Writers and Editors

Aug 19, 2012 6:06 AM EDT

This is particularly good advice for writers who are self-publishing: Why You Need a Professional Editor (Dave Bricker, 8-17-12)

- PM

Sep 23, 2014 12:01 AM EDT

This is is a compelling list. An author might also want to join a critique group and have feedback on his work while giving feedback to others.

- Don Harold

Nov 02, 2014 4:04 AM EST

Oh wow! Great list, Pat.Here's more.What do editors do? Categories of editorial tasks This list of categories of editing is up-to-date as of April 19, 2014. If you have corrections, additions, or other comments, I ask that you reply here. Major and minor editorial revisions could be described in terms of tasks required, and could be summarized from the following list of editorial service levels as described in the sources below. For example, a light copyediting (spelling, grammar, and punctuation) might be minor revisions because although knowing style conventions is necessary, consulting with the author is not necessary. ___________________________________________________________Jean Weber's websiteWhat is substantive editing? What is substantive editing? (www.jeanweber.com/newsite/?page_id=28)[COMMENT: source of the observation that copyediting is rule-based and substantive editing is analysis-based, taking negotiation between author and editor.]___________________________________________________________Teaming Up With a Medical Writer: Tips for Finding Well-Qualified Candidates (PDF, Melanie Moore, 2006)Table 1. Common editorial service levels in manuscript development. [COMMENT: Excellent and concise. I infer that the levels vary depending on the initial starting material. A well-written draft might need only a light copyedit, whereas incomprehensible starting material might need a total rewrite. I understand that a total rewrite is called "page 1 job" in Hollywood, when a screenplay needs a total rewrite from page 1.] ___________________________________________________________What do editors do? Definitions of Editorial Services (Bay Area Editors' Forum)_____________________________________________________________ KOK Edit: Katharine O'Moore-Klopf's website, Copyeditors’ Knowledge Base [COMMENT: Awesome in comprehensiveness.]_____________________________________________________________ Professional Editorial Standards (2009) (Editors' Association of Canada) and Definitions of editorial skills ___________________________________________________________ ServicesHelen Glenn Court, freelance copyeditor[COMMENT: Brief definitions of editorial skills.]___________________________________________________________ Your Copy Sucks: You Don’t Even Know What “Edit" Means (PR Breakfast Club blog entry, October 21, 2009)[COMMENT: The article distinguishes among “editing-editing”, copyediting, and proofreading. (Aside: I dislike the use of the word “suck” as in this instance because of the word’s allusion to sexual slang.)]___________________________________________________________ Editor, Editor, Everywhere an Editor Freelance Editorial Services (Rich Adin, An American Editor, 1-13-10)[COMMENT: Provides an interesting discussion of differences between developmental (sometimes known as substantive or comprehensive) editing and copyediting (rule based).] ___________________________________________________________The Levels of Edit (2nd ed., Robert Van Buren and Mary Fran Buehler, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, January 1980[COMMENT: Identifies five levels of technical editing (Levels 1 through 5) in which level 1 includes all 9 of the 9 types of edit (coordination; policy; integrity; screening; copy clarification; format; mechanical style; language; and substantive), and level 5 has only 2 (coordination and policy). The 9 types of edit are well explained. However, I would have found the booklet to have been much more useful if it had provided a sample in which a draft went sequentially through the 5 different levels of edit.] ___________________________________________________________Levels of Technical EditingCSE's GuideLine Series (David E. Nadziejka, Published by the Council of Science Editors, 2000) Out of print. [COMMENT: The article discusses levels of editing with the same starting manuscript. Unfortunately, however, the article does not provide fixed starting material and then show how the outcome of editing at various levels. Even though the booklet is out-of-print, I provided it as another example in which different levels of editing are explained but an example is not provided.]

- Michael S. Altus, PhD, ELS

Nov 25, 2014 7:19 AM EST

THANKS so much, Michael, especially for the comments. The comments template on this Sitebuilder site does not (so far as I can figure out) allow me to display your proper separation of paragraphs in a more natural way! -- Pat

- Pat McNees

Nov 19, 2016 5:40 AM EST

In “Copy Editor” vs “Manuscript Editor” vs . . .: Venturing onto the Minefield of Titles (Cheryl Iverson, Council of Science Editors, March-April 2004), Iverson argues that "manuscript editor" is a better term for editors working directly with authors, by contrast with copy editors working directly for the publisher. An interesting discussion of the arguments about which titles are more apt and meaningful (and prestigious enough to get an author's respect). Some argue that editors who work directly with authors are "author's editors" or "manuscript editors." Those who work for publisher, write headlines, etc., are "copy editors." An interesting read: http://www.councilscienceeditors.org/wp-content/uploads/v27n2p039-041.pdf

- PM

May 04, 2017 9:19 AM EDT

QUESTION FROM ASW: Hello, Sorry I forgot to ask, would you happen to know how pages number appear in an anthology: page 1 - 300, links only to the individual chapter page in the TOC, new series within each story [hope not], no numbers, or something I overlooked - Semper Fi! -- ASWRESPONSE FROM PAT:I'm not sure what you're asking but Art Bookbindery has a clear explanation of how to number the pages in a book, and they apply to an anthology as well as any other book:http://www.artbookbindery.com/page-numbering.phpThe part that most novices don't realize is that often the front matter in the book (before the main text starts) is usually (or often) not included in the main page numbering system -- which I understand is partly so additional pages can be inserted up front without requiring the designer to re-set the page numbering for the rest of the book (so that if the preface by someone famous comes in much longer than expected, you aren't screwed (Also, because indexing, which is done last, depends on those page numbers being set at least two or three weeks before final page proofs.) "Core matter (the main body of the book) should be numbered with Arabic numerals (4, 11) starting from “1” on the first section or chapter page. Some publishers use Roman numerals for the front matter, and carry on the sequence in Arabic numbers (i, ii, iii, iv, v, 6, 7, 8 etc.), but this is not ideal. Roman numerals are used for the front matter of the book to allow additional pages to be added in the front matter without re-flowing the page numbers throughout the book. All pages, including blank pages, are included in the core matter numbering even if the page numbers are not visible on the page."Mind you, Joel Friedlander (The Book Designer) doesn't show this procedure, and numbers pages starting with front matter. But under any system, you do not show the page number in the front matter (on the title page etc.) or on pages with a full-page illustration.Book Pagination (Self-Publishing Basics)If you are asking whether the "running head" changes for each contribution in the anthology, yes, sometimes people do change those so that it is easier to find a particular entry as you look for your place. More often the running head is just the book title (or a short version of it if it is long), If you have the time, budget, and patience for it, you might want to run the book title on the left-hand header and the chapter title on the right-hand header, so it's easy for a reader to find a particular piece. Most publishers do not go to that trouble, but it might be a welcome luxury for the reader of in anthology. See Joel Friedlander on How to Design Running Heads for Your Book: https://www.thebookdesigner.com/2014/03/how-to-design-running-heads-for-your-book/Thanks for your question, ASWI hope that answers your question!. -- Pat McNees

- ASW

Jun 26, 2018 8:17 AM EDT

Joe Casey asks: in assessing different writers in a corporate context, are there any metrics that can be used for different kinds of "errors". Any way of measuring the relative weights of a typo versus a grammar mistake versus a piece of redundancy?-- joe casey PAT MCNEES RESPONDS: I don't know what you mean by metrics, but certain types of errors or inadequacies are certainly more important than others. At the top of the editing hierarchy, in my view, would be structural problems (the architecture of the document, the organization of material that lets the reader breeze through, understanding and not getting lost). Structural problems (aka organizational errors) common in corporate and organizational work include "burying the lead" -- not putting the most important points at the very beginning and/or very end of a document, burying them in the middle (which readers might not even get to) or failing to make them clearly. Redundancy is often a side effect of structural problems, so on this big-picture edit you would strike or circle the redundancies, too. An editor reading for structural problems would on a first edit focus on the big picture (and might begin cutting the flab) and might pay less attention to grammar and spelling problems and typos. Not everyone can write or edit well at the structural (developmental) level. Right under structure and organization would be fact-checking and querying for accuracy and clarity of content: pointing out statements of fact that are flat-out wrong (or might well be, so they warrant double-checking).If the author writes that Jane Smith survived tuberculosis in 1905 because her parents had insisted on vaccinations, a knowledgeable editor would probably question that sentence, sensing that an effective vaccine for TB wasn't developed until much later than that. If the client doesn't ask for fact-checking, a good editor might put a big question mark there, indicating that fact-checking is advised. Below fact-checking and credible sentences would come grammatical or stylistic errors and awkwardness, and consistency--as well as finding and sustaining the author's voice, and keeping the style engaging. At the bottom level in terms of dollar value might be proofreading for typos, misspelling, and minor grammatical errors. Far more editors and proofreaders are able to spot these than are able to edit at higher conceptual levels. Editors who can edit only at this level are not paid as much because there are more people who can handle that kind of edit, so they would almost certainly be paid less. Is that the kind of metric you're talking about?Does that answer your question? Or were you asking which aspects of editing the editor should focus on if he or she could do only some of these things? -- PM

- joe casey

Jun 27, 2018 1:48 AM EDT

Joe Casey writes again: Thanks so much, Pat. This is a great and helpful explanation of a reasonable hierarchy. It is also supported by the fact that edits get progressively easier to fix as one moves down the list. By metrics I mean this: when the editor is also managing writers (say in a content development context for instance) and has to assess their writing (track performance), how can one translate this hierarchy into something numerical? How do we "weight" a structural problem against other types of errors? Maybe this forum is not the best place for this query as it is not a purely editing question, but I'm just curious if anyone has had to defend an assessment of the relative merits of different writers. It's obviously not an exact science, but sometimes it has to be done, and can have very real consequences (on pay etc.). My question is really about quantifying quality of writing.'' PAT RESPONDS: Well that's a different kettle of fish, and also closer to what a managing editor has to do -- figure out what level of editing to assign to a particular writer. It isn't always easy to assess ahead of time if a piece of writing is a structural mess, without reading or at least skimming it, but if you sense that it probably is, you will assign it to a good developmental editor--someone who can see the big picture as well as handle the nitpicking. And if the writer is sound but a little sloppy on the details, as we all can be when we're in a rush, you'll assign it for a light edit. So when you are assigning an edit, why not think in terms of heavy, medium, and light edit. And if you are evaluating their skill, evaluate the same as if y ou were grading a student: D for structural, B for grammar and spelling, C for style and flow (or whatever), A for typos. (Whatever you can easily measure.) I had a friend in college who wrote brilliant papers, but couldn't spell worth a darn (this was before we knew about dyslexia), and her teachers would give her a split grade: A/D , to show appreciation for the quality of her thinking and writing -- but yes, she would always need an editor. Which is why exams are worth giving because students don't have time to get a friend or parent to correct all the spelling errors so the teacher doesn't see them. -- Pat And I agree with what you said by email: Sometimes it's only the typos and obvious grammatical errors that most people notice--they just wonder why a piece of writing is heavy slogging for the reader.I hope others respond with how they do a quick assessment of the writing they're about to hand off to an editor.-- Pat M. JOE ADDS: I like your idea, and I have been developing a few tracks.... Another track I have to consider is level of difficulty: some projects are relatively easy, others very difficult! PAT ADDS: And then there is budget: If you have a small budget, you have to decide which aspects of the ms. you can afford to have edited. If it's a structural mess, does it make sense to have it edited only for grammatical and spelling errors?

- joe casey

Mar 01, 2019 10:54 AM EST

What a wonderful resource. I've been a copy editor for most of my career and have a page that I can link my annoying friends to when they complain about a missing comma or incorrect homonym. One request: A few of the links here have gone stale. I wonder whether you might be able to find equivalents or archives, maybe at the Wayback Machine at archive.org or similar sites. Thanks for this! RESPONSE FROM PAT: Thanks, Bob. Duly updated. Some of the URLs changed slightly. Should you ever come upon an entry where the link doesn't work, try googling the name of the article and author and it will usually come up, often with a different URL (address). Websites get updated, and writers sometimes move their articles from one site to another.

- Bob S.

Aug 16, 2023 6:01 AM EDT

I want to thank you for the time and work you put into this blog and for the clarity with which you covered every topic, from freelance editing to proofreading. It will be especially helpful to writers and editors who are new to this profession.

- Eli Murphy

Nov 19, 2012 1:41 PM EST

I think inevitably that first time authors will use multiple types of editors. They will probably use a freelance editor to start but will move on to a book consulting editor after their work gains traction. This situation often has to do with budget concerns. Great post!

- Rob