They’re the unsung heroes of the publishing world, helping develop your story from the first rough drafts into a polished manuscript. With their dreaded red pen and a keen eye for story, they cut through sentences, paragraphs, chapters, and themes, trimming the fat and making sure each line sings. Every book has at least one (and usually several), but their names rarely appear on the front cover — or even the title page. I’m talking about editors, of course. But what does a book editor do? And do you really need an editor for your book?

Short answer: yes.

Long answer: Yes, and here’s why…

But why do you need an editor anyway?

First off, let’s talk about what editors do. All book editors, no matter where they join you in the process, are invested in shaping your book into the best version of itself. A good editor is passionate about the projects they take on and has professional experience to back up the advice they give you on your manuscript. An editor who understands and is invested in your story will make your manuscript stronger by leveraging their vast knowledge of powerful storytelling, good writing, the industry, and your target audience.

Because they aren’t as close to the work as you are, an editor is able to provide a valuable external perspective on your writing and storytelling. They’re able to point out the plot holes you’ve missed while you were wading through the depths of your first draft, or the scenes where a reader might be confused because vital knowledge is clear in your head but not on the page. A great developmental editor will push you to really tighten the threads of character, plot, and story to make a real emotional impact, while good line and copy editors will make sure every sentence packs a punch.

But that’s not all. A good editor also brings their experience of the industry both as a reader and as a professional to help you understand how to best shape your story to fit your audience. The best ones will act as a guide and a sounding board for you to work out your ideas and craft them into something wonderful.

Yet despite the seeming simplicity of their role, editors come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Depending on your particular publishing path, the types of editing you need — and therefore, the editor you need — will vary according to where you are in your writing journey. Sound a bit daunting? Let’s break it down.

What kind of editor do you need?

Manuscript assessment

What it is: When you first finish a draft of your novel, it can be hard to know what to do next. That’s where a manuscript assessment comes in handy. This type of editing is usually performed by a dedicated developmental editor with experience in your genre. They’ll read your entire manuscript and tell you its strengths and weaknesses: what’s brilliant about it, what absolutely needs improvement, and where your novel has the most potential to succeed.

Usually the feedback from a manuscript assessment will take the form of a thorough edit letter with commentary on the big-picture aspects of your story: characters, plot and pacing, theme, setting, and some general notes on your voice and writing style. Your editor will also usually outline what your next steps should be, whether you should focus on a full-on structural edit or simply need a bit more work on the language and voice before you’ll be ready to query or publish.

When you need it: This is usually the first thing you should look into when you’ve finished the first draft of your novel. But it can also be useful if you’ve developed a project through several major drafts and still get the sense that something isn’t quite working. Any time you’re unsure what your next steps should be, a manuscript assessment can help you find the right direction.

Developmental Editing

What it is: This is the most in-depth and intense form of editing, looking at the over-arching ideas of your novel from all angles. Character, plot, setting, theme, voice, language use, and even that one scene in chapter five where you introduced a cat that never shows up again — nothing is off-limits when it comes to the developmental edit. (Though if you’re looking for someone to correct your commas, you’re probably in the wrong place.)

Often, the first stages of a developmental edit will look quite similar to a manuscript assessment, where your editor will give you a high-level overview of what’s working in your novel and what needs a bit more attention. But a developmental edit goes far beyond the edit letter, and your editor may end up going over your novel with you several times, pushing you to fully flesh out the ideas on the page and making sure that every chapter and scene has earned its place in your manuscript.

When you need it: Developmental editing is most useful with a raw manuscript. It is meant to help you fully develop your concept and ideas. You may also have heard of it as a “structural edit”, as it is the sort of edit that can end up rearranging your entire plot (i.e. the “structure” of your novel) in order to strengthen the character arcs and ratchet up the emotional impact of your story.

If you’ve just finished the first complete draft of your novel, you may find that a good developmental editor makes the difference between that novel ending up in a drawer and that novel ending up on an agent’s “yes” pile. That said, you can also call in a developmental editor during your earlier drafting stages. Many developmental editors are willing to talk to you about your early concepts and ideas in order to help you shape them into a truly great book — even long before the first draft is complete.

Line editing

What it is: Line editing focuses on your narrative voice, tone, and style, with an eye to making sure every sentence makes an impact on the reader. A line editor will be a specialist in prose. They’ll banish clumsy phrasing and cliches to the margins and tighten your word choice on every page. Even if you’re confident in your particular style, and even if you’re a grammar expert of the highest degree, it’s often useful to get a professional line editor to look over your writing. You never know what you might have missed from being bent over the page for so long.

When you need it: If you’re being traditionally published, your publisher will have dedicated line and copy editors to work through your manuscript with you. However, if you’re planning to self-publish, line editing is best done after a full developmental edit — when you already know that your story is as strong as it can be. After all, it’s a bit of a waste making Chapter 13 perfectly punchy if, after revisiting your plot, you realise Chapter 13 is all filler and needs to be cut.

Copy editing and proofreading

What it is: Finally, we’re getting into the nitty-gritty details. Copy editing and proofreading are closely related jobs — the main difference is that copy editing happens just before your text goes for a test print, and proofreading happens right after. Both copy editors and proofreaders are experts in spelling, commas, and grammatical style. Copy editors are more likely to get their hands dirty by straightening out your clunky sentences right at the end of the writing process. Meanwhile, proofreaders will make sure your punctuation is perfect in your final proofs, and that nothing weird has been introduced to your text during the layout and printing stages.

When you need it: Both of these editors come in at the very end of the process, right before your book is ready for printing. Though it’s a good idea to hire separate copy editors and proofreaders, sometimes a line editor will be willing to do a second pass as a copy editor, or a proofreader will be willing to do a “proof-edit” on your final drafts. Either way, it’s always a good idea to have one last person looking over your layouts before they go to print or are uploaded to the kindle store, especially if that person has an eagle-eye for accurate language.

Wait, what about Commissioning / Acquisition / Managing Editors?

There are quite a few other roles that editors fill within the publishing world, from managing editors who oversee the lifecycle of a publication from conception to final printing, to acquisitions editors who decide which manuscripts are the right fit for their imprints. In all cases, though, editors are passionate readers who love stories, and who work hard to shape them into brilliant books.

No matter where you are in your writing process or what you hope to achieve with your words, remember, you never have to make the journey alone. A good editor (or two) who understands your story and is passionate about bringing it to life can make all the difference in achieving your writing dreams.

If you’re curious about how I can help make your book the best it can be, check out my quiz to find out what kind of editing you might need, and as always, get in touch for a free consultation.

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