Editing for Small Presses
Diary of a Micro-Press, Week 7 – in which I try to get my 'ed around the different types of editing
This week’s news is that WoodPig Press now has its own bank account. This might not seem like a big deal, but it represents a decision I’ve been weighing up for a while: whether to incorporate (become a limited company), or to carry on as a sole trader and simply use “WoodPig Press” as my trading name. The latter is simpler by far (I’ve been freelance for more than twenty years, so there aren’t really any additional hoops to jump through), but if I do go the grant-funded route, then I’ll need a bank account in the name of the press so that I can receive payments. In order to do that I initially thought that I needed to be a company, but after numerous phone calls to banks and HMRC, it actually turns out that I don’t, so we’re all good to go – sole trader it is! This also fits much better with my vision of the press as “a loose collection of creative freelancers”, and I can just pay authors and freelancers through this new, dedicated account.
Speaking of freelancers, I recently put out a call on social media for anyone to get in touch who has experience in editing, proofreading, illustration, cover design, typesetting, beta reading, reviewing, book marketing, audio narration, or translation (I think that’s everyone…). The response was quite overwhelming, and I’ve started to sift through these to see which ones are the best fit, but it was greatly heartening to see just how many talented people there are out there. Some of these roles relate to ambitions which are a way off at the moment – translated editions would be lovely, but are not an immediate priority, and the same applies to audiobooks – but there are a number of key roles that I can’t do myself, chief among them being copy-editing and proofreading (or should that be copyediting and proof-reading…?).
My main dilemma is how closely to mimic the sort of editorial set-up favoured by larger publishers. Editing can be split into three or four main types (depending on how pernickety you want to be).1 Just to confuse things, some of these roles overlap or are sometimes combined. However, the primary ones are:
Developmental editing: involving big picture changes relating to plot, pacing, character, structure, themes, voice, and so on (for fiction), or structure, concept, argument, voice, etc (for non-fiction).
Line editing: concentrating on style and creative expression at the sentence level.
Copy-editing: focusing on grammar, punctuation, consistency, and ensuring that everything abides by the house style.
Proofreading: looking for typos, formatting issues, conformity with house style, and picking up on any spelling, punctuation or grammatical errors that have so far slipped through the net.
Regarding developmental editing, I’ve heard different things. On the one hand, I’ve read that the big publishers do not now engage in much developmental editing. If you’re an editor at some fiction imprint of Penguin or Hachette, then you’re probably swimming in more submissions than you know what to do with, so you can afford to choose only those manuscripts that already possess a high degree of polish. Plus, these submissions will have been previously vetted by agents, who are even more inundated, and can therefore also afford to be picky. However, I’ve also heard that some degree of developmental editing is still standard with both agents and publishers, depending on the manuscript. For instance, perhaps for when an author has a strong original premise, but the plot or style needs some work. This is more likely to be the case with submissions to small presses, I would guess, for those folk whose work isn’t polished enough to attract agents – though, let’s be honest, agents are picky for untold reasons, so it’s not always about polish.
Because of its sentence-based focus, line editing is often lumped together with copy-editing, but it is a distinct skill, and in its attention to creative and stylistic expression, it is closer in some ways to developmental editing. That said, you do often find that copy-editors will bundle in line editing (or “heavy editing”) for an additional fee, or that a developmental edit can extend to providing advice on sentence level matters.
Unlike developmental and line editing, copy-editing and proofreading are more technical roles. There is some overlap, here – e.g. both will pick up grammatical or punctuation errors – but they are traditionally distinct, as the “proof” in proofreading refers to the final formatted manuscript (the proofs), which need a final polish before being sent to press. As this stage, there is little room or time for any extensive changes. But with the advent of indie publishing and the ebook, this traditional notion of “proof” is changing, and proofreaders often now work on the final manuscript as a Word document.
So how many of these roles will WoodPig Press need? Which will need to be hired, and which can be in-house?
In answering these questions, the first consideration is budget. In terms of financial resources, it’s unlikely that we’ll be able to afford all four – even with grant funding. Of the four roles, developmental editing is essential, as it is the first point of contact, and closely tied to manuscript assessment and the submissions process. Since such assessment is also based on WoodPig Press’s creative values and publishing “vision” (and other grand terms), it makes sense for that role to be fulfilled by the person chiefly responsible for those things: that is, me.
This realisation did make me pause to assess how equipped I am for this job. Not to toot my own horn, but I have a degree in Philosophy and English Literature, I’m a qualified teacher, I have a PhD, and I’ve published and self-published over twenty books, so that must all count for something in terms of my ability to analyse texts (God, I hope so…). However, developmental editing is a specialised skill, so I decided to skewer my imposter syndrome by signing up to two online courses on developmental editing run by Sophie Playle, which I am currently working my way through. This has already proven a good decision, I think, as I’m now more keenly aware of just what I need to sharpen up on and where the gaps in my knowledge are. Anyway, congratulations to me on my new job; the hours are infinite and the pay is nothing.
Regarding line editing, this could fall either way. As I’ve said, some copy-editors will offer “heavy editing” for those manuscripts that need stylistic improvements, and some developmental edits can touch on sentence-level issues. Based on the copy-editors I’ve been in touch with so far, I expect a number of them could do a very good job in terms of line editing. However, not only would this add to the cost, but issues of style would seem to be more closely allied to developmental editing, so I’ve decided that this will also be an in-house job (congrats once again to me, etc). However, given that I’m a professional writer, this seems like a more natural fit. Probably. Perhaps I need a course…
Which just leaves copy-editing and proofreading. These will definitely need to be hired out. It’s tempting to find freelancers who might combine these roles, of offer reduced rates for performing the two services, but I think there are two good reasons not to:
Two sets of eyes are better than one. No matter how diligent the editor, things will slip through. As I know from working on my own books and those of others, there comes a point where your brain just switches off and tells you that everything is fine (simply because it’s read the same paragraph 52 times). So even if I use freelancers who offer both services, I’ll only use one of those per project (and ask someone else to fulfil the other role).
Proofreading is a specialised skill. This post by Rachel Rowlands made me realised just how specialised. Since one of WoodPig Press’s key goals is to produce quality print editions, then checking the formatted proofs will also be a key priority, and not something I want to cut corners on.
So, in summary, the editorial team at WoodPig Press will involve three distinct roles: (1) developmental/line editing; (2) copy-editing, and (3) proofreading. The first will be in-house, and the latter two hired out. This may change over time, but it seems like the right place to start.
All of which seems like progress, albeit it slow, and I now know the editorial process each book will need to go through. There are a lot of other decisions still to be made – I need to work with a copy-editor to establish a house style guide, I need to find a tame lawyer to help me create a template author contract, I need to decide on printing and distribution channels… the list seems endless.
If only I had some public outlet where I could moan about it all…