Line editing. Copy editing. Proofreading.
I’ve looked and it seems that every person has a different idea of what each of these means; some people have line and copy editing as the same thing!
So, of course, I’m joining them, at least in terms of what types of editing I’ll do for you.
Developmental Editing
This stage of editing occurs before the manuscript is finalized and serves to strengthen story as a whole. During developmental editing, the entire story is considered to find what works, what doesn’t, what could be improved, if everything reads well, ensuring storylines and character development are consistent, etc.
Line Editing
Congratulations on finishing your manuscript! It takes a lot of hard work, and now you’re ready to publish. You’ve already looked over it and taken out the typos, caught a few “the the”s, all the other things.
Another set of eyes is always a good idea, and so is feedback! As a later, less intensive kind of developmental editing, line editing focuses on sentence- and paragraph-level stylistic elements and clarity. Suggestions here emphasize flow and aim to make your work shine.
Copy Editing
It’s not great if, in Chapter 1, Alex is summoned to court but in Chapter 12, the same person is now Alexa. Likewise, if you’ve established certain terms for the world and they’re inconsistent (without a logical cause), an important plot point or foreshadowing could be missed entirely!
Copy editing ensures that your story is internally and externally consistent. That means that each name or term refers to the same thing each time it occurs and that it’s spelled the same! Externally, this also means that writing conventions such as grammar, usage, formatting, and style are upheld, usually based on a style guide such as the Chicago Manual of Style (CMoS).
Proofreading
Finally, you’re ready to publish!
Except not quite. Proofreading is the final step before publishing and the last opportunity to catch any major errors in formatting, internal consistency, or grammar.
If you’re publishing with print media (in standard or alternative formats), proofreading is especially important: no one wants to realize a glaring error after they’ve printed several copies of their book, regardless of the print run’s size. In fact, changes at this stage can have implications for seemingly minor details that have a large impact on the final print (and therefore the reading experience), such as white space, pagination, and how well your margins look.
Proofreading is important for electronic media as well. While it’s less expensive to fix formatting errors with digital copies and distribution, ensuring that documents are formatted correctly makes the user experience easier.
What’s this about style?
Style guides standardize and provide guidelines for how media should be presented within an industry. The Chicago Manual of Style (CMoS) is the standard for most everyday publishing, regardless of whether the subject is fiction or non-fiction.
Associated Press (AP) style is the other common style used in the US. Its purposes were originally for newspapers, but it has expanded to short-format media such as videos, internet articles, and websites. Like other styles listed below, AP is a niche style that isn’t necessary for most literary publishing.
Examples of other styles:
- American Psychological Association (APA): used for journals, books, and articles in the psychological field
- American Medical Association (AMA): used for the same in general medicine publications and research
- Modern Language Association (MLA): used for academic research, usually in languages, culture, and other social sciences
There’s many other styles out there, but hopefully, this helps you in understanding what sort of editing services your writing project needs. If you’re decided, you can see what it may cost, or you can contact me directly with more detail for an estimate.
Vaughn Editing 