Hello, hello! I just wanted to share a bit of how the editing process works with me. The way it’s done is different
depending on who you work with, but this is the way I work on my projects. The opinions here are mine, as a reflection
of what I have learned over the course of my editing journey.
This is long because it’s detailed, but the hope is that it breaks everything down effectively so that you can understand
how I work which will help you determine if I am the right service provider for your editing needs.

The Beginning:

Developmental edits – this part of the process starts from the moment you start to think about the story. You can talk
about the blurb, the character development, the world building, character names, terms, all of it. This is the foundation
work for the story and can sometimes take a long time, depending on the type of story you’re writing. These types of
edits are especially important for stories with deep lore and lots of complex world building like paranormal romance or
fantasy genres.

Content edits – these are also considered developmental edits (as you are still creating the story) and these can happen
either while you are writing the story or after you’ve mostly finished your 2nd or 3rd draft, but prior to the copy and line
edits. This digs into content you may need help with such as scene issues, continuity, places where you want to punch
up the dialogue, finding plot holes, etc. Content edits can highlight issues that may have been missed when building the
foundation of the story or to enhance what has already been written. Content edits can also point out sentence
structure issues that need to be fixed well before the line edit process. Note 1A: Not all editors do this with their content
edits but it’s something that I can point out if requested, specifically with the author mentoring projects.
Sensitivity edits - these are also content/dev edits that review the story to ensure that plot elements aren’t offensive to
a particular community and stay accurate and respectful to the culture of a community, and/or people you may not be
familiar with but wish to write about or use elements or reference to, within the manuscript. (My sensitivity edits are
predominately, but not limited to, BIPOC or characters of color).

The Middle:

Copy edits – these edits ensure that the content is clear, accurate, and consistent, which means that they are looking at
the story to check for obvious content issues (is the character’s eye color the same throughout the book, are they called
by the same name or does is change from chapter one to chapter three, etc.), and the like.
Note 1B: Some choose not to use a developmental/content edit and do a copy edit instead. There’s nothing wrong with
that, especially if you have a thorough and detail-oriented copy editor who can do that. Do what suits your budget.

However, with a copy edit, I just point the issues out. With the developmental/content edit, I can show you where issues
are and how to fix them with specific, detailed examples. Either way is fine, as some people just want the issues brought
to their attention and may not need help workshopping the issues.
Almost “The End”:

Line edits – this is the last edit that does the final polish of the story. This is done after the other edits have been done
and you’ve finished writing. This is grammar, punctuation, typos. Line edits should be done when the book is essentially
complete. Imagine this as after all the meat, cheese, and condiments have been added to the sandwich, the line edit is
cutting off the crust, wrapping it up and putting in the lunch bag.

Note 1C: A developmental edit can’t be done at the same time as a line edit, because if you’re missing story foundation
elements by that point in the process, you’re going to need to revamp those parts. The line edit will then need to be
done all over again to address/correct the updated content for continuity’s sake.

Note 1D: Ultimately you can veto any notes you receive from an edit in regards to your manuscript but if something is
missed or not quite right with the storyline, this can be fixed in the editing/review process but definitely needs to be
addressed prior to the line edit. This will save you a lot of time with rewrites if done in the right order.

Proofreading – this process checks for basic issues prior to the book being published. Some people use a proofreader
prior to the line edit (which is fine) and others use a proofreader after the line editor is done and the author has made
their corrections (which is also fine, especially if you have a line editor who may not do a final pass through, which they
usually do, but could happen). Some people may use the line editor as the last proofread, or the author may decide to
do the final read themselves. This part of the process is truly up to the author’s discretion.

 

How and when you utilize the proofreader in the process is entirely up to you, but the line edit should be the last edit
before the author does their final polish of the book. If the line editor or proofreader point out developmental issues
with the book, then you need to go back and review, whether you decide to do it yourself or find/go back to the
developmental/content editor to work it out.

The last eyeballs on the book should be the author’s because they need to check the feedback from the edits, check the
feedback of the proofread/beta reads (more on that later), make the corrections from the edits, check the feedback of
the final pass through line edit, then you can (fingers crossed) send it on to format. We’re not even going to talk about
finalizing the blurb, the ad content, teasers, or a host of other things, because those are entirely different
conversations...
~
Ok, next up, you have beta readers, alpha readers, and ARC (advanced reader copy) readers. All of these serve different
purposes.

 

The Feedback:

Beta readers* - these can be from 1 or 2 people, up to dozens, depending on how much feedback you want. Some
people use beta readers to help them suss out any story/content issues, which is what some may choose to do if they
don’t have an editing budget to work with. This is fine if it works for you and sometimes you can gain an alpha reader
from a particularly strong beta reader you may have who may give detailed feedback.
Alpha readers* - these are like proofreaders, but are sometimes used as beta readers. If they are good with giving
detailed feedback, you can also use them in lieu of developmental or content edits. If they are really, really good,
sometimes the alpha readers will eventually go on to be content editors (which is the case with about 65% of the indie
editors I know).

ARCs - these go to Advanced Reader Copy readers, which can be anywhere from a few people to hundreds of people
depending on how prolific you are as an author, and they typically get the book right before it’s published so they can

read it before anyone else (thus the “advanced”) then once the book is released, the hope is that they will post their
reviews right away, which can boost retailer algorithms and increase sales. At this point in the process, the book that the
ARC readers get should be the final version that you’re completely done with, as in the book that is released into the
wild and consumed by the masses.

*Note 1E: If you get overwhelmed by a lot of feedback, you can limit the amount of beta and alpha readers you add to
your team. Some people may choose just a few betas and only one or two alphas, then have several dozen or so ARC
copies releases. This way you can manage the feedback and still get a clear snapshot of the overall perception the book.

 

*Note 1F: (and this is absolutely my personal opinion) contrary to popular belief, you can have too many cooks in the
kitchen. Sometimes with an overload of differing opinions about your book, your story can get lost in being catered to
what other people feel you should write, in how they feel your story should told, and there is no way that you can make
100% of your readers happy all of the time.

 

You aren’t pizza, ice cream, chocolate, or tacos, you are an author. This means you should write what’s in your heart,
even if some may not understand or even like it. At the end of the day, hold on to your voice, your story, and to the
vision you want to introduce to the world. Whether you choose to have a lot of input or work with just a little, that is
entirely up to you.

 

From writing to the final publish date, the process can take anywhere from weeks to months to years for some authors.
A well-crafted and well written book takes time. Everyone does this publishing thing differently. There isn’t one perfect
way to do it. If there was, someone would have written a book about, everyone would have read it, and we’d all be
writing books fulltime and making millions of dollars doing it. All you can do is create your process, hone it and tweak it
as you need to, then do the best you can.

 

Thank you so much for reaching out and connecting with me, and I hope we can work together in the near future.
Anette King