How Many Editors Does It Take To Produce A Well Written Book? by Tim Sanders

March 12, 2013

Last year, as we were recruiting authors for the Net Minds Select, I often heard the following: "I don't need a lot of editing.  I'm a very good writer, and at the most, I need someone to read it once through for typos and such."  Then, when they gave me their draft manuscript, it was unreadable and disorganized.  Many of our authors write in the non-fiction, advice or business genres, and they assume that their gift of gab or experience writing email will suffice.  They don't realize that editors are the producers of great manuscripts, while authors are usually the raw talent, to be refined into a compelling read.

I assume this as well, as my four books (released by major publishers) went through an editing process that involved no fewer than twelve eyes on the manuscript before the first galley was produced.  My agent and my senior editor often reminded me that in order for a book to be successful over the long haul, "it has to work on the reader."  No marketing can overcome a poorly edited book that the reader cannot or will not finish.

I started to read more about the editing process, starting with the essay compilation Editors On Editing: What Writers Need To Know About What Editors Do.  It became clear to me that editors have made all the difference when it comes to an author delivering on his or her vision.  Take F. Scott Fitzgerald as a case in point.  His tome, The Great Gatsby, was in need of a great deal of editing when he first handed it to the great Maxell Perkins of Scribner.  Perkins reduced, improved and focused the novel over several passes.  He even defended the title internally at the publishing house.  Finally, he soothed Fitzgerald's emotions as the process unfolded, giving him authentic praise where it was due and gentle criticism when it was warrented.  In the end, the two of them (and a small army of expert readers, line editors and such at Scribner) delivered a classic that endures to this day.  This is the same magic Perkins and his editorial team brought to Ernest Hemingway and Tom Wolfe. 

If you are writing a book, regardless of genre, you need an editing process too.  Here are the editors you may need to employ or recruit for your next book. 

• Developmental Editor:  If you are writing non-fiction, and it's your first book, you likely need a developmental editor.  This partner will focus on the core structure of the book.  For an advice or business book, it would be: Premise, promise and prescription.  He or she may also advise on key decisions such as voice, perspective, literary devices and chapter sequencing.  A developmental editor is to authors what a producer is to musicians.  They advise, shape and steer the words into a book "that works." Much of their work is done towards the beginning of the writing process, prior to the completion of a draft manuscript.
• Line Editor: For either major genre, this editor is crucial to the process. He or she reviews a completed draft manusucript line-by-line to ensure sentence, paragraph and chapter quality and continuity.  This editor ensures readability and consistency throughout the manuscript, often querying the author for intent or explanation of certain passages.  While the line editor conducts light editing for typos, grammar, etc., this is not his or her key role. 
• Copy Editor: He or she reads the line edited manuscript for accuracy, consistency, formatting as well as checking it for grammatical, spelling, punctuation or syntax errors.  This editor also checks on facts, verifies the accuracy of footnotes and may query the author for additional information to satisfy potential reader questions that the manuscript creates.
• Proofreader: He or she is offers the final stage of editing prior to production, and ensures accuracy in terms of spelling, punctuation, grammar, spacing, typos, margins, alignments, fonts and style.  In many cases, this editor will look for errors introduced by the book design, formatting or conversion process.

Beyond these four editors, you also need a group of experienced readers (including friends or colleagues) that will augment the proofreader's scan for errors.  Save them for the end of the process, though, as their opinions about structure or concept will not be educated and may very well throw you off course.

The pricing for each one of these editors varies by their experience.  Many of them charge based on the number of words in your manuscript and some editors (such as developmental) charge a project fee.  In each situation, we believe that the Net Minds way of sharing royalties in addition to payment will bring out the best work, where everyone in the production process has a long term stake in the quality of the finished work.

Read: Editors On Editing: What Writers Need To Know About What Editors Do or the exchange of letters between Maxwell Perkins and F. Scott Fitzgerald.

 

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