I recently received a question from an author about the editorial process and what would be the most efficient and effective services needed for a publishable manuscript. Which steps could help this new author move forward with confidence? These are good questions! The terminology isn't even consistent in the industry or across different editors/publishers. And, as you might guess, the answer is usually it depends. But that’s never a helpful answer. Instead, I offer both the larger scope of the process and my recommendations for the most necessary steps.

Let's start with the fullest picture of the editorial stages:

In an ideal world in which every author had unlimited funds and time to follow the full process, an author would plan an idea for a novel and/or series, outline, and draft it — all with a book coach to help this author set out with a strong footing and good, marketable foundations if needed or desired. The author would revise and polish as much as possible on his or her own, possibly checking the story arc against — or following strategies provided — in a course or a favorite craft book or two (Wired for Story, Save the Cat Writes a Novel, etc.). Then the author might send it out for early beta reads or to a trusted critique partner to get the benefit of some fresh eyes and outside perspective before making some final revisions. Since most editors book out months in advance, the author might start booking edits as soon as the manuscript is nearly ready for beta reads. That gives the readers time to finish reading and offering feedback with some time to spare for the author to make any last changes before the editing start date. Then the author sends the manuscript to a professional editor.

The editorial sequence is as follows (with the added disclaimer that everything I share here is based primarily on my own descriptions and definitions of these steps — every editor has his or her own process and may define or split these steps in different ways, yet I think you’ll find that my process is fairly standard):

0. Highest level review

It asks, Am I on the right track?
A professional review, evaluation, appraisal, or brief assessment
This review serves the purpose of getting a quick overview of how the manuscript is looking. Sometimes this review is over the first pages only, which may be helpful for an author intent on querying for traditional publication. Or it might be a brief scan by a practiced editor who knows what she's looking for. These reviews are useful and economical — especially if the author hasn't had beta reads or doesn't have a solid pool of readers or critique partners to offer knowledgeable feedback OR if the author is new or hasn't had much experience writing novels or learning the craft and just needs to find out basic next steps or direction for a rewrite (such as the appraisal in my Decoding Dragonet package provides.)

1. High-level review

It asks, Is this manuscript working and where does it need more work?
An assessment
A full readthrough of the manuscript by a developmental (substantive) editor with feedback provided in a letter, which gives an overview of strengths and weaknesses (what's working, what's not working as well), thoughts on market positioning and marketability, and (as part of my assessment service) a rundown of the story elements to see how well each is working and working together along with suggested solutions to strengthen them as well as recommended next steps. It does not provide comments on the manuscript document itself, which is usually preferred at this stage to allow for more room to completely rewrite, extensively revise, or rework core structures without "undoing" any suggested detailed edits over the more detailed parts of the story content. It keeps things bigger-picture in order to make sure the shape of the story (the bones and organs) is working before spending too much time on parts (senses and other functions that need a skeleton and organs to keep them alive first) that won't work until the story itself is working well.

2. Intensive review

It asks, How well is this manuscript working and how can it work better?
A developmental edit (or revision coaching on the book coaching side)
A full readthrough of the manuscript by a developmental editor with feedback provided in comments on the manuscript itself throughout the story, focusing on core story content such as structure, plot, voice, character, worldbuilding, pacing, etc. with suggestions for strengthening the things that aren't working as well. The feedback is summarized and synthesized in an editorial letter, which also recommends next steps (such as whether another developmental review would be best before moving on to textual edits or if it will likely be ready for copy edits in the next round). For the level of detail in a developmental edit, it's best if the structure and core of the story are fairly solid and stable first. Then the developmental edit can focus on more detailed content, such as how the character arc and inner conflict is being shown, how it's connected well to the external conflict and plot arc, and how it's arranged, paced, etc. and that each of these aspects informs the other for the tightest story and biggest reader impact possible. It does not address text-level errors, however, unless those errors directly affect the content for the purposes of the edit.

3. Surface-level review

It asks, How clearly does this manuscript read and how can its sentences flow better?
A line/copy edit*
A full readthrough of the manuscript by a line or copy editor with feedback provided as direct changes (usually tracked using Word's "tracked changes" feature) to the manuscript's text for flow, tense, clarity, level, conciseness, repetition, spelling, and style (from Merriam-Webster Dictionary and the Chicago Manual of Style as the industry standards). A style sheet is also provided for consistency in usage and spelling. It does not address content changes beyond minor inconsistencies or the like. Textual edits assume story content is set and final and only work to polish the text for the cleanest and clearest readability.

• Note that some editors will separate line editing from copy editing or combine line editing with a developmental edit instead. A copy edit in its strictest sense may only fix more objective errors in grammar and style. On the other hand, a line edit is more like a deeper copy edit that will also rewrite or restructure sentences for a smoother flow or greater sense of clarity, which can be a bit more subjective. While line editing straddles a bit of a gray area between content and textual edits, it works best for me when I am no longer focusing on whether or not the story is working at core levels and can instead limit myself to only massaging what's already on the page. It feels like a natural extension of fixing grammar, style, and spelling.

4. Final check

It asks, Did any absolute errors slip through and is everything laid out and formatted correctly?
A proofread
A full readthrough of the book in layout (usually this means it is a PDF document after the manuscript has been formatted and set by a designer/typesetter) by a proofreader (ideally, as a cold read) with feedback provided as direct markup of the file, noting objective errors such as wrong or missing spelling, punctuation, titles, headers, page numbers, table of contents, index, etc. to be fixed (likely by the designer) in the book file before going to the printer or publication. This is a final check to see that no errors have slipped through. It is not an edit to polish flow or clarity or any merely subjective flaws. While it is similar to the scope of a strict copy edit (hopefully with far fewer edits needed), it is certainly not a line edit. Only errors that are absolutely errors are fixed at this point to avoid accidentally introducing any further errors while making the changes.

Once the author has gone through each of these editorial stages (sometimes with multiple rounds, if necessary, at the developmental stage), the book goes to publication and enchants readers everywhere — the author is in an ideal world, after all ;).

In reality, self-publishing authors go through about two or three rounds with me on their manuscripts — at least one round for a content review and a copy edit (I do not proofread for clients I have also copy edited for — my brain is already too close to the project at that point! But I can recommend other editors at that stage.). This way we can check to make sure the story itself is as good as it can be before worrying about style and grammar. We check to see that the story is strong, tight, and has as much impact on readers as possible. It’s still the author’s idea and story — simply better through the insights of an outside, dragon-eye view. After revisions, we check for consistency and clarity of the text and its usage for a better reader experience.

Ultimately, a content edit of one form or another is always going to be the best place to start. Readers might forgive some textual errors, but they won’t keep reading if the story isn’t as enchanting as it needs to be. But if you’re self-publishing, a copy edit isn’t optional. Readers may forgive some textual errors, but just head to the reviews sections to see how often readers express their annoyance over such errors! If I can tell fairly quickly into an edit that a manuscript would be better served by a different type of edit, I do check back in with my client to see if he or she would like me to proceed as planned or switch (and adjust the final payment to reflect the new total, if applicable).

However, some authors purchase two or more rounds of edits up front with me at a locked-in rate for the initial word count, which means that for the next rounds, we complete whatever type of edits the manuscripts needed. So while some of these authors may have initially hoped for a developmental edit and then copy edit, they needed the second round for another developmental edit instead to account for the big changes they made to their stories. However, if an author has had a content edit with me first, I do make a few comments on the revisions if there is anything to note at the copy edit stage although the content is no longer my focus.

While I can't say for certain what would be the best yet most economical route for you, I can give you some guidelines to go on. Review the questions attached to the editorial stages above. Which one most closely reflects the question you currently have about your manuscript? If you already know your manuscript is working (meaning it is holding together as a solid story with the potential to enchant readers) on a basic level, then maybe your next question is to find out just how well it’s actually working and where it could work even better. That would suggest you may be ready to dive into more detail in a developmental edit. But what if you find yourself at a stage that doesn’t seem to be defined? You might want to check out book coaching. A book coach can provide more guidance through the process and even at those stages you can’t seem to pin down. Or maybe you are still struggling to get your manuscript finished in the first place. A book coach can help you do that too! In my story planning packages, not only will I help you forge a path forward and hold you accountable but I will also make sure your story is set up on the strongest foundations for a novel that results in completely enchanted readers.

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