Crash Course for Nonfiction Authors

I hope you’ve had a chance to review the earlier parts of this Crash Course for Nonfiction Authors. If not, jump directly to them using the links above. Now it’s time for Part 3: All About Editing.

The two most important things to know about editing are:

1. There are different types of editing, and you probably need all of them

2. You need an experienced nonfiction book editor on your project

Let’s take the second one first:

You need an experienced nonfiction book editor

Books are an entirely different ballgame than blog posts, articles, and papers for a college English class. Yes, they all involve “writing” – but just because someone is a grammar whiz or a professional editor of short-form work does not mean they are knowledgeable about holding a reader’s attention and imparting valuable information in book-length material.

Plus, there are different “style guides” used for different types of work. You may have worked with AP Style if you have a journalism background. Or, you may remember the classic grammar guide The Elements of Style, by Strunk and White. Certain professions and academia have their own style guides, too.

If you’re writing a book in North America, you’ll want it edited according to Chicago Manual of Style. Period. This means you’ll need an editor fluent in its rules and conventions. And definitely someone who has extensive experience in nonfiction books and/or memoirs (depending on what you’re writing).

This brings us to the next important point:

There are different types of book editing, and you probably need all of them

Editing can be broadly classified into three buckets: developmental editing, copy editing, and proofreading. (Sometimes other terminology is used, but it’s important to understand the basic hierarchy of types and how they differ.)

Developmental Editing

Developmental editing looks at your manuscript at the 10,000-foot level. It considers questions like: Does the manuscript hang together? Are there gaps in the outline that would leave the reader confused or less-than-well served? Are there areas of confusion, or areas that need to be fleshed out to serve the reader / topic / narrative better? If a memoir, is there a story arc that works? Are the characters well-developed? (In the case of a memoir, the main character is, of course, you.) A developmental editor isn’t going to start fixing your commas or grammar yet, because this stage of editing is looking for bigger-picture revisions that may be needed. Think of it this way: It would be a waste of time to clean up the grammar of a section that is going to be eliminated or substantially revised anyway.

Copy Editing

Copy editing is the next level down in terms of granularity. After the manuscript is substantially fleshed out, well-ordered, and overall complete and compelling, copy editing looks at how you’re saying what you’re saying. This includes grammar (again, using Chicago Manual of Style) as well as word choice, clear and compelling sentences, making sure you’re not using the same words too many times, and so much more that relates to ensuring the words on the page are well-written. Sometimes copy editing is called “line editing,” but basically we’re talking about this “middle” level of editing that makes sure the writing is good and strong.

Proofreading

Proofreading is the easiest to define. It’s that final read-through to eliminate typos, spelling mistakes, and other errors that shouldn’t be in your manuscript. You may be tempted to skip this because, by the time you get to this point, both you and your editor have been through the text a million times, and surely you must have caught everything, right? Wrong. It’s exactly because you and your editor have seen it so many times that your eyes will skip over errors and fill in missed words. It’s important to engage a proofreader who is reading the manuscript for the first time and brings fresh eyes to the task.

Getting Editing Help for Your Book

You can hire editors for each of these tasks. You might work with a separate editor on each type of editing (in other words, three different individuals). Or, if an individual editor is skilled in both developmental and copy editing, you may work with them on several back-and-forth editing rounds, starting with primarily bigger-picture developmental work and then getting more granular with copy editing in later round(s). (Followed by, of course, a separate proofreader before the manuscript is finalized.)

How much developmental and copy editing a manuscript needs varies dramatically from one manuscript to the next. It depends primarily on what kind of shape your manuscript is in before you send it to an editor. The more you can do yourself, the more time and money you’ll save in editing.

An excellent book that will help you with the bigger-picture developmental aspects of your book is ​Write a Must-Read​, by AJ Harper. (Check out her Top Three Book Workshop, too.)

If you’re looking for an editor, I highly recommend Jocelyn Carbonara at Spiritus Books. She edited both of my books, and we’ve worked on a ton of mutual client projects together. She can help with developmental editing, copyediting, and proofreading, as well as working collaboratively with authors as they develop their manuscripts if they prefer that approach.

Next Steps

• DOWNLOAD: 10 Questions to Ask an Editor

• READ: Can My Journalist Friend or English Teacher Neighbor Edit My Book?

• READ: John Truby: The Anatomy of Story

Up next, we have Part 4: Nail Your Cover Design. They say you can’t judge a book by its cover, but that’s exactly what everyone does — so you’ll want to pay special attention to your cover and make sure it’s top-notch.