Get Help to Edit a Book: Services Provided by Expert Editors

The book industry continues to play an important role in education, entertainment, religion, and politics among other sectors, and still remains relevant in the 21^st century. A report on the book industry statistics shows that in the U.S., 1.7 million new books were self-published in 2020, representing 43% of the total new books published. This publication is an increase of 264% witnessed within the past five years.

Despite the technological advancement which has brought about the e-books and audiobooks, the book industry is still growing steadily over the years and people are still reading books. This calls for the need to publish flawless and outstanding books so that readers may find it delightful and satisfying to read without being tempted to shift to other available options.

Book editing is an essential part of the writing process. It is a multi-faceted process that involves both self-editing and engagement of experienced professional book editors. There are various approaches to book editing aimed at refining and making the final copy more readable, clear, concise, and understandable to the audience.

If a book has to make it to the publishing stage successfully, it has to undergo thorough editing to ensure that its plot, setting, characterization, flow, and structure of the story is clear, impressive, and interesting for readers to have a fascinating reading experience. This article provides guidelines on the factors to consider when editing a book.

Reasons for Editing a Book Before Publication

Print books offer a unique reading experience where the reader can feel, smell, and remember the book, from the cover to the content. Editing enhances this experience by improving the quality; making the book outstanding and error-free. The reasons behind editing before publication include:  

• It gives an opportunity to find and correct any mistakes before the book gets to the public.
• Editing a book helps prevent its rejection and negative comments from readers.
• A properly edited book provides additional contribution in the subject field in a confident and precise manner that enhances its acceptability by the public.
• It makes the book flawless and easily marketable.
• Book editing positively contributes to the writer’s and editor’s profile and increases their chances of getting more jobs.

There are three approaches to editing a book. One should always choose a method that best works for them to produce the best final copy that has an impact in the society. The following is a brief description of the three approaches to book editing.

• Self-editing

Self-editing gives the writer an opportunity to familiarize themselves with basic rules of grammar and the best approach to structure their story. Before seeking outside book editing help, the writer should have self-edited first.

• Editing by Help of Beta Readers

These are the first readers who give a read-through for the book and provide feedback. A beta reader can be a friend or family member, volunteer, or hired book editing experts. They read the book with the aim of recommending what it needs for improvement in terms of structure, plot, or scene developments.

• Edit with the Help of Professional Book Editors

Depending on their specialization, professional book editors can offer book editing help at the different levels of editing based on the client’s needs, at a fee that is agreed upon by both parties. They help in improving the quality of the book by highlighting errors that the author could not detect.

General Stages of Editing a Book

A standardized book editing process comprises of five major stages. The decision on whether to follow all these steps depends on individual needs. Book editing is mostly a personal process and the writer has to develop a process that best works for them. However, the stages discussed in this article are a guide into the general book editing process. They include beta/first readers, self-editing, story editing, copy editing, and proofing or proofreading.

• Beta Readers

Beta or first readers read the first version of the book and provide the writer with feedback on areas or sections that needs improvement. It is possible not to detect own flaws when self-editing because one is already mentally pre-occupied with the story. Involving beta readers is important in order to objectively review the general idea of the book without emotional attachment, that may be the case when editing own documents.

When writing the first book or before gaining adequate experience, writers should make the most use of beta readers after writing every draft or section. When choosing a beta reader, one should consider a person who is able and willing to give feedback honestly the way it is, without bias or prejudice. As the final decision maker and owner of the story, one must be able to judge and decide whether to accept or reject the feedback and recommendations.

• Self-editing

Self-editing is neither optional nor replaceable. It a step that is compulsory for everyone writing and editing a book regardless of whether they are to engage professional book editors or not. Self-editing the draft before sending it to book editing experts enhances the quality of the final copy and improves one’s writing and editing skills such that they will not repeat the same mistakes in subsequent writings.

General Steps to Guide the Self-editing Process

Despite the fact that one has to eventually hire a person to edit the book, self-editing is an essential part of the writing process that every writer has to conduct thoroughly. Although there is no one correct way to edit, the following steps are a general guide on how to approach self-editing.

1. Take Time Away from the Book: Once the writing process is over and the manuscript is completed, it is important to put it aside for a while before starting to edit. This allows one to resume the task with more objectivity, fresh, and a rejuvenated mind.
2. Read out the Story Aloud: It is easier to highlight mistakes in the book by hearing how the story sounds. Reading it aloud to a friend or self can help in detecting any inconsistencies or unclear sections. If resources allow, one may also consider recording themselves reading and playing the voice record later to correct any errors heard.
3. Carry out a Developmental Edit: Developmental edit is the first self-editing that focus on the plot of the story. From the beginning to the end of the book, there should be a clear flow demonstrated by a logical sequence and transition of the plot points. The scenes and sub-scenes must be well integrated in the overall story and the purpose of each character, whether minor or major, should be well defined. Any character or chapter whose purpose or contribution to the main theme is not clearly defined should be clarified or eliminated so that it does not distract readers.
4. Edit Scene by Scene: Every scene of a book must have a clear purpose in the story such as demonstrating character development or escalating a certain theme of the writing. One should ensure that the scene opening is strong enough to make the book interesting for the reader to desire more of the story.
5. Check for Structural Integrity of the Story: At this stage, own copy editing should be done by finding and correcting general mistakes such as line spacing inconsistencies, unnecessary repetition, spelling, and grammatical errors. The use of passive instead of active voice, sentence structure, and choice of words should be checked. The language of the story and terminologies should be simple and easy to understand.
6. Edit for Accuracy: The accuracy of any information presented in the book, especially if the story is an historical fiction or a non-fiction book must be accurate. One should conduct enough research and consult as many sources to ensure that the facts are got right before publication.
7. Hire a Proofreader: Getting the book proofread by professional book proofreaders enhances its quality because the experts are able to detect errors that the writer had missed out.
8. Correctly format the Manuscript: It is necessary to ensure correct formatting of the script before sending it to the publishers. The standard industry book formatting guidelines should be used if one is not sure about the publisher’s preferences.

• Story Editing

The story/content editing is considered the most expensive stage of editing. It scrutinizes the purpose of the overall story and the appropriateness of the target audience. This level of editing examines the structure of the story and determines whether character development clearly reveals the main themes. It does not focus on basics such as grammar and usage, spelling, punctuation, or writing style.

• Copy Editing

Copy editing does the contrary of the story editing. It does not focus on the story at all. It concentrates on the basic elements such as grammar, spelling, punctuation, language, and style.

Copy editing enhances the readability and simplicity of the story by examining the overall language use, removing repetition, and ensuring clarity. Professional book editors who have experience and expertise in copy editing help in streamlining any tangled sentences from the successive drafting after beta reading and self-editing.

• Proofing

In the book editing process, proofing or proofreading marks the last stage after which the manuscript can be considered complete and ready for publishing. One may choose to proof the document on their own without seeking book editing help from professionals. This may be as a result of the high cost of buying book editing services or other personal considerations.

However, despite saving on the cost, self-proofing may be risky because one may be blind to errors in their work or lack the objectivity required in the process. This may end up compromising the quality of the book and it may contain errors even at the publishing station. It is important to involve experts because no one is perfect, even the best book editing experts may need someone to scan the text for typographical errors.

Factors to Consider When Editing a Book

The process of editing a book is personal and one should understand what they are doing in order to get the best results. Different manuscripts vary in editing needs and the factors to be considered depends on the type of editing to be done based on the client’s specifications. If one decides not to hire a person to edit the book, then they should ensure they check the following factors when self-editing.

1. Plot of the Story

The plot of the story should adhere to a fairly coherent structure that is fascinating to read and realistic. There should be order in the way events unfold and lead to each other, from the beginning, middle, to the end of the manuscript. If the plot is not clearly defined, it may be difficult for the readers to follow the story, which makes it difficult to sell the book in the market.

2. Characterization

Every character in the manuscript must be assigned a clear role that adds to the development of the story. Whether human, animal, or inanimate characterization, the story must demonstrate the protagonist and the antagonist, along with the character arc through which they develop and advocate for different themes through the story. When editing the book, one should ensure that the role played by each character and the themes for which they stand are clearly depicted so that the reader easily understands the story.

3. Themes and Conflicts

For most stories written in books, conflicts and themes tend to be intertwined to enhance the revelation and comprehension of the major themes of the story. It is important to check this relationship when editing the book and be sure to demonstrate how the main themes have developed through the conflicts.

4. Scenes and Chapters

When editing the scenes and chapters, the book editing experts should check whether these elements are clearly related to make the book more appealing to the readers. Individual scenes and chapters should accomplish a particular contribution to the story. If they are not contributing to the development of the characters or the plot of the story, there is need to be do away with.

One should check whether the introductory scene hooks the readers and entices them to read further. There should be logic in the transition between chapters, appropriate pacing of the scenes, and if any, foreshadowing should be used appropriately.

5. Prose and Perspective of the Story

Writing a book involves narrating a story from a particular individual’s perspective. This automatically influences the prose style. It is worth checking these elements when editing the book.

Other factors to consider are the basic issues related to the general writing style requirements such as proper and correct punctuation, grammar and language use, consistency in capitalization and italics, spacing, spelling, syntax, and sentence structure. All these must be checked when editing the book to ensure a seamless and clear flow of the story.

No reader would like to struggle to read and comprehend a story. They would rather keep the book aside and do something else. It is therefore very important to ensure that everything is in order because even the smallest mistake can negatively affect the impression and marketability of the book.

Editing a Book with the Help of Professional Book Editors

Even after self-editing, it is still important to get the book checked by a fresh pair of eyes in order to detect errors that were missed out by the book author. Book editing experts are specialized in different types of editing and seeking book editing help from them is a brilliant idea, especially if one is still fresh in writing and publishing books. The following are the things to consider before deciding to buy book editing services.

1. The Editing Level Required

After self-editing, an editorial review should be conducted on the manuscript to establish what level of editing it requires to improve its quality and make it outstanding and more appealing. Some manuscripts do not require all the levels of editing while others do. It is important to determine this before proceeding to the next step because it is the level or type of editing needed that influences other factors such as costs and turnaround time.

2. Turnaround Time Required

The time taken to complete the editorial reviews and accomplish the editing requirements of the manuscript depends on the length of the manuscript, the word count, and the level of editing to be carried out. Professional book editors have their timeframes and working schedules. It is therefore important to establish an agreement that works for the author and the editor.

3. The Editing Costs

The amount of money to be paid for book editing services depend on who is editing and where the process is taking place. Some editors do not charge anything for an editorial review while others do. It is important to research out to for available book editing experts and assess their rates depending on one’s city or country of publication. There are editing companies from which one can buy book editing services that are accessible online.

4. Purpose of the Book

The purpose of the book matters in deciding on whether or not to invest in its editing and proofreading. If the book is meant to be published and sold, it should be edited by professionals to make it flawless and more marketable. If a book has to be sold, for instance in schools as part of the syllabus, it must meet the logic requirements to impact learners’ lives in the best way possible. Such books require the best book editing service for the best results.

5. The Genre of the Book

When seeking book editing help, it is important to look for an editor who is specialized in the specific genre. Editors are human too, and each human has unique strengths.

The main objective of deciding to hire a person to edit a book is to have it objectively edited by a specific editor, who should be determined at the editorial review stage. It is therefore important to get a book editor based on the specific subject matter, genre, and style to be sure of the best book editing service.

6. Availability of Editorial Style Guide

Book editing services are mostly governed by a set of rules and standards of grammar through which manuscripts are edited to enhance consistency and uniformity among published documents. Professional book editors should have a specific reference point from where to review and provide accepted editorial standards for the document.

Throughout the editing process, the editor, at the different levels should ensure that there are no errors in grammar, punctuation, capitalization, style inconsistencies, or any other mistake related to general formatting.

The language, choice of words, and terminologies should be appropriate for genre and prose of the story. By the time it is published, the book should be in its best version, error-free, easy to read and understand, marketable, and enticing such that the reader desires to read more into the story after reading the introduction.

Things to Consider When Looking for the Best Editor

Many books are being published every day and the book market industry is becoming more competitive. Research shows that the total number of books published in the U.S., both self and commercially published books exceeded 4 million in 2019 alone. This is 10 times more titles being published annually in the U.S. than were published in 2007. The marketplace is highly saturated and not able to absorb all the books because more than 20 million books that were previously published were still available in the year 2019.

The number of books continue to increase, especially with the surge in self-publishing, up to approximately 130 million published books in the world by 2020. In order to be noticed and marketable, a book must be well-written, contain unique content, and edited by the best professional book editors to make it outstanding and marketable. The best editor in this case is not determined by the level of education, but someone who fits the writer’s needs. Considering the following factors can help in choosing the best editor for the book:

• Type of editing: Different book editors may have specialization in different types of editing where as others may have the know-how for all the editing types. Copy editors for instance may not effectively handle developmental editing. For the best book editing service that best meets one’s needs, they should consider hiring a specialist in that particular level editing.
• The Genre of the story: Different editors may be specialists in different genres. For efficiency and effectiveness purposes, it is better to seek book editing help from an expert with specialization in the book’s genre.
• Availability of the editor: The urgency determines how long one can wait to get the manuscript edited. Availability of the editor should be established before committing to work with them. Their excellence does not matter if they are not available to offer the service.
• Cost and value: In addition to the cost consideration when paying for editing, the value that the editor adds to the book should also be considered. An editor who charges more but offers the best book editing service is better than the one who would charge less but give poor services that end up compromising the quality of the final copy of the book.
• Personality of the editor: Personality may also play an important role in finding the best editor. Though some people do not care about the relationship as long as they have paid for the service, to others it matters a lot. The editor’s communication style and choice of words may be too harsh and unapproachable that the client may not be able to seek clarifications. One should choose who and what works best for them as long as the main goal of editing is achieved because everyone has their unique specifications.

Generally, universal qualifications for the best editors are not available because some have been trained in the specific fields, others have gained professional experience as they worked for publisher companies, yet others have little editing background but are self-taught and continue learning on the job. However, a review of the above factors can help in choosing who to hire in order to receive the best results.

No matter how complex the editing process for a book may be assumed to be, one has to do their best in ensuring that each sentence contributes to the story. All the chapters and scenes of the book must play specific roles. Major and minor characters should be assigned clearly defined roles in development and revelation of themes. Hiring professional book editors may not be a must but is important especially if the book is meant for commercial publication.

It is better to spend resources to buy book editing services for quality assurance than face the frustration of having it rejected or stay on the shelves for being unsellable. The principles of Total Quality Management (TQM) should be adopted in the print book publishing industry to ensure the public is supplied with the best quality reading material for intellectual growth and development of the nation.

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