Copyediting
Copyeditors play a key role in adding the finishing touches to your work after developmental editing. They examine the smaller, but significant details to highlight and fix grammatical errors, timeline inconsistencies, sentence structure, punctuation and other necessary edits that affect the flow of the story. Ensuring that readers have a smooth and pleasant reading experience without typos and other errors can have a great impact on your book’s sales, reviews, and overall success. So this is a step we don’t recommend overlooking. Learn more about this role and other forms of editing below.
The Copy Editor's Purpose
Typically, when a writer comes to an ‘editor’, this is the individual that they are imagining. They want someone to fix the grammatical errors, and not so much the comprehensive aspects of their project. As we have established, it is essential that a writer have those comprehensive aspects examined, but it is just as important for the writer to have their syntax, flow, and grammar checked. When checking those things, the copy editor has a main goal: they want to retain the voice of the writer as much as possible. Making sure that your writer’s voice is clear and at its best is the first-priority of the copy editor. It is important to know that not every copy editor has the same process to help attain that goal. Some copy editors provide a style sheet to you upon finishing the edit. Others may not create style sheets. Saying this, it is essential that you do research on your copy editor, just as you would do for a developmental editor.
Things to Consider
Is this copy editor one that will take into consideration my style choices?
Does this copy editor also proofread? Should I get a separate proofreader for this project?
Do I need a style sheet?
Do I need a sensitivity reader?
Style Sheet: A style sheet is like a mini style guide that is personalized for your book, recording your choices about everything from commas to spelling. This could include key points about your characters, major world-building points, and even timelines.
Meeting the Copy Editor
Contrary to meeting the developmental editor, it is not standard to meet with your copy editor. You may ask to do so, though, to clarify the role that the copy editor is intending to play in your editing journey. You may ask questions about their editing process, revision acceptance, and payment process. Don’t hesitate to ask questions because what may at first seem simple with the editing process can become complicated when the edits and suggestions have been added to your manuscript.
Revisions: The revisions process involves the author providing feedback to the copy editor about their edits. Do not hesitate to ask your copy editor about their revisions policy.
Proofreading
Having a proofreader look over your text after a copy editor is recommended as they generally double-check and correct any inconsistencies in formatting, spelling, and punctuation. Based on the content of your book, it could also be worth it to consider hiring a separate sensitivity reader to flag potential bias, stereotypes, and offensive content.
Sensitivity Reader
A sensitivity reader is someone who reads your project with a focus to one or two particular points or topics in the text. Their purpose is to flag anything that may be insensitive to a particular culture, movement, group, or idea. So you may need a sensitivity reader for content that is about sexual assault experiences or experiences with war. Typically, the readers are individuals who have dealt with the sensitive topic through direct connection or experience or relation to someone who has experience.
Beta Reader
A beta reader is an average reader that reads your project for quality, content, flow, plot holes, character development, world-building, genre specificity, and overall readability. Many writers ask family members to be their beta readers, but you may want to go for individuals who have no relation to you. Beta readers broaden your view of your project and reveal readers’ insight into what you wrote versus how readers interpret the work.
Now, let’s explore some common writing and book-related terms that are good to know.