Editing a New Book Is a New Challenge

Being a book editor means regularly editing new books of different genres. While editing a new book, the editor needs to be kind and open to the author’s point of view.

man standing on roadme standing on a road

By Raza Hasnain Naqvi

I am writing this article from the perspective of a book editor who is hired by an author to take care of his manuscript.  

When a book editor takes on a project in the form of a manuscript from an author, he has a particular mindset ready to tackle this challenge. It is a challenge alright where the raw manuscript (it may have been self-edited and checked by the author multiple times) - but the book editor would always consider it a raw piece of writing. 

When this editor starts editing a new book, he doesn’t just start editing from the first page. There is a process involved. If the editor does not follow the process that s/he has discovered that works best for her in book editing, then the project will not be completed satisfactorily. The author will not be happy with the edited manuscript, while the editor will have that nagging feeling that he did not do his best on the project.

Let me share with you the process that I follow for editing nonfiction books.

Editing a New Book in the Nonfiction Category

As soon as I get the go-ahead from the author to start working on his manuscript, I go over the whole manuscript quickly. It is not a line by line read, it is more of quick paragraph scans. I am jotting down any relevant thoughts that come to me at this time. These notes will help me later to focus on some queries that I may have that I will share with the author. 

My next step will be checking the Table of Contents section at the beginning of the manuscript. I am keen to see a Table of Contents that is descriptive and gives a good inkling of what the chapters inside will be like. 

If I am not happy here, I start making corrections in the TOC by referencing the manuscript chapters. I may rename the chapters, add new chapters or new parts in the TOC if required.

Now I start editing from Chapter 1 using Microsoft Word. I go over the lines one by one, and I keep making corrections. What is important here is that I also have an Excel sheet open where I keep jotting down words that are spelling differently in different places. The objective here is to take note of all such confusing words and phrases and then get back to the author to discuss them.

And this starts another important part of my editing process, where I start leaving queries in the manuscript which I expect the author to answer. This give-and-take keeps happening until the day comes when the manuscript is ready. I am happy with my editing work and the author is also satisfied that all those nagging errors in his manuscript have been taken care of by me. 

This is a snapshot of the process that I use when I am editing a new book.

What Are The Essential Editing Tips

1. Read the Book in Its Entirety:

I have already mentioned above that before a book editor starts editing a new book, he needs to read through the entire book. If it is a fiction manuscript, then she will get a sense of the plot, characters, and style. If it is nonfiction, then she will better understand the flow of thoughts and chapters on the book topic.

2. Focus on Story and Character Development:

In a fiction manuscript, it is the author’s responsibility to make sure her story has a clear arc. If the author can create characters that are well-developed and believable, she has already won half the battle.

3. Check for Grammatical and Spelling Errors:

It is the prime duty of a book editor to make sure the manuscript is error-free. Whether the manuscript will actually be 100% error-free of typos, grammatical errors, and punctuation mistakes is debatable. After all, a human is editing the manuscript and a human can make mistakes. After all, he is only human. 😊

graphic of man in front of a laptop with cats on his table

4. Pay Attention to Pace and Flow:

The book editor goes over each manuscript page patiently with eyes glued to the computer screen. What he is attempting to do are two things: check for grammatical errors and ensure the story moves at a good pace. The ‘feeling’ button inside the heart of a book editor is switched on while editing. 

He wants to feel whether any chapter or section in the novel or nonfiction manuscript feels rushed or dragging on too long. This feeling will alert him to corrections that need to be made. He will then get in touch with the author and explain the situation to him. A mutual friendly discussion will happen and then the corrections will be made that are satisfactory to both parties.

5. Be Kind and Considerate:

A kind and considerate editor will always do a better job when editing a new book. There will be passages, sections and chapters in the manuscript where the editor will strongly feel that some change has to be made. This editor will then find resistance coming from the author in having that change. 

At this point, the editor can gently explain why that change will help the manuscript. But if the author remains steadfast that the specific change is not required, then the editor need not push for it. He needs to move on to the next set of corrections that need to be done.

Overall, editing a new book is a collaborative process. It is a collaboration between the book editor and the author to create a product that is liked by the final consumer, the reader. 

The editing process requires careful attention to detail, understanding the author’s mindset and what the author really wants to convey to his precious readers.

If you would like to work with me, check out my nonfiction book editing gig on Fiverr. 

You can also connect with me on my other social platforms on the link: https://linktr.ee/bylineraza