You just wrote “The End” on the last page of your manuscript. It’s ready to publish now, right?
Unfortunately, no. First, you should plan to do a lot of self-editing and revision. Second, you need to hire an editor. Now I know you will encounter people who insist you don’t need an editor, but I’m here to tell you that you need one. If you have dreams of becoming the next J.K. Rowlings or Stephen King or James Patterson or even selling books to more than just your family, you need an editor. Even if your grammar is perfect, you need an editor.
What are the types of editors?
The editing industry breaks editors down into categories – developmental, substantive, line, copy, and proofreaders. What’s the difference between them?
Developmental and substantive editors look at the “big picture” of a manuscript. They are skilled with insight and understanding. These editors will point out flaws with your storyline or the logic used. They will find plot holes and organization issues. They know how to make a book flow and really raise the bar in your writing. They will help you shift paragraphs and chapters to give your manuscript that “wow” factor.
The key difference between a developmental editor and a substantive editor actually comes down to what stage the manuscript is in. A developmental editor will work with a manuscript that might not be completely finished. It may be a case where you say, “I have this manuscript, but I feel like it needs something more. Can you help me figure that out?” Or maybe you’ve only written an outline. They will work with you on developing that outline into a completed manuscript. A substantive editor works on a “completed” manuscript. Now, that’s not to say a substantive editor won’t suggest adding more to the manuscript. They just don’t approach the edit with the mindset that something is missing like a developmental editor does.
Next up is the line editor. Line editors and substantive editors do very similar work and their titles are sometimes used interchangeably too. Their main focus is on the content of the manuscript and making sure that it is presented in the best way possible. They have a superior understanding of grammar and logic. These are the editors that will rewrite and/or rearrange sentences, paragraphs, and chapters to make them correct.
The copy editor is the editor who has earned all of us editors the title of grammar police. They correct typos, word choice, grammar, punctuation, and more. They know the technicalities of the English language and the rules to back them up.
And finally, we have the proofreader. When most people talk about proofreaders, they are actually talking about the work of the copyeditor because a proofreader typically works on the final manuscript once it is laid out in book form. The proofreader looks for issues with how the book is laid out, typos, and any minor grammatical issues that may have been missed. Generally, they have permission to only change the glaring errors, not fix something for clarity’s sake.
Since different types of editors do different kinds of work, how do you know what type of editor you need? Find out in this article.
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