What 'editorial-grade' actually means for a faith-based book
By John Herring
When an author tells me a manuscript has already been edited, I ask what that included. Usually it was a careful pass for spelling and punctuation. That work is real, and a book should not go to print without it. It is also only one part of what we mean by editorial-grade.
Two kinds of work. Publishing houses have long treated these as separate jobs, because they are. A copy edit and a later proofread catch what sits on the surface of the page. A developmental edit, sometimes called a content edit, looks at the book itself. It asks whether the argument holds from chapter to chapter, and whether the voice still sounds like the person who wrote it. One job makes the pages clean. The other makes the book hold together.
What a copy edit and a proofread catch. A good copy editor reads at the line: grammar, punctuation, and the consistent use of names and terms from chapter to chapter. After the pages are designed, a proofreader reads the typeset book and catches what only shows up in layout, like a bad line break or a missing quotation mark. Readers notice these first. That is why a professional proofread belongs after typesetting, not before.
What a developmental or content edit does. When our editors talk about finding the spine of the book, this is the work they mean. The question is whether the book delivers on its promise. Chapters that repeat themselves get tightened, and a point that arrives too late gets moved. A passage that sounds polished but doesn't sound like you gets rewritten until it does. It should be clear enough for a pastor or a group leader to carry into a room and use.
Why a faith-based book needs both. A typo in many books is only a distraction. A typo in a verse reference, or a sentence about the faith that does not quite say what you meant, can confuse a reader who is trusting you. These books get handed to a friend who is hurting. Clarity here is also theological honesty: saying what you believe in words that will still be true when someone reads them slowly.
Four questions worth asking of any edit.
- Did anyone look at the structure and the argument, or only at the sentences?
- Will a proofreader see the typeset pages, not just the manuscript file?
- Have the Scripture quotations been checked against a named version, and quoted accurately?
- Are other quotations sourced, and do any of them need permission?
A serious edit should be able to answer all four.
The voice has to stay yours. The fear I hear most often is that an editor will sand the book down until it could have been written by anyone. A good editor works in the other direction. If a sentence could only have come from you, we leave it alone, and we protect it. If it has been polished until the person is gone, we help you put the person back. The book should sound like you on a clear day.
What we do, and what we don't. At Brookstone we can do the developmental and content editing, the copy edit, and the professional proofreading after typesetting. I want to be plain about a limit. An editor can help you find the book. We cannot write your conviction for you, and we will tell you if a manuscript isn't ready yet. We only say yes when we can make you proud of the result.
If you'd like to talk through where your manuscript stands and what kind of edit it actually needs, schedule a discovery call. We will tell you honestly what we see.