You’ve finally finished writing your first draft of your novel, and you’re ready to have it looked over by an editor — but what type of editor?

I’ve seen this confusion expressed over and over by new authors who are excited to have their work fine-tuned and prepped for the press, but often mistake “proofreading” for “developmental editing/every other type of editing”. And I don’t blame them at all! The publishing process is such a complicated, often stressful, part of refining your manuscript into the bestseller novel you know it can be.

Everyone has different advice when it comes to self-publishing — I can start a whole wildfire in the comments section of any given post by stating, “Beta reading comes after editing!”

Which, to be fair, it does.

The self-publishing world is flexible and fluid, from terminology to processes, as it functions to serve the author instead of the author serving traditional publishing. But when it comes down to common questions and complaints from authors like, “why are my sales tanking?” and “what’s up with these negative reviews?” much of it can be answered with this simple fact:

If you want to have the success of a traditionally published novel, you need to follow the process of traditional publishing — and editing.

Traditional publishing houses run a manuscript through an average of eight different layers of editing before it moves forward into the formatting and design process. You read that correctly: eight.

Most self-publishing authors don’t have that kind of budget, or time, or patience (I know I don’t)! So, in lieu of taking out a second mortgage to strip down every single facet of your hard work over and over and over again, the self-publishing world has agreed upon a basic four-layer process that gets the job done without sacrificing quality or precious, precious sanity.

Here’s a quick guide to the four basic types and layers of editing commonly utilized in self-publishing, listed in chronological order to demonstrate the official order in which each should be conducted for maximum results:

Developmental Editing

You have an idea for a story, and most likely, you’ve written out your first draft. It’s not perfect, and you’re fully aware it needs a lot of work to keep the plotline consistent, the characters cohesive (and relatable to the reader), the dialogue intelligible…all the things.

A developmental editor walks with you through the narrative and helps you shape it into what you envision while maintaining the principles of storytelling. They bring to your attention any inconsistencies, challenge character motivations, and provide you with what’s known as an “annotated manuscript” so you can review all their notes and revise wherever needed.

The process typically begins with a “Novel Assessment”, which is a general assessment of everything your editor suggests to enhance — and develop — your story. The more you’re able to utilize these notes to revise your manuscript prior to the full edit, the better!

Pro Tip: If you’re super tight on the budget and/or needing help with your manuscript but aren’t ready for a full developmental edit, ordering a Novel Assessment by itself can still be an immensely beneficial move towards strengthening your manuscript. I’ve personally seen stories go from “good enough” to “great!” after just the assessment!

Line Editing

Your manuscript has undergone a novel assessment, developmental edit, and revision(s). Now it’s time for a line edit.

It’s exactly how it sounds, editing your work line by line on an even more specific level than the paragraph-by-paragraph, “big picture” process of the developmental edit. This analyzes each sentence for quality and consistency within each paragraph, identifies issues in pacing, and tackles the technical aspects like grammar, vocabulary, and spelling.

For a while, this stage was up for debate — do you really need a middle stage between developmental and copy editing, when each addresses basically the same issues as line editing?

The answer: it has less to do with what it tackles and more to do with who’s tackling it. An excellent line editor is your Word Warrior, and while your book can technically skip this stage, having that very specific mindset that only line editors possess works literal wonders.

Copy Editing

Grammar check time!

This is the type of editing that most writers assume is The Editing, but it’s specifically geared for examining the technicalities of your manuscript: punctuation, grammar, spelling, and linguistics. It is also technically a proofread, but only of your digital manuscript (or the old style of printing out all 500+ pages and shipping it via FedEx or UPS).

You’re ready for a copyeditor ONLY if your manuscript has gone through at least a developmental edit!

Please read and re-read that again: do not, under any circumstances, submit your manuscript for copy editing if it’s the first draft!

The scope of a copyeditor’s work does not include story structure, plot holes, character development, or anything else that they may notice, but aren’t being paid to inform you about. What they might do, however, is return your manuscript and refuse service until you’ve worked with a developmental editor. I’ve been in this position before, and it’s a rather uncomfortable conversation to have — no one wants you to feel like your work isn’t “good enough” when all it needs is some structural finessing.

In the case where you have worked with a developmental editor, and especially if they’ve done a very thorough job (not to brag, but I’m one of those people!), you can technically skip ahead to copyediting your manuscript. As I mentioned in regards to line editing, that’s a stage you really, truly should have to make your book the best.

But if you’re confident your manuscript is ready for the copyedit, and maybe you’re “ballin’ on a budget”, you can skip ahead and get it done — especially if you’re constantly having to search for different editors per stage.

Proofreading

Most people, writers and editors included, assume proofreading and copyediting are the same things — and in some cases, they are offered as a single service.

The key difference, however, is that while a copy edit checks for the technical errors within the text, proofreading is a thorough check for technical errors specifically in the “proof” copy of the printed book.

This stage of editing is vital for your book!

Software programs are flawed, printing presses are flawed, and literally anything can happen between that final save on the laptop and the first print hot off the press.

I’ve personally called up a client with serious concerns about their uneven margins, only to find out Amazon’s printing can be very unpredictable (something to keep in mind, self-publishers)!

The proofreading stage should be an all-hands-on-deck process, with each publishing professional reading through the proof to ensure their particular stage is printed correctly. The developmental editor and line editor can read for any errors within the text, like missed punctuation or overlooked misspellings. The typographer should check to see the custom fonts are actually readable and printing accurately, making notes on font size and potential software translation issues (common when custom fonts are used). The cover designer definitely needs to check every aspect of the cover to ensure proper fit and text-to-graphic placement.

Keep in mind, however, that a fresh pair of eyes will always pick up way more than those familiar with the material. Even if the whole team does a proofread and clears it for publishing, a proofreader who has never seen the book before may very well identify a slew of errors that slipped under the radar!

Remember: Proofreading is NOT copy editing! The only time the two are interchangeable is when you’re working with journalism articles, blog posts, and other forms of content meant to be quickly published online. When publishing a novel, proofreading is an entirely separate stage and ONLY occurs after the proof copies are printed and/or the digital version is formatted and ready for upload.