Editing & Proofreading

Editing and proofreading are essential steps in turning your manuscript into a professional, polished book. They help refine your message, improve readability, and prepare the text for publishing. Many first-time authors underestimate how much editing matters—but strong editing can transform a good book into a great one.

 

Editing

Editing is more than fixing typos. It’s the process of improving the content, structure, clarity, flow, voice, and style of your manuscript. Editing happens in several stages, each with a different purpose and depth. Understanding these stages helps you decide what level of support you want—and how much of the work you can comfortably do yourself.

Developmental Editing (also called Structural or Substantive Editing)

This is the highest-level edit. It looks at the big picture of your book by focusing on:

  • Overall structure and chapter organization

  • Logical flow and sequencing

  • The clarity of your message and purpose

  • Missing content, gaps, or weak explanations

  • Repetition or unnecessary material

  • How well each chapter supports your book’s goals

  • Strong openings and practical conclusions

Goal: Create a cohesive, well-organized book aligned with reader expectations.

Depth: This is the most intensive form of editing—entire chapters may be rewritten, moved, expanded, or removed.

 

Line Editing

Line editing takes a closer look at how your ideas are expressed at the sentence and paragraph level by focusing on:

  • Tone, rhythm, and voice

  • Sentence clarity and flow

  • Word choice and phrasing

  • Eliminating clunky or awkward sentences

  • Improving readability and engagement

Goal: Make your writing smoother, more precise, and more engaging—without changing your meaning.

Depth: Moderate. Sentences are often reworked for impact and clarity.

 

Copyediting

Copyediting is the technical cleanup stage. It ensures your manuscript is correct, consistent, and polished by focusing on:

  • Grammar, punctuation, and syntax

  • Consistent spelling and capitalization

  • Style guide compliance (Chicago, APA, etc.)

  • Logical flow within paragraphs

  • Consistent terminology

  • Basic fact-checking, if needed

Goal: Produce a clean, accurate manuscript that reads professionally.

Depth: Detailed and rule-based, but less stylistic than line editing.

 

Mechanical / Formatting Editing

Sometimes combined with copyediting, this stage ensures your manuscript meets publishing requirements by focusing on:

  • Heading and subheading consistency

  • Paragraph formatting and spacing

  • Page breaks, widows, and orphans

  • Placement of tables, figures, and images

  • Clean, uniform lists and quotations

Goal: Prepare a properly formatted manuscript ready for layout or upload to KDP, IngramSpark, or other platforms.

 

A typical editing sequence looks like this:

  1. Developmental Editing (structure and content)

  2. Line Editing (style and readability)

  3. Copyediting (technical correctness)

  4. Formatting (technical layout)

This sequence ensures your manuscript moves from big-picture adjustments to fine-tuning.

 

Hiring an Editor

Most authors hire a professional editor at some point. Many reputable companies and freelancers offer editing services, including UpWork, The Urban Writers, and Publishing Services. Prices vary widely—anywhere from $300 to $1,500, depending on the level of editing.

My own experience was mixed. I paid over $1,000 for editing on my first book. The results were polished, but the process was more frustrating than I expected. For my second book, I spent $300 and received almost no meaningful edits. After that, I edited my own manuscripts—and I’ve never received negative feedback from readers. The more you read, the more you begin recognizing editing issues naturally, and the better you become at correcting them yourself.

 

Using Grammarly

I’m a huge fan of the software Grammarly. I pay the annual fee ($208 CAD) so everything I write is automatically checked for spelling and grammar. Once I’m satisfied with a draft chapter, I paste it into Grammarly’s software. It offers detailed suggestions on punctuation, phrasing, readability, and more. I choose which edits to keep. I usually run the chapter through twice—sometimes new recommendations appear on the second pass.

I also use Grammarly’s Plagiarism Checker, primarily since I rely heavily on AI tools. If anything is flagged, I rewrite the sentences using ChatGPT until the text passes the check. After revisions, I run Grammarly once more to make sure everything is clean.

It’s a tedious process, but the result is a polished, plagiarism-free manuscript I’m confident in.

 

In the end, the choice is yours.

  • Pay for professional editing

  • Use software tools to assist

  • Or learn to edit your own work

There is no “wrong” approach—only what works best for your goals and budget.

 

Proofreading

Proofreading is the final step before publication. It’s a surface-level check for minor, remaining errors.

Focuses on:

  • Spelling

  • Grammar

  • Punctuation

  • Minor formatting issues

Proofreading doesn’t restructure your book or rewrite sentences—it simply catches the last mistakes missed during editing.

You can pay for a proofreader, but in my experience, Grammarly does an excellent job when used carefully and consistently.