Contest Closed! Congrats to the Winner TMBuzzard.

The Editing Process

So, as many of my readers know, editing is my LEAST favorite part of the publication process. That’s not to say I don’t love my editor–quite the contrary. She’s fabulous, and always helps transforms my manuscripts into polished stories.

But the actual editing is exacting work on a short deadline, and there’s just a LOT of it. (That’s one reason why it takes so much time from writing to publication. I swear–we’re going as fast as we can!) So, I thought I’d give you an overview of the four stages of the editing process; these are the stages that take place after the manuscript is written and has been submitted to the editor.

1. The Editorial Letter

The first stage of the editing process is big picture: My editor sends me an e-mail with thoughts about the overall arcs of the manuscript (relationship, mystery, series, etc.). The letter might include concerns about pacing (“Things are moving a little too slowly here”) or the heroine being too passive (“Let’s have *her* solve the mystery”). There’s also a rundown of items on specific pages (“Wasn’t this couch blue in the last book?”) and thoughts about moving scenes to other parts of the book (“More Mallory, please!”).

Once I receive the editorial letter, it usually takes 2-4 weeks to make the changes (as the editing work is in addition to writing whatever I’m working on at the time and my day job). When I’m done, I send the manuscript back, and she gets to reading again.

2. The Line Edit

Once my editor has read the manuscript again, she’ll suggest any final plot-related changes, and she’ll actually edit thesentences in the book for grammar. This is usually one of the shorter parts of my editing process, and I may have a week or so to complete the (usually minor) line edits.

3. The Copyedit

The. Worst. Part. Of the Process. Ugh!

Copyeditors have a thankless job; they have to read a manuscript word-by-word and conform the sentences to Chicago Manual of Style requirements. They also make notes about continuity and suggest grammatical and typographical changes. The copyedit is VERY thorough, which means it takes a lot of time to review and, if necessary, make any changes or comment on the copyeditor’s changes. By this time, I’m usually sick of reading the novel.

4. Page Proofs

We’re nearly done! At the page proofs stage, I get a set of paper pages of the copyset book–in other words, it’s been designed and organized into book form. This is a final chance to fix any minor typographical or spacing errors.

Well, that’s an overview of the editing process. I hope it’s informative. Thanks for reading!

xoxo,
Chloe

Chloe has offered one lucky reader a Twice Bitten Swag Pack (TB bookmark, Firespell bookmark, “I’ve been Twice Bitten” silicone band and CV pen)

Just answer this question: What is the longest you’ve waited for a book to be released?

Contest Ends June 25th at 12am EST.