Seven Ways to Save You Time and Money in Book Editing
Authors often ask me how many revisions they will need by a professional editor. Each phase adds up financially, so my goal is to help streamline the process without sacrificing quality. Which leads me to answer: “It depends. Each revision will take your manuscript up at least a full letter grade.” This means you might move from a B to an A, etc.— up one level in quality with each full edit.
My goal is to help you earn an A. Sometimes this can be done with three basic rounds: developmental editing, copyediting, and proofreading. But a lot depends upon what shape the manuscript is in when I get it. If it’s at a D level, there’s only so much I can do in one revision. And it’s not because I’m lazy or want to milk out more money through more revisions (I’m actually delighted if I can save you money!). Rather it’s because if a book has problems that inhibit a reader’s comprehension, then my time and effort will be spent asking extensive quality questions to draw out answers and clarity from you. I’ll focus on the biggest issues first, and once those are resolved, my edits can become more nuanced.
To save you time and money, here are tips on how to resolve the most common issues I see in manuscripts sent to me. This will help you get the most out of your editing experience.
1. Develop a clear outline or story arc. Does your memoir or fiction book pull a reader in immediately and keep them wanting to turn pages? Does your non-fiction book navigate us through a logical progression of ideas so we can do something differently, solving our pain point? If not, spend more time refining your outline or arc, and rearrange content accordingly. This is the biggest developmental issue I see and the most complex to resolve. It’s one of the main drivers for author coaching or ghostwriting, because it’s not easy, especially if you’re too close to the material. (There’s no shame if you need help.)
2. Make sure your subheadings follow a clear hierarchy. Some books have no subheadings, but in non-fiction (like a business book or other how-to), headings must follow a logical hierarchy. Otherwise you’ll drive readers batty and muddle your main points. Your chapter titles, subsections within that chapter, and subpoints from that subsection should all look different—but consistent depending on the level. Any more than three sublevels is generally too many. If you’re not sure how to format these, reach out to us for a sample, or look up Chicago Manual of Style formatting for examples.
3. Do a final read to resolve inconsistency, gaps, repetition, or contradictory content. If you haven’t already read your book enough times that you aren’t sure what else to change, I recommend reading it one more time to self-correct any glaring issues in these categories. You might even let someone close to you read it and give you honest advice. Note: This is also a hard one, so if you’re confused and losing sleep over what to change, it’s time to pass it on to your editor!
4. Eliminate custom formatting. When you send your manuscript for editing, this is not the best time to include colored text, arbitrary underlining (in fact, don’t include any), random capitalizations, lots of graphics or symbols, special formatting, etc. Most customized formatting is added in the layout process, not the writing/editing phase, and your editor will probably spend time stripping this customization so it goes to the layout professional as “clean” as possible. This is because the tools used in the layout process are much more robust and appropriate for this customization. Instead, a simple Word document, all in one font, with a title page and chapter divisions (and subheadings if necessary) is plenty for your editor. Most books don’t need graphics, but if yours does, place them near the text they enhance, and refer to them in a corresponding paragraph. Or send them in a separate file, labeled to correspond to where they should go (contact us for a sample of this).
5. Make sure your story or scenes have plenty of “show,” not just “tell.” Your book likely needs a blend of both, and an editor will advise on how well it’s working. But generally consider that if you’re telling a story, we want to “see” it with our senses. This is done through mixing your narration with dialogue and vivid prose that piques the senses (what did you see, hear, taste, touch?).
6. Pay attention to vague words and repetition. Pronouns like “it” are often vague and unclear. Verbs like “is” and “were” are often passive. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use them, but look for opportunities to sharpen your writing and make it more vivid. And words that appear too many times in succession bog down your writing. This is a hack you will get better at with practice, so consider this an insider’s tip.
7. Run a spelling and grammar check. Some errors can be so distracting that the actual content seems like it’s buried behind a foreign language. Run a simple spelling/grammar check in Word, which will be far from perfect, but it will catch a bunch of things. Or more advanced tools like Grammarly can help. This won’t let your editor off the hook, because they will still find plenty to do. This is simply removing that low-hanging fruit so they can focus on the more nuanced and complex aspects of editing.
If you aren’t sure what to do next to earn your A grade, we’re happy to help you. Reach out anytime.
Happy writing!
