What Kind of Editing is Right for You?

As a first-time author, you might not know the difference between the various levels of editing available to you. Not all editors offer all services and often these services go by different names. Here is a list of 4 common levels of editing with brief descriptions of what they entail so that you can make an informed decision about how best to proceed.

You have just finished writing your story or article (or book-length manuscript), and now you would like a professional to have a look at it. You know it will need editing, but you're not sure what kind of editing or even what options are available. Here is a handy guide that will help you understand some of your choices.

Note: All editors will not offer all options on offer, and the names of these services will vary.

Editorial Evaluation

An editorial evaluation is also known as a manuscript assessment or critique. With an editorial evaluation, you are paying an editor to read your manuscript and offer an impartial assessment of its strengths, weakness, and areas of obvious opportunities. Furthermore, if you have specific questions about the manuscript (Is the main character's relationship with his father believable? Does the ending come as a surprise?), provide them to the editor ahead of time and expect an answer. Needless to say, the more an editor charges for an editorial evaluation, the more you should expect, but what you should not expect is a de facto substantive edit.

Substantive Editing

Substantive editing is also known as developmental editing or content editing. A substantive editor looks at the manuscript holistically. Their concern is not with the writing per section but with what's been written, and what might have been written (or remains to be written). They are looking at the big picture; the forest, not the trees. Unlike an editorial evaluation, the approach here is systematic and comprehensive. The editor is going through the manuscript on a chapter-by-chapter, scene-by-scene basis and posing questions, offering observations, and making specific suggestions as to how best to address issues. It is important to recognize that, during a substantive edit, the editor is generally not making any changes to the manuscript. The idea is that the author will go through the editor's commentary and use it to revise/develop the manuscript.

Line Editing

Line editing is the one most often unavailable as a stand-alone service. Unlike substantive editing, its focus is on the writing itself; in this way, it's like copy editing. Unlike copy editing, however, it is not primarily concerned with the nuts and bolts of spelling, grammar, and punctuation, and in this way, it's like substantive editing. The job of a line editor is to consider the manuscript on a sentence-by-sentence basis and address issues such as tone, pace, clarity, phrasing, diction, structure, and flow.

A line edit is often less about comments and observations (though an author's quirks and habits will sometimes merit discussion) and more about suggestions on how a sentence or the phrase might be improved. Aline edit will generally involve more actual changes to the manuscript than a substantive edit, but there will still be plenty of work for the author who will have numerous suggestions that will need to be considered. Editors who do not offer line editing as a service will generally consider some issues substantive in nature and others more akin to copy editing.

Copy Editing

The job of a copy editor is to catch errors and inconsistencies. This option entails a vigorous sweep of the manuscript looking at spelling, grammar, and punctuation. Copy editors also have to concern themselves with the internal consistency of style and usage, for example, American vs Canadian spelling, how numbers and figures are handled, how internal dialogue is represented, and the spelling of characters' names. Fact-checking too is part of a copy edit. If a character is introduced as an only child in chapter one, the copy editor is expected to flag a brother who shows up in chapter seventeen.

For more discussions on writing, you may also read another article found on this site, "Five Steps to Better Writing."