How to Go About Editing a Book

One of the first jobs in long line of careers was “working retail”.  I was always the person who had to “close” or “cash out” at the end of the day, which meant counting the cash and receipts in the till, and having to balance the cash against what we sold that day. The cash and the till receipts almost never balanced and trying to find the tiny errors was a real chore, especially at the end of a long day. These are the lessons that served me well later on when I was called upon to edit books.

I very often hear authors who tell me “they are going to edit their own books”. This is really bad idea if they want their books to have ANY chance of success by putting out a quality book. Slightly better (sometimes) is that they are going to get “a friend” or “relative” to do the editing. I get emails and letters from my friends and family, and they are all lovely, well educated people, but based on the quality of their writings, they do not have the capability for editing a book.

Editing a book takes more than just looking at sentences and paragraphs and making them sound right. It takes someone who can look at the author's intent and make a determination if the sentence or paragraphs should be left the way it is in order to maintain the “feel” of the book.

The last thing an editor wants to do is to destroy the intent and feel of a book. Every author has a specific writing style and this needs to be maintained in the editing. The purpose of editing is to make the book understandable and easy to read for the reader without destroying the author's intent and style.

I recall one of my first time editing a book. It was a lengthy, fantasy book. It had so many characters in the book it was hard to follow and sometimes they would just crop up out of nowhere. They wouldn't be introduced or eluded to; they would simply “appear” in the middle of a scene. I would then have to go back and see if I had missed something re-read earlier pages or chapters to see what was going on. Editing the book was nightmare. I had to try and maintain what the author had intended but still try to make it easy for readers to follow. In the end, I had two choices, either try to leave the books somewhat intact or completely destroy it so that a reader could follow along with the story. I opted to leave it intact. There was simply too much work for “editing” the book was crying out for major re-write.

As an editor, one of my roles is to provide the author with an evaluation of the book. What were my personal impressions of the book and what suggestions could I provide to the author that that would make their book better. These are often the hardest part of editing a book, putting into words the harsh reality and suggestions of what needs to be done with a book to take it from mediocre to good or from good to excellent.

Editing a book is always a challenge. Sometimes we need to converse with the author part way through the book to find out what they are really trying to say or to clarify some point. If you don't take the time to do these things at the appropriate juncture in the book, it can affect the whole remainder of the book by providing misleading information.

Finding a good editor is not difficult, there are thousands available, and I would say most do at good job. You will find pricing is all over the map so be sure you know what you are getting and what you will be paying. Always secure a firm quote in advance and a time frame that editing will be competed by. Never pay in advance, although a deposit is acceptable to pay in advance. Try to find an editor who has some sort of a reputation. If you have to, get some references but be cautious, that the editor is only going to feed you references that are positive toward their services, so maintain a healthy scepticism.

In the end, if your book is going to be presented with any kind of credibility you will need to get it professionally edited, and you are going to have to pay for the service. If you don't think the quality of your manuscript deserves the time of a professional editor, then it's time to examine the quality of the manuscript. Is it really worth putting the effort in on, or should it be scrapped and the author move on to a new book project. Tough questions, but the answers will serve you well when answered honestly, and only then will you have the tools and motivation to put out a quality book.

Share this post