Get the Best Out of Your Editor There are two things that you must understand if you

want to get the best out of your editor and editing experience. The first is to make sure you have selected the right editor and level of editing for your piece. The second is to make sure that you have polished your piece to the best of your ability before sending it in. Doing these two things will ensure that you get the edit you want and that it is performed to it's fullest. The editing process is crucial when taking a piece from manuscript to published masterpiece, but it is often overlooked and misunderstood. For you as an author, uUnderstanding the process and getting good information areis the first steps to creating a good and worthwhile editing experience. Unfortunately, the editing industry is not standardized or regulated, which means there are many inconsistencies and confusions surrounding everything from the basic terms to the skills and qualities required to be an editor. This can often serve as a roadblock in your quest for quality information and can lead to frustration, confusion, and perhaps a little mistrust of editors. However, don't be discouraged. There are amazing editors out there who want to help you understand the industry and make the best out of your writing. As an editor, I want to explain to you how to select the right editor and level of editing for your piece. I also want to explain the importance of making sure that you have polished your piece to the best of your ability before sending it in.I am one of these editors and hopefully the following passage will help clear up some of your confusion concerning the different types of editing so that you can discover what your needs from the editing process are.
Commented [CS3]: I feel like this part is the strong thesis of your paper, and a thesis should come at the end of the introduction. Putting this information here also makes it lead very well into the body of the paper. Commented [CS4]: Maybe you should talk about polishing the piece first in the paper, since that usually happens before the author picks an editor. Commented [CS5]: For headings, we want headings that show a progression from headings to sub-sub headings. Formatted: Centered Commented [CS2]: Make the best out of your writing makes it sound like the writing isnt that good. Perhaps replace with make your writing the best it can be. Formatted: Indent: First line: 0.49" Commented [CS1]: From what I understand, youre targeting authors. Are you specifically targeting independent authors?

Section one: Selecting your editor and level of edit

Selecting your editor Today,It seems that in this day and age there are as many editors as there are writers, but as with writers, not every editor is the same, or even good. And while having such a vast market of editors means the market is fierce, it also means that there is no reason to settle for an editor whothat is not the perfect fit for your story. You may be a writer who writes fiction, nonfiction, academic papersally, blogs, short stories, or biographies, and whatever else you can dream. For whatever category of writing you write, there is an editor who edits it. So, find an editor who specializes in your type of literature. But not only that, find and editor whose personality, writing style, and sense of humor you can relate to. Find an editor whose morals and values match your own. When you hand your piece of writing over to an editor, you are trusting the editorm with something you have spent hours, days, weeks, or even years on. Youre and trusting them him or her to see it's potential and, toand love and care for it until it has reached that it's fullest potential. When you hand you piece over to an editorIn a sense, you are trusting the editorthem with your child. You are trusting him or herthem to care for, understand, and groom your child to be the best it can be. So don't sell yourself short, and m. Make sure you are handing your piece over to someone you can trust. Don't select an editor that will try to make your work fit his or hertheir ideals, but find an editor who will help your work reach the ideal you have envisioned for it. Don't take a gamble with something you care about, and b. Be sure toand do your research. As a writer, you bring the ideas, style, and personality to a piece, and as an editors I'mare simply there to supplement and complement you in any ways needed. Good editors willI'll work with you, not against you, and willI'll ensure your pieces says what you want itthem to say. They haveI work for you and your readers best interests at heart, not a publisher or publishing

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Commented [CS6]: I read in an authors blog that not only do you want an editor whos morals and values matches your own, but you want an editor who loves your story, and who will give you as many compliments as corrections.

house. They areI am not a butchers armed with a red -pens, but an enhancers;. Ithey want to take something good, and make it better. Even perfect. And theywe can only do this by understanding one another and working together.
Commented [CS7]: I know you want to relate these good characteristics to yourself, but simply by explaining that they are good characteristics, you are saying that you have those characteristics (simply because you know what they are). Commented [CS8]: Is this referring to understanding and working together with the author or with other editors? Formatted: Font: Italic

Selecting your edit Unfortunately, the world of editing has yet to be standardized, and perhaps never will be. So tTerms often get tossed around, mixed up, and pretty thoroughly confused. What follows is a basic guide of what each term means and what I offer as an editor in in general, and exactly if you choose me as your editor, what you can expect from aa given service.

Developmental Editing Developmental editing This is an often overlooked, yet crucial, form of editing, especially

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for novel- length works. Developmental This kind of editing deals less with your writing and more with your ideas. In fact, Ssome view it as more of a developmental critique rather than an edit. The In a developmental edit, an editor will deal with consider all aspects of your story and will ensures that these aspectsy are well thought out, organized, and developed. During this stage, and editor will evaluate whether if your characterization is strong, whetherif your dialogue feels natural, whetherif the storyit is appropriate for the intended audience, whetherit the plot is organizatiedon and flows well, and whetherif the story is presented in the best way. The editor will then, and makeke suggestions tofor enhanceing the story. To sum up, tThe editor will look at the story as a whole and point out your weak passages, subplots, or chapters characters and present suggestions on how to improve them.

Commented [CS9]: Is it especially overlooked in novel-length works or especially crucial in novel-length works?

Commented [CS10]: This sentence is made redundant by the stronger, more detailed sentence that follows that. Delete?

Commented [CS11]: Is this what you mean? Commented [CS12]: What exactly does this mean? Its a little vague. What are the different ways to present a story? Does that mean the person the story is told in? The way discourse is used? The way the storyline builds to a crisis and falls? etc.

Generally, when performing developmental edits, copy editing errors are mostly over looked. This is done because, a developmental edit usually requiresif large sections of the novel to will be cut out or rewritten, then and editorsI don't want to waste your money editing something that will only be rewritten or deleted. Most editors, including me, I will provide advice if theyI notice a grammar rule or usage issue that you are consistently doing wrong, so they can to help you improve your future writing and save you time during the editing process., Bbut the mainmy goal with this type of editing is to polish the idea and backbone of your novel before picking apart the nitty-gritty grammar details. Substantive Editing Slightly less substantial than a developmental edit and often harder to pinpoint specifics of, substantive editing deals with the style, structure, content, organization, and flow of a paper. Substantive editing is most concerned with how your manuscript reads. At this point, you should have your plot or structure downin place and well formed, but you still need editing that , have the ideas where you want, and want to focus on will makeing sure your document flows well and is easy for your audience to read for your audience. Thise step often involves concision and , simplifying and organizing a document. In particular, the following things often fall under substantive editing: Sentence structure, transitions, topic sentences, formatting, style standards, fact checking, and permissions, etc. During this edit, an editor checks the integrity of your document and ensures that formatting, voice, logic, and usage are consistent throughout. An editor may also point out strengths and weaknesses of the piece and provide suggestions on how to improve the weaknessesm. You may wish for an editor to send you back substantive suggestions so that you may rework passages yourself, or you may trust an editor to rework passages for you. A good editor
Commented [CS17]: This sentence doesnt fit with the rest of the paragraph. Maybe more into the next paragraph or delete completely. Commented [CS18]: Things is a vague word. Maybe try aspects or something else like that. Commented [CS15]: This introductory phrase is a bit too long and is awkwardly reworded. Rephrase? (Maybe put the subject of the sentencesubstantive editingin the initial position of the sentence. Commented [CS16]: What does this mean? How cohesive it is? How one idea logically leads to the next? Commented [CS14]: Maybe plot and characterization and storytelling methods (or similar words) would be better words to use here. Formatted: Underline Commented [CS13]: What does this refer to? Can you think of a more specific word that sums up what this is?

should be able to understand your voice and writing style well enough that any changes he or she makes fits your intent and voice. In addition the previously mentioned categories, Aan editor may also start to pick apart, strengthened, and clarify ied, word choice and usage, but these actionsis starts to tread dangerously close to other levels of editing, which is why substantive editing is often combined with other editing steps. For example, wWhen working with novels, I often perform this stepsubstantive editing while doing developmental editing. When working with shorter or more technical texts, I often perform this step with copy editing or line editing.
Commented [CS19]: Or some other word or phrase that sums up this.

Line Editing I'm not sure if I want to include this term or not. Thoughts? Copy Editing Copy editing can be heavy or light, and it deals rather strictly with grammar, spelling, usage, capitalization, punctuation, hyphenation, and the overall correctness of a manuscript. There are often no shortcuts or compromises for copy editing becauseas this form of editing deals with ensuring that your paper manuscript followsand the rules of grammar and is consistent are consistent. The level of your copy editing you receive depends on your personal preference. You may wish for the editor to change absolutely no more than what absolutely must be changed. In this case, you would want to ask for a copy edit. Or, you may wish for the editor to also play around with word choice, improve parallelism, and some vary sentence structure in addition to correcting the rules of grammar. In this case, you would want to ask for a heavy copy edit. Whatever the degree of copy editing, this type of edit is often one of the last steps that a manuscript goes through before it is laid out and readytypeset for publishing.

Formatted: Underline Commented [CS20]: I wouldnt include it. Line editing is mostly proofreading, although some people think of it more as copy editing. Since you have both copy editing and proofing in here, I wouldnt talk about line editing. But if you do take it out, make sure to take out the reference to line editing in the paragraph above. Maybe you could mention in the copy editing section that light copy editing is often called line editing. Formatted: Underline Commented [CS21]: Doesnt hyphenation fall under the category of punctuation?

Commented [CS22]: Is this supposed to be a light copyedit?

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Proofreading ProofreadingThis is often the last step involved when writing orto publishing a piece. Often confused with copy editing, proofreading doesn't actually deal with editing., Rrather, proofreading deals with a fully edited and typeset piece and involves and editor searching through a document to make sure everything is in order. In this step, the editor attempts to flush out any missed punctuation or grammatical errors, as well as awkward word structure on the pages. But tThere should not be very many changes made when proofreading. This is simply a step to make sure a piece is completely polished before a reader views it. If there are more than 5 to7 mistakes on a page, you probably need to go back and copy edit it again. This stepProofreading is often performed on hard copy texts, so that one can see how the final product will look for readers. By having the printed product, the editor is able to make sure the layout is attractive. The editor checks heading and page number consistency, regulates orphan and widow control, fixes unappealing word or letter stacks, and searches for distracting or ugly white space.There should not be very many changes made when proofreading. This is simply a step to make sure a piece is completely polished before a reader views it. If there are more than 5 to7 mistakes on a page, you probably need to go back and copy edit it again.
Commented [CS23]: In addition to catching last-minute errors, this is the biggest part to proofreadingchecking the layout of the document. Commented [CS24]: This is more of a design step than an editing step (in fact, most editors dont typeset), so you probably shouldnt include it. Commented [CS25]: Ghost writing is usually seen as a separate profession from editing because a ghost writer basically rewrites everything, so I wouldnt include this either. Commented [CS26]: If you want a part 1 and a part 2, make sure you mention part 1 in the first heading. (I like it better without the part 1 and part 2, and by centering the subtitles, you can make them stand out without having to put in extra words.) Commented [CS27]: I thought this section was supposed to be about polishing your piece before sending it to an editor (most of the section is about polishing your piece, but the subtitle doesnt reflect that). Revise? Formatted: Centered Formatted: Font: Italic Formatted: Indent: First line: 0.49"

Typesetting Ghost Writing Not sure about these terms either.

Part two: Getting the most outr of your experience

Tell you editor exactly what you want Is there a specific passage that you've been having trouble with? Is there a character that you feel is falling flat? Are you worried that your timeline is confusing? Are you just not sure what the best way to present your material is? Do you fear your dialogue feels forced? Are you looking for a total over haul or just for an improvement on f what you already have? Are you worried that your time line is confusing? Are you just not sure what they best way to present your material is? Are you most concerned with punctuation? What ever your reason for seeking out an editor, make sure you let the editorm know. As editors, Wwe are working for you, so make sure you give us a good job description. Effective communication is the number one way to get exactly what you want out of an edit. If you don't let us know what it is you're hoping to get out of your experience, then we will try our best, but sometimes what you believe is a obvious or expected isn't obvious to us, and we might not get it exactly right. I want you to be satisfied. I am a satisfied editor when you are a satisfied author, and I will work with you to make sure this happens.
Commented [CS30]: This isnt mentioned at all in the introduction or the thesis, and it doesnt have much to do with the rest of the paper. I suggest simply removing it. Formatted: Font: Italic Formatted: Font: Italic Commented [CS29]: What is it here? The kind of edit? The focus? Commented [CS28]: Maybe start with an introductory remark to all of these questions. When you send your work to an editor, you may have specific questions and issues you want the editor to address.

Believe your novel is polished before you send it to an editor Sure, the more you believe you piece is finished, the more hearing that it actually isn't might hurt. But the more complete a piece is when I receive it, the more completely I can edit it. Before sending your manuscript to an editor, Hhave friends or family look over it. They may not be editors, but if they're familiar with reading, they will be able to tell you what parts they like and dislike. Also Wwait a bit before sending your piece to an editor. If you're writing a novel,

Commented [CS31]: How long is a bit? A day? A week? A month?

then you might need to let it simmer for a few weeks before looking at it again. Technical documents or posts may require less time to simmer, but should still be left alone long enough that the ideas are no longer fresh in your mind. It might be tempting to try and see your dream turn into a reality as quickly as possible, but I can promise you that better things comes to those who wait. If you're writing a novel, then you might need to let it simmer for a few weeks before looking at it again. Technical documents or posts may require less time to simmer, but should still be left long enough that the ideas are no longer fresh in your mind. Allowing yourself time to forget what exactly you've written is just likesimilar to having a second set of eyes look at your piece, and doing so will allow you a to better judge ment of your strengths and weaknesses.
Commented [CS33]: Its not really just like having a second set of eyes, because the author will still remember a lot of what they wrote, but it is similar. Formatted: Font: Italic Commented [CS32]: This is a clich phrase that doesnt mean much of everything. Maybe replace with something like, youre manuscript will turn out better if you wait.

Edit to the best of your abilityhe best you can You're a writer, not an editor, so you may not be able to catch every error you make, but dont worry, because you don't have tocatch all the errors. If you're a writer, you probably like language and probably have a fairy good sense of grammar and punctuation rules engrained in your mind, even if you can't always explain why something is right or wrongso. So make sure that this is reflected in your writing and p. Proofread and edit your own work. You know that a character's name should be capitalized, or that you didn't mean to have that typo in the middle of thata sentence. Fix these thingserrors. The more things like thiserrors you leave in your manuscript work, the longer an editor takes,and the more in- depth the an editor has to take editing is, and the more you end up paying the editorm. Unless you've got some cash to burn, sSave you're money and edit your manuscript do it yourself. Unless you've got some cash to burn, Yyour editor will understand that you're not paying them him or her to pick up your slack;. he or sheThey knows that you are paying them him or her to help polish and publish your piece.

Commented [CS34]: Or some other phrase that doesnt sound colloquial. Formatted: Font: Italic Formatted: Font: Italic

Commented [CS35]: so was vague. Is this what you mean? Commented [CS36]: What is this? Language sense? Instinct?

So go ahead and take the time to self-edit your work piece because d. It oing so will save you time and money during the editing process. Conclusion: By doing your research in theseon editors and the levels of edits two area, you will have receive the editing experience you desire and that is best for your manuscript. The editing process is not just another grueling roadblock down the road of publishing, but it is a chance to makefor your novel to truly shine. Don't skimp or sell yourself short by. Don't rushing to get something published, only to later regret not polishing it later. The publishing world is fierce and sometimes a truly exquisite edit can help set your work apart from the thousands of other hopeful pieces.
Commented [CS38]: I really like this ending! Formatted: Font: Bold Formatted: Centered

Commented [CS37]: Isnt the editing experience authors desire the same as the editing experience that is best for their manuscript?