or characters.
This type of editing is similar to editorial assessment but more detailed. Moreover, it is also known as structural editing, content editing, or substantive editing. When your manuscript goes through the developmental editing process, it will contain line-level errors. Therefore, when you choose manuscript editing services, you must ensure that your manuscript goes through the developmental editing process.
Copy Editing
Copy editing is the second book editing process after you have solved the bigger problems of your manuscript. In the copy-editing process, the copy editor will look at your manuscript in depth and look for anything that makes it look less readable such as word inconsistencies or repetition.
Copy editing is also known as line or mechanical editing, depending on its related application. Copy or line editing is done when the author is confident with the book story and after multiple rewrites. Moreover, the copy-editing process will focus on the spelling, grammar, and syntax errors that your manuscript might contain.
Furthermore, the goal of the professional copy editor is to eliminate all line errors from the manuscript, such as grammar or punctuation errors. The copy editor will thoroughly read your manuscript and make corrections and changes.
When you start the copy editing process, there are two important choices you need to make. Firstly, the language, and secondly, the style manual. Talking about the language, books usually written in English are either in American English or in British English. The copy editor’s job is to ask which type of language you want to use in your book. The second decision is about the style manual. There are layout rules for the sentence structure and its format. The copy editor asks for your preference before starting the editing process.
Editorial Assessment
The editorial assessment is relatively new in the book editing world. It is something that has gained significant importance in order to meet the needs of self-published authors with a limited budget. The editorial assessment, also called the manuscript assessment, is actually a brief assessment of your book structure, plot, and narration.
In the editorial assessment, authors will not get any feedback to rewrite or correct the manuscript. But they would receive a detail focusing on the broad strokes. Editorial assessment is best for authors whose manuscript is messy and don’t know how to make them look perfect.
Proofreading
Many authors just do the proofreading step instead of going through the developmental and copy editing stages. This elevates many problems, such as your book’s inability to get a proper and in-depth assessment. Therefore, it is important to edit your book before sending it to the proofreading step.
Proofreading is the last step of the editing process, which is done to catch the remaining errors left in the editing process. Proofreaders are basically the final person who see your book before it gets published. You can hire professional proofreaders who check small errors easily swept away from the editor’s eye.
These professional editors focus on the consistency, sentence structure, grammar, punctuation, and continuity errors in your manuscript, fix them, and save you from future embarrassment. They also check for page numbers, running heads, chapter headings, scene breaks, illustrations, etc., which copy editors have missed.
Significant Benefits Of Editing Your Manuscript
When deeply involved in the book writing process, you often make mistakes. This is why you need to go through the book editing process to eliminate those mistakes and ward off future humiliation. Let’s look at some benefits of editing your manuscript.
Removes Errors
The book editing process eliminates the errors made in the writing process. These mistakes can be typos, grammar, spelling, etc.
Saves Time And Effort
A professional error looks at your manuscript in detail, quickly fixes all errors, and saves a lot of time and effort. These editors will not only make your work accurate, but they will also maintain the correct tone and help you meet the required standards.
Refines Your Manuscript
When you take the help of professional editors, they will make your work faultless and also increase the chances of your book gaining a competitive edge.
Helps You Get Valuable Feedback
When you opt for manuscript editing services, you will get valuable feedback on recommendations from professional editors. This will help you improve your work quality and clarify your work’s structure, flow, and readability.
Conclusion
The book editing process is important for your book’s success. There are several types of editing, such as developmental editing, copy editing, editorial assessment, and proofreading you can use to make your book flawless. Each type of editing entails the particular knowledge and skills required for your manuscript. So, if you want to publish your manuscript and want it to get the deserved attention, you must understand different types of editing processes.