Whether you are starting or multi-published, there are editors in your life. Some are most helpful before submission, and many will be involved in the publication of your book. (Note: this article focuses only on the text preparation.)
Here are a few editors to help as you prepare a manuscript for an agent or publishing house.
Editors work for a flat fee per project.
1 Developmental Editor
What you get: an overview of the whole story: plot, characters, dialogue, flow, and language. If you are writing for children, the editor will look for reading level and age range appropriateness. Critique groups often serve in this way. One of the bonuses of a critique group is that you will hear your story read out loud by someone who did not write it! Some agents love doing this, and others won’t touch it.
2 Line Editor
What you get: a focus on manuscripts’ style, language choices, and content, line by line, page by page. This can include line length, rhyming phrases, phrase and word choices, page turns, and front/back matter.
3 Copy Editor
What you get: a look at every single sentence for technical errors, such as punctuation, grammar, and spelling errors. You can use an AI program for this function as long as you do not let it rewrite your story.
These are editors you will encounter in the publishing process.
There may be several departments or all one person. In traditional publishing, they are employed by the publishing house and do not cost you anything.
1 Editorial director
The editorial director runs the entire imprint at the publishing house – project management and strategy involved, trends in the industry, and the market. They are involved with negotiating contracts and overall planning.
2 Commissioning editor
A commissioning editor reads the slush pile and requests submissions for publication. They develop relationships with authors and agents. They’ll also be doing things like attending meetings, negotiating, managing the publication timeline, and communicating with other teams at the publisher.
3 Editor
What they do: have a set number of projects and see each one through from start to finish. This often includes line and copy editing, but also production timelines and cooperation with marketing, printing, and authors. This is the editor with whom most authors communicate.
4 Proofreader
What they do: these will be the final eyes that look over the book before printing. Besides the text, the proofreader will make sure headers and subheads, page numbers, and breaks are consistent. They will verify the placement of tables or charts and cover copy. After that, it goes to the printers.
5 Assistant editor
What they do: perform tasks like contacting freelancers and communicating with authors, as well as editorial duties such as writing copy and proofreading manuscripts. They may also be the first slush pile readers.
Editors put a lot into a book publication but rarely get public credit. If you have encountered an editor, thank them!
Robin Currie is a multi-award-winning author of more than 45 picture books. She writes weekdays on Substack at Robin Currie | Substack.
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