Editorial Work

YES, YOU NEED AN EDITOR

Editing is an important part of book production and it should be done on the original manuscript before the process of designing the book begins. A professional editor's services will be well worth the outlay of cash as it is very disappointing to sit down with your newly-printed book and discover spelling and typographical errors scattered across the pages.

Who should edit your book?

Most computer programs have spelling and grammar checkers but these are not foolproof. For instance, a spell check program will only pick up collections of letters that do not make words, but it will not pick up on misspellings that still result in words. So it would pick up the word "book" if it was misspelled "bok," but it would not pick it up if it was spelled "back."

It is a common misconception that anyone who is a competent writer or who is reasonably well-read can do an adequate job of editing a manuscript. The best editors are those who edit text for a living. They will diligently look at every word, phrase, sentence, and punctuation mark to make sure there are no spelling or grammatical errors.

The author is always the worst person to edit the manuscript because they are much too familiar with the text to look at it with a critical eye. “I’ve read this text a million times so I can’t believe I missed that typo!” is a familiar comment from self-publishers.

TYPES OF EDITING

Here is a list of the different levels of editing:

Substantive Structural Edit
Includes: clarifying for meaning and reorganizing content and structure where needed; checking for consistency in point of view, voice, style, usage; correcting grammar, spelling, punctuation.

Stylistic Edit
Includes: all of the above except clarifying meaning and reorganizing content and structure.

Copy/Mechanical/Line Edit
Includes: correcting grammar, spelling, punctuation and checking for consistency in spelling, capitalization, numbers.

Proofreading
This is done on the page proofs after the pages have been laid out. Includes: checking for keyboarding errors against original copy. If possible, this should be done by the same person who has done other editing on the manuscript.

Most editors will be happy to advise you as to what kind of edit your manuscript needs, and to give you an estimate of the cost of their services before they begin work.

CONTACT US at info@self-publish.ca to discuss what level of editing your manuscript needs and to obtain a free estimate.