How to Save Time and Money on Book Editing

In our recent survey, I was asked: How can I save time and money on book editing?

In my view, book editing is essential to a book’s success.

There’s nothing worse than opening a book and seeing typos, inconsistencies and grammar mistakes, and it would stop me from wanting to read on. Are you the same?

When you’ve got the final draft of your book, then investing in an editor is essential.

But there are things you can do to make it easier for them and save you both time and money with your book editing.

What do editors do and how do they add value?

You might be thinking that you can send your book to your friend/client/uncle, and they’ll be the best person to review your book and spot mistakes. Although I recommend that they read the book and give you feedback, unless they’re specifically trained in this area, they’re unlikely to be able to give your book its final polish.

The copy editor and proofreader for Librotas Books is Louise Lubke Cuss from Wordblink. I’ve worked with Louise for my last three books and she’s worked with many of our client books too.

Louise recently gave a talk at our Author’s Journey networking event, and she shared her top tips to save time and money when book editing. She has given me permission to share these in this blog.

Why do you need an editor/proofreader?

I asked Louise: Why do you need an editor/proofreader?

“An editor gives you an objective assessment of your book by someone qualified and trained to correct it. They’ll help you to follow a consistent style. Even if you are self-publishing, there is no reason to sacrifice professionalism and every reason to make your book as good as possible. Ultimately consistency is key!”

Then I asked Louise: So what happens if you don’t use an editor?

“If you don’t use an editor, your book may be full of mistakes; it may lack coherence and it may be inconsistent in its presentation. This ultimately may result in bad reviews, affect your reputation and credibility, and it may also result in less people buying your book. It counteracts all the good your book can do for you and your business. It could be worse than not publishing your book at all.”

What is the process for working with an editor?

Before I go into more detail, I’d like to mention that there are several types of editor. Louise is a copy editor and proofreader. This means that she won’t necessarily help you to develop the content and help you to craft your story – this is developmental editing and we have another lady who can help in this area – although Louise does make comments on content and chronology where appropriate.

I asked Louise: How do you work with authors?

“I work mainly using Microsoft Word using the track changes function, because changes show up in a different colour font, so are clearly visible. Queries and comments are shown in the margin so this means that I can ask questions to clarify the text or mention repetition or anything I don’t understand. Then once finished, the document is emailed to the author, who can accept or reject the changes, and make further changes based on my queries and comments.

“At this stage there may be a bit of to-ing and fro-ing and when the final changes are made, the book needs a final proofread. This can be done after the book has been typeset into book form as it’s easier to see any further errors. Ideally there is a time gap between the two checks (so that it feels like a fresher look at the book) or someone else does this final proofread.”

Time saving book editing tips by Louise Lubke Cuss 

Here are some time saving tips from Louise that you can easily implement, which will mean less work for your copy editor/proofreader, so they could save you money with your final edits as it could take less time to do!

• Keep capital letters to a minimum. Using them too much is distracting and dilutes their impact. Save them for key principles etc if you must use them. Capital letters also make reading harder.

• Likewise with italics. Keep them for emphasis of key words or phrases, e.g. ‘What I’m about to say is really important, even if you forget everything else.’ Sometimes I see them used for quotes, for example. Quotes are already in speech marks so it’s clear what they are; you don’t need to add a further layer to make them stand out.

• Be very careful about using other people’s works and ideas. I can’t provide legal advice but I do flag it up when I think something might need copyright permission. There is the principle of ‘fair dealing/use’ but most people are not publishing their book purely for charitable purposes, but for profit, so the ‘stuff’ you are using, even if you are quite clear that it is someone else’s (which of course you must always be), may well fall outside these parameters. There’s also a difference between UK and US copyright laws, so you may have to apply US laws because the author you’re quoting is American. Checking can open a whole can of worms, of course, as I found with one author I worked with who very diligently did check with the copyright lawyers concerned. Part of the book had to be rewritten when permission was refused. But that’s probably better than coming a cropper later because you didn’t check. And if you do have copyright permission, this needs to be stated in your book too.

• Vary your language. If you keep using the same word to describe something, especially more than once in the same sentence, your editor may well suggest a change, just to make it more interesting and varied.

• Vary the length of your sentences: some short, some longer. I’m not suggesting you start counting characters or measuring them with a ruler, but having a contrast is good, and sentences that are too long can be confusing and lose your readers anyway.

• There are ways to break up long sentences but still keep the ideas connected: punctuation (colons/semi-colons), using linking words (after full stops) like ‘But’ or ‘In addition’, etc. ‘But’ would contrast with the previous point made, whereas ‘In addition’ would continue it; both would provide continuation.

• Double spacing between sentences: you don’t need to use a double space after a full stop any more. On typewriters all characters had the same space. To improve readability two spaces were made between sentences, but now your font will adjust the space for each letter automatically (unless you use a monotype font like Courier). Actually two spaces can look a bit gappy and leave too much white space on the page.

Thanks Louise for your book editing tips and for your input into this blog!

Find out more about Louise Lubke Cuss at www.wordblink.com.