Do you believe you can... edit books?

A great writer is not someone who masters the art of storytelling, develops beautiful and engaging characters, and grabs the focus of readers from the first page. They will be categorized as the best writers when they learn the art of editing books, which is an essential step in publishing a book.

In this blog, we will learn the technique of editing books ourselves. So, let’s edit our manuscript and then publish it for the readers to read.

Steps to editing the manuscript on your own

One of the parts of the writing journey is to edit the written manuscripts. The author can perform this step on their own to keep the content relevant, or they can hire book editing services if they are doing it for the first time.  Follow these steps if you are thinking of editing your manuscript:

Take a break from writing

This is an important part and you cannot skip it.

Touching the book immediately after it is completed is never a good idea. You will have an idea of the parts that you need to revise as you were in a rush when writing your material. No matter how short the deadline, never reread the book immediately. Keep it aside for some weeks or days. This break will help you get back with a fresh pair of eyes.

You can also avoid overlooking the bigger problems as you will concentrate on smaller details. If you feel that the editing is really important to begin urgently, then distract yourself with short activities like taking a walk, exercising, or hanging out with friends. This will activate your mind and help you concentrate better. Remember, the editing process is alike the writing process. You need to read through your entire writing from beginning to end. Taking a break helps to restore the energy you will need.

Read the content aloud

Do you know that when you hear something and then see it, you can better understand it? This law applies to the editing process. Reading the content aloud can help detect mistakes in the manuscript. You can make a friend listen to your content as you read or make a recording as you are reading it. After you have completed the reading part, you can listen to your voice. At that spot, you can open your manuscript copy on a desktop. As you listen to any error in grammar or sentence structure, revise it to add a footnote for yourself that the error needs to be addressed.

Consider big-picture editing

At this point, you should ignore the stylistic issues and typos. You must focus on structure issues and other problems like the holes in the content in terms of transitions. You are not focusing on improving the use of language. Just your content is the pitch point.

This shows that you need to perform developmental editing to eliminate other forms of editing. This means that you need to just read the content, not edit it. Maintain notes on the larger issues. Note down the changes that are to be made. Once you have read through the complete story, visit your notes before you dive into smaller staff.

You can create a checklist to keep you focused without skipping any important elements. As you keep viewing the story for major to minor elements, you can keep ticking the completed things.   

Fix further minor mistakes

Start fixing the minor ones. This includes checking for spelling and punctuation errors. You can read line-by-line and fix the basic problems. If you want to be more professional, you can get help from the spell checkers available online. Fix punctuation and grammatical errors once free from spelling. Moreover, check for the repeating words and replace them with something that aligns and fits well in the context. If there are lines written in the passive voice, rewrite them in the active voice. Check for the word choice and keep the target readers in your mind. Check if the words are simple for them to understand.

Look for the accuracy

Check for accuracy if your book has used some statistical values or graphs to support the entered data. Check through the source of each stated data. Consider if the values still exist or if the facts in the statements are true. This will make your content authentic.

Hire a proofreader

When you have done the editing part on your own, there is still some room for the professional eye. In such situations, you should hire a proofreader. Another set of eyes will go through your manuscript the final time. Check for the errors that you might have missed unconsciously. Remember! They always add some extra beauty to your content. They can catch some typos that might be neglected by your eyes.

Format the manuscript

Before sending the manuscript for printing, check out its formatting. You can get help from book layout design services or do it on your own. Go through the guidelines of your publishing house. Read through the standard font size and type to avoid rejections. Check if the content is aligned with proper spacing. If you have used any pictures or images in your manuscript, check if they are aligned.

Submit your manuscript and celebrate.  

FAQs

What is meant by book editing?

A process to review and revise the manuscript so its quality can be improved in terms of the content, structure, clarity, and grammatical errors. The process is time-consuming, with a focus on each section and stage.

Can authors edit their books themselves?

Yes, authors can edit their books. They just have to follow some steps, like focusing on the bigger errors and then moving to minor errors.

What are some of the types of editing?

Some of the types of editing include:

• Developmental editing
• Line editing
• Copy editing
• Structural editing
• Substantive editing

What are some of the steps of formatting a book?

You should leave enough margin to give the manuscript a clear look. The font size and type should be readable, and spacing between lines and words should be proper.  

The final wrap  

Book editing is a skill. The person should master the combination of technological knowledge, creativity, and focus to perform this action. Although it might feel like a challenge at the start, with practice and dedication you can learn the craft of editing.

Improve the quality of the manuscript by removing grammatical, structural, and other errors to enhance the overall quality of the content. The self-editing process is more dependent on the confidence of the author, and understanding is a form of art.