Many people think that the role of an editor is just to correct grammatical errors by fixing spelling and comma mistakes as well as add a few things to make your writing look perfect. The truth is that UK editors can do more things. This is because they are experts who can identify things you may not have noticed while writing your book. As a result, there is a good chance that your book can stand out on the market. Therefore, you need to hire an editor to edit your writing. This page discusses the top reasons why your book requires editing.
Types of editing
There are various types of editing, such as line editing and copy editing. Copy editing is associated with checking for typographical errors, consistency issues, spelling errors, punctuation mistakes, grammar errors, and many more. With traditional publishers, copy editing also involves fact-checking, if necessary. If you want to write a nonfiction book, then you need to make sure that the potential editor should also fact-check your manuscript.
On the other hand, line editing includes copy editing, though it can also focus on the entire readability of the manuscript. Therefore, it means that you may be getting an expert who can help you become a better writer when it comes to sentences and paragraphs.
Simply put, an editor can correct awkward paragraphs or sentences and make suggestions to improve the sentences by removing redundancy. They can also check the key parts of your manuscript, such as structure, vocabulary, narrative, characters, development, and style.
As you can see, any type of editor can be helpful to your project. For example, after line editing, you may need other rounds of editing. Therefore, during the writing process, you first need to write the first draft. You can then leave the draft for at least two months without thinking about it. This allows you to have a fresh mind when you come back to it before rewriting it.
It’s worth noting that traditional publishers tend to have another step besides copy editing which is called proofreading. The publisher can print a few copies known as galleys so that the proofreader can compare the manuscript to the printed copy. This helps them to identify errors that may have been overlooked.
Hiring an editor comes at a cost, so make sure that you hire the one you can afford. No wonder, many writers are sceptical when it comes to hiring more than one editor. But if you are confident with your writing, then it’s a good idea to choose a developmental editor or copy editor. If you believe that your project can use some help, then you can choose a line editor.
The reasons for hiring an editor
An editor can save you from making serious mistakes. The serious mistakes are not simply a single or more missing commas. While commas are necessary, serious mistakes are some errors that can destroy your reputation as a writer. An editor can save you by identifying holes in the logical argument or even some gaps you missed in the plot. Even better, they assist in making your manuscript more polished, coherent, and pleasant to read. And, they can leave no space for a reader to notice some plot gaps or illogical statements.
For instance, in most cases, some writers can write too much when it comes to retelling a story or world-building effort. An editor can identify these types of errors that can potentially affect the attention of your readers. Therefore, they can recommend what you need to remove to streamline your story or change to avoid boredom. As you can see, editing is not just checking grammatical mistakes or spelling errors, which can be the task of a proofreader.
An editor is there to take your writing to the next level. This means they can identify redundancy, which can happen when unknowingly you utilize the same words several times. Some writers can lose track of the things they may have written before, so they can contradict or repeat it. This is where a good editor can help you by telling you the most precise and best words that can make your writing more expressive and smoother.
You need to count on your editor when it comes to objective and valuable feedback. In most cases, some writers can get too close and attached to their writing. This usually occurs when you read the writing several times to make it hard to look at it from an outside perspective. As a result, this can make it hard for you to find some mistakes or areas to improve in your writing.
But when you choose to work with a reputable editor, you can get a person who can collaborate with you. This should always be the team effort, so make sure that the editor offers you straight facts. They are not there to undermine you, but their feedback can be valuable when you are trying to determine how you may improve your work.
If you are a person who can check your work objectively, self-editing can be useful. However, the effort and time you may take to self-edit your book cannot be worth it. This is especially true if you are not fully confident of your writing. You should remember that self-editing can be good, but don’t expect to be completely polished. In other words, it’s not a good alternative to hiring a professional editor.
And, whether or not you want to self-publish your book, you still need to find a professional editor. It’s a mistake to think that publishing companies can look at your unedited work and just hire any editor to fix your mistakes. The truth is that if your work is quite rough when you send it to a publishing company, there is a good chance that it may never be published.
Hence, you should always submit your best work when you decide to deal with a publishing company. The right way to do this is to hire a good editor and let them handle your book professionally.
