Episode Twenty-Seven: Do you need an editor for your novel? It depends.
Most fiction writers know they’ll need help at some point, and those planning to publish know that feedback from a professional editor can help them write a successful book. But what kind of editing do you actually need? Do you need developmental editing or a book coach? Copy editing or proofreading? And what about line editing?
It’s a complicated question without a one-size-fits-all answer. So, let’s talk about it. The answer depends on two factors: your publishing plan and your skill as a writer.
Listen to learn about the different types of editors and how to know which types of feedback you’ll need at each stage in your writing process.
Resources mentioned in this episode:
Request a sample edit from Olivia (closed to the public until July 7th): https://www.oliviahelpswriters.com/sample-edit
Margie Lawson’s line editing courses: https://www.margielawson.com/lawson-writers-academy-2/
Learn more about the different types of editors here: https://www.oliviahelpswriters.com/blog/types-of-editing-and-editors
Thanks for listening, keep writing, and keep getting better one word at a time!
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Thanks for listening, keep writing, and keep getting better one word at a time!
Transcript
Olivia (00:00)
As a fiction writer, you know that you cannot just edit your own book. You know that you need help, probably from a professional editor. But there are so many different types of editors out there. Then there are also book coaches. So how do know what you need and where in the process to get that help? In this episode, I am diving in to the different types of professional editing and which ones you need depending on your publishing goals. Let's dive in.
Welcome to episode 27 of the Better Writer podcast. In this episode, I'm talking about the different types of editors and whether or not you really need them as a fiction writer.
I do want to address the elephant in the room. I am an editor. Specifically, I'm a developmental editor. I'm also a book coach and this is how I make my living. So I do have a vested interest in writers pursuing developmental editing especially, but I am going to try to give you my unbiased-ish opinion on what do we really need because I am not someone who is ever going to tell you that you need to hire a developmental editor for every single book that you write. It isn't true. ⁓ So I think there is a lot of nuance. The editing that you need is really going to depend on your specific publishing goals.
There is not a one size fits all answer and I'm not going to tell you that you absolutely need to hire someone for every stage of the editing process because that would be a lie. So again, I do have a vested interest in people hiring me. I do think there are writers who need developmental editing, but it's not everyone. So let's talk about what goes into that decision and hopefully you will get closer to figuring out what is right for you before we dive in to how to decide what kind of editing you need, I want to make sure that we're all on the same page and just talk about the different types of editing that are out there. I am not going to get into all of the details. This is just your brief overview. So we all know we're talking about the same things throughout this episode. First off, there is developmental editing, also known as substantive editing or sometimes content editing, depending on who you talk to and developmental editing encompasses both a developmental edit but it can also refer to something like a manuscript evaluation or even an outline critique, which is something that I offer fits into that category of developmental editing more broadly. A developmental edit is going to focus on high level elements of your story. Think plot, structure, character development, all of those things that are playing out across the story as a whole. A developmental editor is going to completely ignore grammar issues, typos, and even line-level writing, though it will come up because all of those high-level elements are coming to life on the page, so there is little bit of overlap. The key point here is that a developmental editor is focusing on the big picture, aka the development of your story as a whole. There is a misconception that developmental editors only work with story ideas. I have actually seen that in an article before. That's not true. I work with the whole draft as a developmental editor. Most of us do, though I do also work with outlines and things like that.
A developmental editor does come in when you have a complete draft as well. It is not just for developing the idea, which is a strange misconception. I've only ever seen that one time and I think that person just wasn't actually aware of the industry that they were writing about, but that is a story for a different day. All right. Next up we have line editing, and that is where an editor is going to come in and tune up everything at the sentence level. They are going to focus specifically on issues of style, flow, word choice, especially if there are sentences in your manuscript that are a little bit clunky or hard to read, a line editor is going to smooth all of those things out.
A line editor is not going to tackle all of the mechanical grammatical things that a copy editor does. This is more on the artistic side of cleaning up your sentences and making sure everything sounds great, flows smoothly, and is clear to readers. Then we get into copy editing, which is where all of those mechanical things are going to be addressed. Typos, grammar issues, all those pesky little rules about commas that I am not great at because I am a developmental editor.
A copy editor is going to really make sure that your story is working mechanically. A good copy editor is not going to focus solely on the rules because as we all know fiction is artistic and you might have been using a device deliberately, they are ideally going to respect that. Finally, at the end of the editing process, we have proofreaders. Now, proofreaders actually work on the story after it has been formatted and prepared for printing. They are checking the proof copies, that's where that term comes from, and they are looking for any errors that slipped in during that formatting process. If there are any grammar issues or typos that have slipped through, they are going to catch that as well, but it is really the final stage in the process and they are just looking for those small mistakes that crept in. They are not going to be addressing any big picture things or even larger stylistic issues are not getting addressed at that point.
Alright, then we have book coaching, which often overlaps with editing but isn't quite the same thing. Book coaches may work with you just on your ideas, they may help you revise, they may help you polish your pitch before you start querying agents. A book coach often works with the writer just as much as the writing itself, so they may help you with things like mindset, building your skills as a writer overall, or even building the resilience to tackle a tough topic that you're not even sure you're ready to write about. There are many, ways that a book coach can help, and often they are also giving you the type of feedback that an editor would as well. Most book coaches, when they are giving feedback, are leaning toward the developmental side of the process, and there is the most overlap between book coaching and developmental editing, and sometimes line editing as well.
And book coaches might offer a mix of developmental and line editing in the same round of feedback, which is something you're less likely to see with an editor. And because book coaching is less solidified, less formal of an industry, you really have to look at what each individual coach is offering because they might be offering you just emotional support and coaching on certain skills without actually reading your work, or they might focus intensely on the work itself and anything in between. So you really have to look at these specific services that a book coach is offering because they vary so widely and book coaches get to be very, very specific about what kind of support they offer at what stage in the process. All right, now that we know what types of editing and book coaching are out there, let's talk about which ones you may need and how to know.
In my mind, the question of what kind of editorial support you need really comes down to two factors. First, your publishing plan and then your skill as a writer. The publishing plan part is more clear cut, so we'll start there. If you are planning to traditionally publish your book, you are going to be selling rights to publish your work in exchange for the publisher handling a lot of the production side that you would be handling yourself if you decided to self publish you do not need to spend money on copy editing or proofreading before you query. An agent and an acquiring editor are going to assume that you have basic command of the language, but they are not expecting a perfect, polished, publication-ready prose to come across their desk. And that is key, ⁓ the word prose there, because they are expecting a publication-ready story, even if they are still going to have story-level feedback for you. I know that is confusing.
⁓ But a lot of editors nowadays are looking to invest in writers who know how to make their stories work at a developmental level. So that means your story needs to be polished, your story needs to be ready. It should not need significant developmental revisions, but that same expectation is not true of your prose. So ideally, we want to make sure there are no grammar issues or typos in what we're submitting, but you don't need to hire a copy editor before you query.
That is going to be handled in-house or potentially by a freelancer that the publishing house has hired when you go through the production process. So do not spend money on a copy edit or proofread before you query. If you are planning to self-publish, you are functioning as your own publisher. And that means you need to make sure that all of the mechanics of your story are working. And that means working with a copy editor and a proofreader before you publish. ⁓ I think that there are probably situations in which you have a writer friend who is skilled enough as a copy editor to do it for you for free. You might be able to get close, but I do think this is one of those things that as a self-publisher, you should plan to invest in. I am not a self-publishing expert, I will say that, but I think everything that I am seeing from the people who are doing this professionally, They are working with copy editors. They are working with proofreaders. They are making sure that at that basic mechanical level, their story is working for readers by ensuring that it is professional. And that really is going to come from having a copy editor and a proofreader. I've talked before about how our brains are not designed for self-editing. And that really comes in with those little mechanical things where you can read the same line a million times and not see a basic typo in your work. Like I once submitted a story to an instructor that said reading instead of ready and I had read that multiple times. My partner had read it multiple times. Neither of us saw it. The instructor did because it was a cold read.
So you really need someone who is looking at your story with fresh eyes, who really knows all the rules as well. I mean, I would be the first to say even as a development editor my relationship with grammar is intuitive at best, nonexistent at worst. So I know even for myself that if I were going to be publishing a book, I would absolutely need a copy editor who really has internalized all of those grammatical rules because I have not and I'm honest with myself about that. So if you are self-publishing, really, really, it is important to make sure that you are putting out a professional high quality book that is worthy of your readers' time and money because you are trying to sell a product. Your book becomes a product when you publish. ⁓ And I know that it is not necessarily going to be easy to afford those editing services. Absolutely. However, if you are deciding to become a self-publisher, you are becoming a business.
And that means investing in starting that business. I like to think of it in terms of, know, if someone were starting a restaurant and they're like, oh, I had to buy, you know, day old expired meat because I can't afford anything else. I would not go to that restaurant. You probably wouldn't go to that restaurant because we know that being able to invest in high quality food is a prerequisite of starting a restaurant. And the same is true for us as writers.
I think compared to other businesses, as writers, we do have a lower barrier to entry, but that doesn't mean that there is no barrier. And I think it is essential to make sure you are not the only person who's read your book before you put it into the marketplace. All right I will get off my soapbox now.
so copy editing and proofreading are pretty clear-cut. Everyone needs them, every book needs them, but who is paying for it or how it happens is going to look a little bit different depending on your publishing path. Now we have developmental editing and line editing and book coaching. And these are all a little bit harder to pin down because it really depends on your skill as a writer. And it also depends on where you are in your writer education.
A little bit is going to factor in what your publishing pathway is as well, but in this case, it really is about your skill and what you can do on your own versus what you need help with. instead of talking about those types of editing separately, I'm going to talk about different skill levels of writers and what you might need different types of editing depending on where you are in your writerly education and experience.
First off, if you are an absolute beginner, you are someone who just started one day writing a book and you finished it without taking a writing class, without getting feedback from anyone. I mean, first off, congratulations. That is very impressive. A lot of people who start books never finish, so good for you. ⁓ In that scenario, I don't think that your first move should be hiring an editor. If you are an absolute beginner, you've never taken a writing class, your draft is likely to be messy. It is likely to be a rough, rough draft. There's nothing wrong with that. That is where you should be at this point in the process. It's completely natural. However, an edit is likely not going to be the most helpful solution for you because you need a certain baseline knowledge to make use of a developmental edit. Even an editor who specializes in working with beginners can only explain so much in the context of an edit. And though the feedback you get is likely to be helpful, you are probably not going to be in a position to take advantage of it. And I know that it's hard to hear, it might be, you know, kind of there might be some some feathers ruffled, but I think that, you know, the situations I've seen where someone has gotten an edit and they've just, my gosh, this feedback is so helpful, it's wonderful, and then, you know, I come back for the revision evaluation and nothing has actually changed. ⁓ I really attribute that to a lack of knowledge. It's not that the writer didn't want to make the changes, it's not that they didn't agree with my feedback, they just didn't actually have the base of knowledge required to then implement those changes in an effective way. So you need to have knowledge about the writing process, about how fiction works, before you can really benefit from a developmental edit. Especially a developmental edit, I would say the same is true of a manuscript evaluation, but please do not spend thousands of dollars on the developmental edit before you have some knowledge of how fiction works. Take a class first. There are lots of out there.
There are lots of classes out there that include feedback. ⁓ I'm always happy to recommend classes because I've taken a lot of them because I love learning. ⁓ But I really believe that a class is better positioned to help you when you are just starting out. And that is really why I created reader-ready revisions because I kept seeing clients who were so happy with the feedback they got. They were totally on board. And then I still didn't see those changes really manifested in the next round of editing. And I was kind of pointing out the same problems again and again. I just realized that there was a gap in terms of the desire to execute those changes was not matched by the skill to execute those changes. So I designed that program with that kind of writer in mind to really guide people through the theory behind those changes and kind of go step by step through how do you actually implement and execute on the page. So that is the kind of thing I would recommend. Doesn't have to be my class, but I do recommend taking a class first, get feedback from an instructor with the support of also then learning the frameworks, how to execute, how to look at examples in your genre. Because you're not going to get that from an editor. An editor is going to hand you an editorial letter. They might give you a bunch of comments on your manuscript. They're not going to be there to sit down next to you, step by step by step by step as you go through those revisions. mean, a lot of editors will follow up. I offer calls, I answer emails. It's still not enough.
A book coach could also be helpful in that scenario. That is going to give you more of a one-on-one experience. You're going to get coached on your writing step-by-step. In that case, you want to find a book coach who specializes in your genre, the part of the process that you're in, but that can be really helpful in guiding you step by step through how to actually execute and learn how to write. Book coaching is usually going to be more expensive, especially if it's a one-on-one, compared to joining a class. Reader ready revisions is kind of in the middle. It's both a course and you're getting some group coaching, so it's definitely not a cheap self-paced course because you are getting feedback, you are getting my support live as you go through the course. But that's also part of what makes it so powerful is that you are getting feedback on your story. You get to ask questions about your story as you are also learning the principles of revision or broadly. So if you're an absolute beginner, I recommend that you start with coaching, start with classes. Then you can have an editor read your entire manuscript after you've learned more about the craft and have implemented some of those changes on your own.
Alright, let's say that you are someone who is not a beginner anymore. You're maybe an advanced beginner or even you're starting to feel like you might be an intermediate writer. You've taken classes, you have gotten feedback. Maybe you have first chapter to death and it feels like the first chapter is great, everything else you're not sure about. That is the perfect time to hire a developmental editor. Get feedback on your whole story. You know enough to have made some of those changes on your own. You know enough to know that your story isn't quite there.
You're just not sure how to actually fix it. You have that sense that something is missing, you can't put your finger on it. That is the perfect time to hire a developmental editor. Again, you have multiple options there.
Many developmental editors offer both developmental edits and manuscript evaluations. They might call them slightly different things, but those are the two basic services that fall under this umbrella. Now, every editor also has a different definition for what distinguishes those two services.
In my book, you are going to get the same exact type of feedback in a developmental edit and a manuscript evaluation. If I were to do a manuscript evaluation and a developmental edit on the same manuscript, The editorial letter for those two projects would be the same. The book map that you get, which is kind of a high level overview of your story in an Excel spreadsheet, those two would be identical. The only real difference is that the developmental edit comes with comments on the manuscript itself and the manuscript evaluation does not. So in the developmental edit, I am in there commenting on every part of your story, basically saying, hey, that issue that I mentioned in the editorial letter, this is where it's happening or this line is great, do more of this. In the manuscript evaluation, you're going to see in the letter where I say, in general, you want to avoid X and do more of Y, but I'm not going to point it out on the specific page in the comment. So that is the big difference. Obviously, the developmental edit is more expensive because commenting and then going back and editing all of those comments is a lot of work. So manuscript evaluation is a great way to get the same type of feedback, but it's just going to be less intensive because you don't get those comments.
And the decision of which one is often a matter of budget. But if you are trying to figure out which one is better for you and you can afford both of them, I think that the manuscript evaluation is great on opposite sides of the spectrum. If you are someone who knows you have a really messy draft and you just have no idea what to do with it, a manuscript evaluation is great because the manuscript isn't clean enough for you to really benefit from those comments on the page. Versus, if you are someone who is very experienced, your draft is pretty clean, you just want someone to check in and make sure that it's working the way you think it is. A management evaluation is great because, if you're a very clean writer, there might not be a lot for me to comment on. It's gonna be those high level things of, you maybe this subplot didn't work as well as you wanted it to, or, you know, maybe this one character could be better. You don't necessarily need me commenting that on the page but I can give you that write up and then you can take it and run with it. If you're somewhere in the middle where the draft is clean-ish, you have gotten it to a pretty clean level but you're still really unsure about it and you don't have the skill to take that generalized feedback and run with it, that is when you want to have a developmental edit so that I am showing you exactly where to make the changes on the story. So again.
There is some nuance there and I'm happy to talk with anyone who is curious about those two services. I'll usually quote both when I do a sample edit so you can consider your options and then decide. I'm always happy to chat
Depending on where you are in the process and what your skill level is. The other consideration is your emotions around the process. If you are someone who is very self-motivated, you are ready to get your story done, editing is great. If part of your struggle and revision is about your emotions and your ability to keep the process going, a book coach may be a better fit because they are going to help you with that mindset, resistance, and the time management side of things in a way that an editor just won't.
There are many editors that will offer coaching as an add-on as you revise, but it is not a given. ⁓ It's definitely something that you want to consider as you are choosing which service is best for you. If you want someone who's going to walk alongside you and keep you on track, book coaching is great. If you just want someone to hand you that editorial letter so you can retreat into your office on your own, an edit is a great option.
Alright, and then finally, line editing. If you know that style is an issue for you, word choice is an issue for you, you have gotten feedback that your writing is a little clunky or a little hard to follow, or you just know that for yourself, line editing is a great option because that is really where someone is going to come in and help you make every sentence in your story stronger. And I think for a lot of us, when we think about, you know, editing and what editing is,
Line editing is what comes to mind where it's like, this word doesn't fit, let's swap another one in. We're going to move some sentences around, make everything sound better than it does. ⁓ That is really what line editing is all about. It's very expensive because it is very intensive. ⁓ I charge more for line editing than anything else. ⁓ But it can be very, very helpful, especially if it's something where you are looking at your screen like, I know this doesn't sound as good as it could, but I have no idea how I would even begin to fix it. Line editing is a great option.
I personally think that line editing is something that a lot of writers can ultimately learn how to do on their own and I think it's also something that a lot of writers want to keep for themselves. That is totally fine. Hone your voice, hone your style, but if it's something that you need help with, there is no shame with that either, and it really is just something that you need to decide for yourself. Can you get your prose to a publishable level on your own? Can you do the work to make sure that all of your sentences are clear and coherent or even beautiful? ⁓ That is the question there. If you can, great, do it, run with it. There are lots of great classes out there. Margie Lawson has some great resources for line editing specifically that I will link to. But if it's something you can't do on your own, totally fine, hire someone, get help, and that's it. So that one, I really don't have like a, I wish I had more clear cut guidelines for you on that one, but it really is just a matter of taste because line editing is so subjective.
All right, this has been a lot of, it depends. And I wanna try to leave you with something that's a little bit more actionable. Hopefully I've already clarified whether or not you need copy editing and proofreading. ⁓ But here are some scenarios that will point you in the direction of hiring support for these aspects of the process. First off, if you are a beginner, you're just starting out, you need help you need to get feedback at the very least on your first novel or novel attempt. Get feedback from someone, ideally a professional because they are probably going to be able to supercharge your learning much faster than just relying on beta readers or critique groups, but you need help from someone.
If you are an absolute beginner and you've never even taken a writing class, start there. I recommend mine, Reader Ready Revisions, for obvious reasons, ⁓ but I really designed that course to help you learn how to revise before you ever get professional feedback so that when you get professional feedback, which you will get as part of the course, you then know how to implement it. And just kind of make that more tangible. In a developmental edit, I might tell you your conflict doesn't escalate enough. You need to do XYZ. In reader ready revisions, I'm showing you what does that actually look like when this mistake happens and then how do we fix it. So it's just the difference between me telling you what the problem is versus learning how to fix it for yourself then getting feedback and then being able to make it even stronger in that next round of revision.
So if you're an absolute beginner, get help, but also make sure that you're doing the learning first. Do not jump into a project thinking that you were going to magically create the next great American novel. I mean, in theory, it could happen, but most likely it will not. So just like any other new career path or new endeavor, you have to learn. It is like anything else. You need to learn. You need to get feedback from someone who knows how it works so that you can actually do it correctly, especially if you're planning to publish and sell your work to readers.
All right. If you are somewhere in the middle, you have some experience, you know how things are supposed to work, but you just can't seem to figure out how to actually make it happen in your story. That is the perfect time to hire an editor. If you are someone who has a rough draft, you know, it is an absolute mess. A manuscript evaluation is probably the way to go. If you have cleaned it up enough that it is very coherent, very readable, but you just know there's something going on in the story and you know that all of your scenes should be stronger, that is a great time to get a developmental edit so you get comments on the manuscript itself. If you are someone who you know that your story is super clean, you're pretty experienced, but you just know that there's something off and you just want someone to check in and help you figure out what that thing is, a manuscript evaluation is also great in that scenario. Then we get to the stylistic options. If you are reading your prose and you just think it is clunky, it is awkward, you don't know how to fix it, hire a line editor. If you read through your story and you're like, is beautiful and I want to keep tweaking my sentences until they're perfect, you don't need a line editor. You can do that yourself and there are plenty of resources to help you. Now, the other consideration of course is always budget. There are many different price points, many different types of editors out there. So make sure you check, find the different services available to you. Manuscript evaluations are cheaper than developmental edits. A revision strategy session, which is something I offer, is cheaper than a manuscript evaluation.
And of course, you can also get feedback on just your outline, so you're at least making sure you get feedback on the plot, the structure, how your character arcs are working, and that is going to be cheapest of all. If you need emotional support, if you are having trouble maintaining focus, maintaining motivation, if you want someone to hold your hand through every step of the process, helping you both with the craft and the emotional side of writing, a book coach is the way to go because they are going to help you with both the emotional side of the project and the technical craft side of the project.
Alright, hopefully this episode has helped clarify whether or not you need an editor and what kind of editorial support you need if you do, in fact, need help. If you listen to this and realize that you want me to be your editor, I would love to help you, especially if you write fantasy, fantasy romance, or historical fiction. I am just now reopening the sample edit form to newsletter subscribers only. If you are not on my newsletter, you will have to wait until July 7th for that form to reopen. But any subscriber, you can now submit a sample edit request. I am booking into November 2026. So if you want editing at the end of this year or the beginning of next year, make sure you submit that sample edit form ASAP so that you can be the first on my list. All right. Thank you so so much for listening to another episode of the Better Writer Podcast. If this episode helped you or taught you anything, I hope you'll share it with a friend or post about it on social media. Have a wonderful day. Keep writing and keep getting better, one word at a time. See ya.
