What Are My Editing Options?
How to know who to hire and when.
If you’re confused about the editing options out there, it’s not just you. It is confusing, and it's confusing because the industry has changed almost completely, very fast. It’s okay though—I’ve got you.
Categories of Book Editing
Any "what is X type of editing" definition has to come with a great big caveat: each service can honestly be whatever the service provider wants it to be.
You will find all sorts of definitive explanations for even the most basic terms, like “editing” vs “revisions.” You will find some people talking about “editing” when they mean copyediting, while others mean self-reviewing your work to trim it down, and others mean acquiring manuscripts for publishing.
And don’t get me started on the way folks hire for the role of “editor” but include writing tasks within it.
So before you take my word for any of this, know that the most important tool in your arsenal is the ability to ask questions. Find out what an editor means by the terms they’re using and what kind of work they expect to deliver. Tell them what stage of your process you’re in, in your own words, and see what they recommend.
If you can’t have a great conversation with an editor about the work that’s in front of you both, it’s probably not going to work out well for either of you.
On the other hand, if the service they’re describing offer makes all of your feelings of “gawd, I’m so done” shift into a sigh of relief that they’re going to take care of you, it’s probably a good fit.
That said, here are the types of editing you might see advertised, listed in the rough order of appearance you might expect to need them:
Book coaching
Structural editing
Developmental editing
Line editing
Copyediting
Proofreading
I know, I know: One of these things is not like the other. But while book coaching doesn’t necessarily include on-the-page edits, if we are thinking about editors as “people who help me write and polish my book,” they count. Let’s start there.
Creation: Book Coaching
It’s hard to keep up with just how much things have changed over the last decade or two, but coaches in general—meaning, life coaches, executive coaches, etc—are relatively new roles.
Book coaches emerged somewhat organically from the rise of the coaching industry, the sudden increased access to self-publishing, and the withdrawal of direct support within the traditional publishing industry. So it isn’t surprising that who and what they are is still coming into view. It’s a service that’s barely in its adolescence.
I deeply admire Jennie Nash for leading the way in the book coaching world. In terms of setting professional standards and nurturing folks toward those standards, I think of Jennie as having designed the category of book coaching.
However, like life coaching, no one officially corners the market on the term itself, and anyone can claim it as a title. Buyer beware.
Book coaches should have a specific niche that they coach toward. Some are there for productivity and flow, like my brilliant client and friend Dr. Nicole Janz. Some work with specific types of content, like my constant co-working bestie-turned-neighbor (I highly recommend) Kim Kessler. Some coach through proposals, like the folks you’ll find at Author Accelerator.
Once you find folks who coach in the space and way that you’re writing, you can find coaching packages, programs, and one-off sessions to get you through the obstacle in front of you or carry you through the entire process of writing your book.
Like most coaches, their work will typically be guidance-based more than direct, on-the-page corrections. Expect calls, homework, courses, and workshops that keep you moving in the right direction.
Moving is the operative word here. A client of mine once told me that our work was like landscaping a path. I helped him mark the path out, frame it, and lay the gravel underneath, then he was able to place the pavers that made his design come to life.
A good book coach meets you in your book draft, proposal, or revisions process. They can help you get on track, stay on track, and manage the emotional ups and downs of being on said track.
Refinement: Structural or Developmental Editing
Structural editing and developmental editing aren’t strictly the same, but also, yes they are.
If you want to dig into the origins and adaptation and general objectives of this role, the book Developmental Editing is one of my favorites. Geek out about it, use it as a guide if you want to attempt your own dev edit, or refine your own service if you happen to be an editor yourself.
What struck me most about this book and other craft books I’ve read lately is the hesitance with which the traditional industry is providing this wildly valuable service.
I won’t get into a publishing rant here, but I think it’s important to name that your “editor” after a publisher picks you up is technically an acquisitions editor. Not a developmental editor.
Their job is to find books and book concepts that are promising, direct their final shape, and get them ready to be sold. Like a project manager would. You will likely get editorial direction from them, and they have the ability to pull an external developmental editor in if needed. But the odds of that actually happening seem to be low.
I’m not telling you this to talk you off of traditional publishing. I’ve just heard too many folks idealize the support that they’ll get once they “get picked up,” only to realize they were still largely on their own.
In fact, I’ve helped several folks, paying out of their own pocket, develop the book that they sold but couldn’t figure out how to write. No publisher assistance involved.
All that aside, a developmental edit takes the idea of your book plus the shape it’s actually in and finds a new way forward to make the two align. They’ll likely provide a recommended restructure with the reasoning behind their recommendations, guidance on all sorts of presentation-related aspects of your draft, an overall perspective on where your manuscript is now, and what’s left for you to do.
Like coaching, there are various ways this service can be executed. You might get a smaller scope evaluation, an intense write-up, in-line comments, or any of the above plus coaching calls to help the editor understand your vision or to help you understand theirs. I personally won’t do any kind of developmental work without speaking with the author somewhat extensively.
If a publishing house hires a developmental editor for a book they’ve acquired, they will give the vision for the book to the editor and it’s the editor’s job to develop the vision out of what they’re given. In theory, they don’t need to talk with the author beyond helping them understand the plan that came together.
However, when the author and editor are working directly together, with the author’s vision paramount, my personal opinion is that conversations with the author should be just as important as reading the manuscript.
I’m actually a little biased toward this editing skill because I think it’s so damn fun. I also don’t see it as a luxury or a wishlist item, especially for nonfiction authors. This is where you get to hone your vision from a foundational level. If anything at all about your project or process is hitching in the creative phases, a dev edit may be the thing for you.
A good developmental or structural editor catches the vision of your book as it could be and uses their knowledge of effective book structure to give you direct recommendations for leveling up your book from its proposal or draft form.
Completion: Line Editing, Copyediting and Proofreading
Unlike the last section, I have not grouped these together because they are the same. There are significant differences between these levels of editing—but they do all happen at the same stage.
The way I’ve explained this stage shift to my authors is that “you have said everything you want to say in the order you want to say it.”
Of course, there’s a big jump from the dev editing I was just talking about and “ta-da, you’re done!” If you’re struggling to say everything you want to say, circle back to a book coach who can help you bring your thoughts to life. If you’re struggling to put what you want to say in the order you want to say it, connect with a developmental editor or structural editor who can help you rearrange it.
But when those pieces feel complete, a more hands-on editing service can begin.
Line Editing
Think of line editing as being on the line between the development (creation and refinement) and production (completion) stages of your book.
Line edits are a way to bring your voice to life and clarify your message one more time before it moves into production, meaning the final polish and design and printing of your book.
Line editing is a last stop for subjective changes.
Once a book goes to production, the machine is in motion to bring it out into the world. No one is happy when everything grinds to a halt because the author wants to add something significant or the copyeditor found a glaring gap.
Line editors will query (leave comments with questions or recommendations) if they aren’t confident what kind of edit should be made or if they know the general direction but need you to do it so that it’s authentic.
They—as well as copyeditors and proofreaders—will track their changes so that you can see and approve everything they do.
And they will help you refine your book from “I think it’s done?” to “WOW this is it.”
A note on intense edits: There is a difference between rearranging or leveling up your existing material versus adding content based on what you have said somewhere else (or would say if you could).
Line editors refine the content you already have on the page. Ghostwriters take your words and thoughts from other content or calls and turn them into thoughts on the page.
Often, ghostwriting is thought of as wholesale writing from beginning to end, but intense edits can tip into ghostwriting when significant passages need to be added or shifted.
An editor who can do this without losing your voice is going to charge higher rates than one who holds strict boundaries around editing only. And an editor who holds those boundaries will send larger changes back to you to complete and will trust your judgement if you decide not to execute those changes. i.e., If the book is worse because you don’t do it, they will not stop you.
A good line editor will be able to move words and phrases and lines around to refine your message without losing your voice.
Copyediting and Proofreading
Every form of editing I’ve named to this point is technically optional, including line editing.
If you are great at writing clean emails, clear presentations, or some other form of written work, you may not need a line editor. A dev editor, however, could help you wrap your head around the larger structure of your book.
If you are writing a book based on a process you know like the back of your hand or a presentation you’ve given a thousand times, your structure may be sound. But a line editor can help you polish any rough edges around the writing itself.
Copyediting and proofreading tip into non-negotiable territory.
Copyediting is part of the production stage, so the assumption is that they are receiving the book you want to publish.
But are your proprietary terms consistent? Did you capitalize That One Thing the same way all the way through? Did you contradict chapter three in chapter nine? Is your syntax clear? How about those footnotes—all cleaned up an accurate?
And so. much. more.
Copyeditors will keep an eye out for some subjectivity and may query you when there’s confusion. They might even see a strange turn of phrase and suggest an alternative, even if it’s technically correct.
Proofreaders will not.
Proofreaders are there to fix errors and only errors.
They will determine what is an error by a style guide, so be sure you know what they’re working from and what that means. Also, if you have anything quirky you want excepted from that style guide, let them know in a document in advance of the edit.
They are brilliant. They are meticulous. They are still human.
This is why I prefer getting both a copyedit and a proofread. Hell, get two copyedits and a proofread if you’d like. Definitely get a second proofread after your book has been to layout.
The thing is, I’ve seen books go through numerous rounds of editing in traditional publishing spaces and still hit the printer with errors.
It’s going to happen.
The fewer rounds of production editing you get, the more errors you’ll have.
Please do not:
Freak out on your proofreader if you happen to see an error after they are done. Most will be happy to take another look to correct the error and look for more. Their work hinges on quality and referrals, so give them a chance to prove one and earn the other.
Ask your proofreader to justify every. single. change that they make. Most of them are charging per word for the edit, not per hour for their time. If you want them to go hunt down the CMOS rule for every single comma variance, you’re asking them for a college-level course for free when it doesn’t matter to you at all. And if you don’t know what CMOS means, you certainly don’t need to be asking what the rule for their change is.
Ask for a freaking refund. This is not everyone’s policy, but it’s me going into mama bear mode for an already underpaid, highly skilled job. Have confidence in your editor before the engagement, trust them during, and if you decide something about the manuscript still isn’t ready to publish, take it to a high level expert like a coach or dev editor or project manager who can help you figure out why.
Good copyeditors and proofreaders will be very clear about exactly how they work their magic, but in the end, they will all polish your manuscript to a shiny finish.
When and How to Hire an Editor
When is it time to reach out to an editor?
I tell my schooled-at-home kids to call for me if they've been staring at a blank screen for ten minutes. Book-writing allots for a bit slower pace than that, but if you're beating your head against a stack of craft books, it's time to put down the obligations and pick up a time on someone's calendar.
Another indicator is that you’ve taken your book as far as you can, maybe without the feeling of frustration. There’s a difference between “done” and “gawd, I’m done,” and it can be subtle.
Either way, don’t wait long in that space where you aren’t sure what to do next. Sometimes it becomes clear to you after a good walk or a week or two on pause. When it doesn’t, there’s probably something a professional can help you with.
I’ll pause here to say there are definitely Ron Swanson in Home Depot moments—where you really do know your shit and can walk right past the service rep and get to the product you need.
When other editors tell me what they need, or someone I’ve worked with a million times tells me what stage we’re in, they’re usually right.
But you should not have to become a professional to know what kind of professional support you need.
Because one of us is ready and waiting for you at any stage of the game.
When you're sick of looking at your manuscript, when you're proud of it and want someone to join you in play space, when you're hitting your head against the wall, when you have a mess of content all over the place, when you've got a decent idea you're interested in chasing...
If you're even thinking about writing a book, you could partner with an editor.
It's our job to know what shape the book is in and tell you how we can help you round those edges out.
Your job is to show up as yourself, for yourself and your reader. And that’s hard enough without adding anything else to it.
Do not stress out about the industry terms for what you need.
Do not pore over this or any other article to try to find the exact service you need.
Be yourself, with what you know. Identify roughly where you are on the spectrum of services, from book coach to proofreader, and then go talk to one of those people.
Tell them in your words where you’re at. Even if your words are “UGH, HELP.”
If the person you’ve reached out to can’t help you from there, they aren’t the kind of help you need. Come back here, reply, and I’ll help you sort things out.
Last thoughts:
Watch for Editorial Process Differences
I personally approach developmental work differently based on where the author is—which means you can engage me to develop your idea, your manuscript, or a bundle of documents and articles and presentations that you KNOW has something to it but can't figure out how to pull it together.
You can see how this sometimes looks like adjusting or creating an outline via concepts, marking up a manuscript, or a bespoke combination.
It’s good to go into each stage knowing how you prefer to work. If you’re not great at visual learning, you might not want someone who primarily gives written feedback. If you don’t love to talk on the phone or on video, you might need asynchronous book coaching.
You might really love someone personally but really not be able to work with their process, and that is okay. You could fit a square peg into that round hole, but someone is going to come out scuffed. Better to find the right fit and cheer the other folks on from afar.
Don’t Take Things Personally—Your Editor Shouldn’t Either
We’re not evaluating YOU. You don’t lose any points to Griffynpuff for bringing an editor a manuscript that isn’t impeccable. This is not a graded assignment.
If an editor tells you they take manuscripts at all stages, believe them. They have seen worse than whatever you have.
If an editor tells you they take manuscripts at certain stages, ask them where yours lands.
If an editor marks your manuscript up to oblivion, they see what your book can be and want to help you get it there. They’re not trying to erase it from existence. Also, markups always look messy no matter how clean it is in the beginning.
If an editor makes a suggestion that you don’t want to keep, don’t keep it.
If their work ever feels misaligned to your intentions or the way you work, talk to them.
Most of us want to help you actually execute the changes you've hired us to suggest, and that is more likely to happen when everyone is on the same page.
Don’t Stay Stuck Alone
The truth is that editing is subjective.
There are a thousand iterations of your book that could be right, and none of the evaluative tools or rubrics in the world can tell you if you've landed on the right one for you, in this stage of your life, in this moment in time.
And that's both good and bad news.
Bad news because we can't tell you—now or ever—if your book is publishable just by looking at it.
Good news because we can figure it out together.
I don't believe you can outsource the knowing—that gut feeling that you’ve said what you want to say, for a specific person, in a specific way.
But I do think we can help you get to that knowing.
And I absolutely believe you don't have to hold any part of the process alone.
Want to dig into this topic more in a workshop? Let me know in the comments.