The Complete Guide to Editing Your Book (From a Pro-Editor Who Just Finished Her Own)
You finished a draft of your manuscript! Woohoo! 🎉🥂🥳 Typing “The End” is an incredible feeling, right?!
Do you know what percentage of people who start writing a book actually finish? According to various surveys, only between 3% and 10%. Seriously, you’re already outshining at least 90% of would-be authors.
I should say “we” are superstars because….drumrolll… I FINALLY finished a draft of my new novel. Hooray! I’m not going to lie. It took me forever.
So now what?
Now we get to take the next steps together because my literary agent is now only representing nonfiction—whomp, whomp—so I’m back where I was before my first book and looking for a new agent. I’ve talked to a couple of interested folks at great agencies, but I don’t want to send it to anyone until it’s completely ready. Having a connection only helps if you have a fantastic book!
In this post, I’ll walk you through exactly what to do after you finish your draft, from taking a break (yes, really, this is super important) to figuring out what kind of feedback you need, to hiring a professional editor to incorporating their feedback without wanting to crawl into a ball.
It’s a lot, so here’s a quick rundown to help you find your way:
The crucial but easily skipped first step
Completing a self-edit before anyone else sees it (this will save time and money)
A 3-pass revision checklist
What to know about beta readers and professional editors
Types of professional editing
How and where to find the right editor
Receiving and incorporating feedback
2 simple tools to organize your edit
Step 1. Celebrate and Let it Age (Don’t skip this!)
First, stop and celebrate. 97% of people who start writing a book quit, but you didn’t. This is a moment worth reveling in! Also, as luck would have it, the best thing you can do for your book right now is to take a break so you can come back to it with fresh eyes in a few weeks.
If you can take time away before embarking on a revision, you’ll save time, money, and stress. When you’re in the thick of a big writing project, it can be near impossible to see what is and isn’t working. That scene you’re sick to death of might be brilliant, or your clever argument might not even make sense. Resist the urge to pitch, edit, or publish a story until you’ve had at least two weeks away from it. When you come back to it with fresh eyes, you’ll be much more objective.
Everything you fix then will make the next step simpler, more affordable, and more effective.
I know that’s easier said than done. As often as I give this advice, I’m struggling with it myself right now!
Step 2. Complete a Self-Edit
When I was a professional editor, I always recommended clients self-edit before working with me or another editor. Coming to an editor with a stronger manuscript is a great way to save money. Why pay someone to fix things you could have seen yourself? Bring them a better draft, and you’ll get better, deeper, more helpful feedback. You’ll save a lot of time and money.
Keep in mind, you’re not trying to perfect it, so don’t agonize over every line.
If you’ll be getting outside eyes on it (which I highly, highly recommend and will come back to in the next section), you’re going to be revising again and polishing after you get their notes.
Pro editing tips:
Print out the whole book! When it comes to screens, your brain has been trained to skim and to multi-task, shifting gears to respond to other on-screen and real-world distractions.
On paper, it will be easier to fully enter your story world. This is the main reason I always read my client’s manuscripts in hard copy. After you’ve had time away and start reading on paper, you’ll be shocked how well you can see what’s working and what isn’t.
While you’re reading, resist the urge to stop your flow by marking small changes. If you need to, flag it on the page, but don’t go fix it in the computer. Instead, have a notebook by your side and take notes on big impressions, things like pacing and plot and character development.
This is what we call developmental editing, as opposed to line editing, which focuses on the strength of each line, or copyediting, which addresses the nitty gritty like grammar and punctuation. Line and copyediting are just as important, but they come later in the process.
Don’t edit in chronological order: Triage instead
With my first novel, I started out by revising from page one. Logical, right? Yes, but that quickly devolved into a huge mess. Take my hard-earned advice —DON’T DO IT! You’ll lose the big picture. You’ll write a new scene at the end that means you have to change everything about a scene at the beginning. You’ll spend days, months, or even years perfecting words and lines to scenes that might not belong in the book at all.
Instead, use a triage approach. Revise the most serious issues first, just like medical triage where you treat patients in priority order, not first come, first served.
Start with the things that are most likely to make a huge overarching impact on the book.
For a novel, we’re talking about things like character arc, plot, point-of-view, entirely new scenes that must be written.
For a non-fiction book, this could mean things like pacing, focus, and a logically-building chapter order.
To give you an example, in my new book, I quickly noticed I’ll need to cut at least 10,000 words (yikes! More on word count here), streamline a few repetitive and static chapters, cut or re-group interiority from chapters that felt jumpy, develop or cut a subplot that got dropped, totally rewrite a climax that relied too heavily on coincidence.
REVISION CHECKLIST
PASS 1: Revise with the Big Picture in Mind
Realistically, you may do more than one big-picture pass before moving on to line-level edits
Big-picture story edits for fiction or memoir:
• Plot: Does it make sense? Is something happening in each chapter? Do the stakes continually escalate, or does the middle plateau? Do you see any plot holes?
• Story arc: Does your protagonist change?
• Complex characters: Does your protagonist have weaknesses and your antagonist have redeeming qualities?
•Cohesiveness and impact: Does everything strongly reflect your book’s hook and themes?
• Pacing: Where do things drag? Where do you need more breathing room?
• Subplots and backstory or flashbacks: Do they enhance the story or distract from it?
• Word count: A bloated word count can suggest sagginess and lack of clarity and a short word count might indicate a lack of development (check out this post for more)
Big-picture edits for nonfiction:
• Structure: Do the chapters build in a logical order and build toward a satisfying conclusion? If you can pull them apart and rearrange in any order, you may have a monotonous or confusing structure.
• Story arc: Yep, you need this for non-fiction too. Does your reader change by the end of the book? They should start off with a problem or blind spot and see themselves or the topic or the world differently by the end.
• Case studies, examples, and research: Do these flow or pull the reader out of the main narrative? Are they boring and overly “teachey” or is the writing alive? Do you go on unrelated tangents just to bring in research and show your work. Cut anything that’s not necessary. It’s not a midterm!
The secret to this edit? You don’t need to overthink it. You’re not polishing it for publication. You’re just taking it as far as you reasonably can before getting an outside perspective. That means you’re looking for the big things that jump out at you.
Once the big things are ironed out, you can address things on a smaller scale.
Pass 2: Scene & Line-Level Revisions
Now you can zoom in a bit. This is where you sharpen your tools and refine the experience for the reader.
Look at each scene and section. Is it as tight and impactful as it can be?
Assess each chapter opening. Do they each open with hooks that draw the reader in?
Ensure each scene is grounded in setting and character POV.
Read dialogue out loud. Is it authentic, specific, and propelling the story forward?
Are transitions between paragraphs, scenes, and chapters smooth?
Do you vary your sentence length and rhythm?
Are there any overly long or confusing sentences that need streamlining?
Find and remove clutter words “(just,” “actually,” “really,” “suddenly”) and repeated words that affect clarity and drag the energy down. (Scrivener will give you a list of your most used words so you can ferret out your crutch words and filler words.)
Root out clichés and replace them with more original and impactful analogies
Pass 3: Final Polish
If you’re going to work with a developmental editor, you don’t necessarily need to do this pass first. Perfecting each word could make it harder to implement their overarching suggestions. However, this does need to be done before you send to agents, and definitely before you self-publish (better yet, hire a copyeditor before doing that!).
Read aloud for sentences that make you stumble (especially the first 15 pages!)
Correct spelling and grammar. I’ll assume you’ll run spelling and grammar check in Word or Google Docs. (Be wary of putting into any other AI that might learn your book’s material. Great for blog posts, risky for an original book.)
For non-fiction, make sure that you have attributed all of your sources.
Cut weak adverbs, adjectives, or qualifiers.
Check formatting and font. Remove double spaces between sentences if you learned to write on a typewriter!
Ensure your tenses are consistent. Or is it clear when you’re moving into a different tense for flashbacks?
Double-check names, dates, timelines, and small continuity issues.
Unfortunately, there is no one-size fits all triage plan. Every book will be different.
Step 3. Consider a beta reader or pro editor
Although taking time away probably helped you see a lot of what your book needs, you’re still far from objective. When you know what you meant to say and when you know what’s coming next, it’s extremely hard to see where the reader might get confused or lost or bored.
You know this, but you might be thinking that’s what agents are for, that you can give them something with potential and they’ll whip it into publishable shape. I hate to break it to you, but it doesn’t work that way. There is far, far too much competition. Unless you’re bringing a truly massive platform, they won’t invest the time and effort into your book when thousands upon thousands of other fully-baked books are sitting in their inboxes. You absolutely must get your book into its best possible shape before pitching agents or publishers.
Beta readers
If they’re not experienced in giving high-level feedback or haven’t worked in publishing, beta readers can cause more harm than good unless given very clear guidelines.
When students come to my office hours, it’s not unusual for them to have a story about being demoralized by a beta reader who gave them completely wacky or utterly pretentious suggestions. More often than not, the advice says more about the reader’s ego than the book itself.
For a successful beta read, I urge you to give readers clear guidelines on the type of feedback you’re hoping for. I have a whole post on finding and working with beta readers here.
As great as a talented beta reader can be, if you have the resources, I highly recommend hiring a professional who is skilled at editing and delivering feedback on book-length work. (If you’re wondering how much that might cost, I’ve rounded that up for you in this post.)
I recently put my money where my mouth is and hired an editor myself.
Why I hired an editor
I’ve had a few people ask me why I would spend the money to hire an editor when I’m an experienced writer with an MFA who teaches writing at Stanford Continuing Studies, has been traditionally published, has been on staff at magazines, and edited other author’s traditionally-published books.
Here’s why:
All of that happened because I invested in mentors and feedback.
I’m too close to it to have an objective view on everything that is and isn’t working.
This is an incredibly competitive business.
I’m writing in a new genre
I care about this book and want it to be as good as it possibly can be.
Writing this book took time away from my family and my business. After getting up at 4am for months, taking it the rest of the way is a no brainer for me.
Sometimes I hear from writers who don’t want to invest in classes or editing and just want to cross their fingers and send their manuscript out to agents—or self-publish—and see what happens.
I completely get it. Editing is expensive, and holding onto your money is wise…if this is your hobby and you don’t care about getting published. If you want to do this professionally, you’re going to need some skin in the game…just like starting any other business.
Think about opening up a restaurant, or even think about pro sports. Does a talented high school athlete say, hey I’m pretty good at this, so I’ll just get out on the field and surely I’ll end up in the Olympics/Super Bowl/World Cup? No, they invest in lessons or classes or coaches. Kobe Bryant had outrageous talent, but he also got to where he was by waking up at 4am to work on his game.
Likewise, you don’t become an actor or a doctor or a pilot—or anything else that’s competitive—by winging it and hoping someone will see your talent and magically hand you success.
If you want to be a pro writer, don’t treat your writing like a hobby or a lottery ticket! Invest in pro help.
*(That said, there are a lot of scams out there so please be careful! More on that here.)
Types of editors
Freelance Editors vs Publishing house editors
Because there is a lot of confusion around this, I want to distinguish between editors at publishing houses and freelance editors you might work with before pitching agents or self-publishing your book.
Publishing house editors
At a publishing house, the editor, sometimes called an acquiring editor, is the person who buys your book and then shepherds it through the publishing process. This is the person your agent goes to when they’re trying to sell your book. Much like the way you pitch literary agents, your agent will pitch your manuscript to editors at various publishing houses.
When one of those editors wants to buy the rights to publish your book, they make you an offer via your agent. If you agree, you’ll sign a contract and that editor will then start working with you to revise and polish the manuscript. Once it’s ready, they begin to act more like a project manager, keeping the entire publishing process on track by coordinating with the cover designer and interior designer to the people in charge of marketing, publicity, and distribution.
After you work with them to revise the manuscript into its best possible form, they’ll have a copyeditor go through it with a fine-tooth comb. The copyeditor might be an employee of the publishing house, or a freelancer they work with regularly. Either way, all of the editing costs are paid by the publishing house.
You can read much more about how traditional publishing works in my post “How to Get Your Book Traditionally Published.”
Freelance editors
Because landing a literary agent is insanely competitive (learn a strategy to increase your odds here), many authors hire an independent editor before even querying agents. You pay for this editing out-of-pocket, with editors charging by the word, by the page, by the hour, or by the project.
They will help you make your manuscript as strong as possible so you can pitch with more confidence and greater odds of success.
Gone are the days when agents would take a sorta good book out of the slush pile and work with an author until it’s of publishable quality. Books these days need to be as close to ready for publication as possible before they’ll get an agent’s attention.
Types of freelance editing to consider investing in
Developmental Edit
A developmental edit is a thorough yet big-picture analysis of your entire manuscript. It’s designed to help you implement substantive revisions to the overall book and is heavily weighted to large-scale considerations like plot, character development, point of view, pacing, and structure. Or for non-fiction: flow, theme, structure, argument, and clarity.
You’ll get this editor’s feedback in an editorial letter that goes over all facets of your manuscript. These can range from 3-15 single-spaced pages. A good editor will not only point out your biggest opportunities for improvement but will also spend plenty of time on what is working so you can play to your strengths. They may or may not mark examples on the pages of your manuscript to help illustrate key points.
Line edit
A line edit is laser focused on polishing your book on the sentence level, so you can expect a lot of track changes and comments, probably on every page. A line edit will help you polish your sentences, but it won’t be focused on large-scale elements like plot, character development, or structure.
However, a line edit is more substantive than a copyedit, which is focused entirely on the nitty gritty of grammar and usage. While a line editor will usually point out grammar errors they see, especially those that are recurring, the focus here is on voice, clarity, flow, dialogue, and impact. Basically, rather than cleaning up every single typo, a line editor’s primary job is to help you make each sentence more powerful.
Developmental + Line Edit (Or Full edit, or Comprehensive edit)
This is the most thorough type of editorial feedback you can get. Frustratingly, there is no official term for a developmental and a line edit, which makes it really hard to shop for. Many developmental editors will include line edits under their “developmental edit” service. Many won’t without an extra charge. Make sure you ask!
Without a standard, it can be hard to evaluate who’s best for you. If you get sticker shock, or if a price seems too good to be true, make sure you find out everything that’s included. If you find someone who will do both (whatever they call it), the elements that are discussed in the editorial letter will be supported with detailed notes on the pages of your manuscript.
For example, instead of just discussing how you might rethink a certain plot point or further develop a certain character or setting, this edit would include notes, comments, and suggestions in the margins and with track changes throughout the entire book to show you exactly how and where you might best address any concerns (ideally while being inspirational rather than prescriptive).
Editorial assessment
This is a less comprehensive and usually more affordable service where an editor reads your manuscript and offers big-picture feedback with a much shorter editorial letter, usually 1-2 pages and without any notes on the manuscript itself.
Their feedback will touch on many of the same craft elements as a developmental edit but with less detail, little to no on-page notes, few examples to illustrate concepts, and fewer suggestions for how you might approach revisions. It can still be incredibly valuable if you just need a professional’s take on your book’s biggest strengths and weaknesses.
NOTE: There can be a gray area between the terms “developmental edit” and “editorial assessment,” so some editors promising a developmental edit will provide far less detail than others. Again, if the price seems very high or low, find out what you’ll be getting. Better yet, ask for a sample editorial letter so you can make sure you’ll be getting the level of feedback you expect.
Copyedit
Copyeditors are extraordinarily detail-oriented people who can find every single grammar, punctuation, spelling, usage, and continuity problem in your book. Even after my agent’s feedback, my publishing house editor’s notes, and my own multiple revisions, the copyeditor at St. Martin’s found things we had all missed. It was an impressive sight to behold.
Proofread
This is also a job for a spectacularly detail-oriented person, but it happens after the book has been formatted and typeset. Your proofreader will mark any errors your copyeditor missed (or that were created when you addressed the copyeditor’s concerns), as well as formatting errors, missing page numbers, widows, orphans, and any other layout problems.
Which editors do you need and when?
Before your book ends up in readers’ hands, you’ll probably work with most or all of these types of editors. But you certainly don’t need them all at once. Developmental edit, line edit, or both?
Developmental edit without line notes:
If you know your book needs deep, deep work on a conceptual level, it may make sense to get a developmental edit without line notes. Why worry about particular sentences when you’re going to do a wholesale rewrite anyway? Also, if you need particularly extensive revisions, line notes might just complicate matters, giving you too much to think about and making it difficult to see the forest for the trees. That said, you will likely need to get a line edit after you’ve revised based on the developmental edit.
Line edit only:
If you’re really happy with the overall shape of your book, and maybe you’ve had great feedback in a workshop or from beta readers, you might simply want a line edit that helps you crystallize your sentences and fine tune the other elements. Since your story elements are already dialed in, the focus here will be on things like clearing up confusing sentences, improving voice, tightening dialogue, and polishing the manuscript on a micro level. The drawback? You might polish a manuscript that doesn’t work because of fundamental problems with plot, character, pacing, structure, etc.
The case for a full edit — developmental edit + line edit
If your story is in reasonable shape and you want feedback on how to strengthen it on a micro and macro level, this edit is for you. The overall editorial letter will show you how you can further develop the story, and the accompanying line notes can show you exactly how and where to do that, plus show you what parts of your writing style and voice are most and least effective. Your next draft will be that much stronger from the get go. That might mean you don’t need a second edit at all, or it might mean that your work on that second edit can start from a higher level.
Do you need a copyedit? Sometime before publication, you absolutely need a copyeditor. They will save you all kinds of grief. If you’re considering traditional publishing… You may not need to hire a copyeditor before you pitch literary agents. If you’re confident about your grammar, and especially if you have a line editor point out big or recurring problems, you can skip this step.
An agent who loves your book isn’t going to turn it down because of minor (notice I said MINOR) grammar problems or typos. They’ll help you fine tune a bit before they start pitching it to editors at publishing houses. Those editors will then do another round of edits before sending your book to their copyeditor for another round of fine tuning.
In case it helps, here is a post I did on the most common grammar mistakes even great writers make. If you’re not sure about your grammar or you know it’s got a few issues, it’s probably best to hire someone so you can put your best foot forward when you submit to agents.
If you’re considering self publishing: As an indie author, you care about the quality of your book just as much as any other author. Make that clear to your readers by giving them a crystal clean, easy-to-read book. In other words, definitely do not publish without a copyeditor! By all that is good and holy, don’t do it.
None of us can catch our own errors, but you can be sure that reviewers will find mistakes and jump on them. Readers will be distracted by them, and many of them will call out mistakes in their Amazon and Goodreads reviews.
Finding and Working with an editor
How to Find a Good Editor
Once you’ve decided what kind of edit you need, the next big hurdle is finding the right editor—and I don’t just mean someone competent (though yes, that’s non-negotiable). I mean someone who gets your book. Someone who understands your voice, your goals, your genre, and doesn’t try to shape your story into what they would write.
Here are a few tried-and-true ways to find the right editor for you:
Ask for referrals. Other writers are one of your best resources. Ask who they’ve worked with, what kind of editing they received, and whether they’d hire the person again.
Check curated platforms. Reedsy, the Editorial Freelancers Association, and ACES are great places to browse freelance editors with professional experience. You’ll find bios, specialties, and in many cases, client reviews.
Vet them. Once you’ve found someone promising, ask for a sample edit (usually a few pages) or examples of their past editorial letters. This gives you a clear sense of both their feedback style and the level of depth you can expect. Remember that one person’s developmental edit might only offer the level of someone else’s editorial assessment. Ask if you can expect notes on the pages or just an editorial letter.
Have a conversation. Especially if this is your first time hiring an editor, I recommend hopping on a quick call. It doesn’t have to be a formal interview—just a chance to chat and see if your communication styles mesh. Are they kind but honest? Direct but respectful? Do they listen more than they talk? Are they experienced with new authors?
I didn’t get on the phone before I hired my recent editor because it was super obvious from her genre experience, her comments on my writing sample, and her example editorial letters that she was who I was looking for. That said, I also know exactly what I’m looking for because this isn’t my first rodeo.
My student Marie, on the other hand, has never had detailed feedback at this level and wanted to make sure her editor knew how to work well with a brand-new writer. She spoke on the phone with several and hired the person who spoke to her in the way she most resonated with.
Trust your gut. You want someone who makes you feel both challenged and supported and who understands your vision. Editing is vulnerable work. If you’re feeling bulldozed, misunderstood, or vaguely ick about the dynamic, that’s a sign to keep looking. If your initial communications suggest they want to see a version of your book that is entirely different than what you’re aiming for, probably not a good fit.
Receiving and Incorporating feedback
A word of warning: Getting feedback on a book-length project is intense, so brace yourself. Even for people who are used to this process, it can be overwhelming when they first see an editor’s notes.
Sleep on it
If you’re like me or almost all of my clients, you’ll start out a little pissed off, not see what the editor means, gradually relax a little bit, but then feel like even where you agree work needs to be done, it’s impossible to tackle. That’s because your brain just isn’t used to thinking of your book in new ways. It’ll take a little time to settle in and digest.
Rest assured that after sleeping on it for a day or two, all of those notes will seem manageable and straightforward. It’s astounding how well the unconscious brain can digest complex information while you’re doing other things. Some things will still seem challenging, some you won’t agree with, and there may be a few you still need to get clarification on, but overall, you’ll feel on top of it.
In other words, don’t freak out!
Experiment
Never just reject a suggestion without considering it, even if you have a strong reaction against it. Sometimes that’s the best thing to play around with. In my opinion, it’s all worth trying out. You may decide to go back to the original version—or try a third, or fourth alternative—but the insight you’ll get from trying something new can break you out of confining boxes and teach you more about your topic or characters or voice.
If you feel strongly that the editor is wrong about something, experiment anyway, see if maybe they’re right about what’s not working but that it needs a different solution, but know that ultimately, it’s your book and you can just reject the change.
Don’t be a feedback lapdog
While some people reject too much of the feedback they receive (usually due to insecurity), others can go too far in the other direction. If you have multiple beta readers or workshop partners and try to incorporate every single thing every single reader suggests, you could end up with a mess on your hands.You absolutely don’t have to take every piece of advice!
Revise from a new draft
Don’t start revising your old draft. Open a new document and never delete anything! You never know when you’ll need to bring back a previous word, sentence, scene, idea, chapter etc. Having a boneyard you can rob from is a valuable resource. Even if it doesn’t get used in this current book, it could come in handy years down the line on an entirely different project.
Revise in passes
Again, rather than starting from page one, triage the big things—plot holes, structure, new points of views, character development—first. In the second pass, move onto things like sharpening dialogue, focusing arguments and researching, tightening scenes and chapters. Then finally start polishing the sentences.
Tools to stay organized while editing
To easily access, arrange, and edit all your pages and revisions, use a program like Scrivener
Instead of juggling massive Word docs, endless chapter versions, and a mess of folders, try Scrivener or one of its alternatives. Personally, I prefer Scrivener over all the rest because you only have to buy it once and it’s private, but some of my students like cloud-based subscription apps like Squibbler and LivingWriter that are easily accessible across various devices.
Whichever route you go, choose a program that helps you break your work into manageable chunks—chapters, scenes, revisions, whatever—that can be moved around and popped in and out of at ease while still letting you view and export everything as one seamless manuscript.
Some writers avoid Scrivener because they’ve heard it’s complicated. And sure, if you try to master everything, it can be. I only use the most basic features and it’s been a game changer. You can watch my quick tutorial here: Learn Scrivener in 2 Minutes.
Get hands on with Scissors and Tape
Travel writer and editor Lavinia Spalding, taught me this trick a few years ago when I was tangled in a messy essay draft that was so packed with research and winding tangents that I couldn’t see my way through. I’ve been using it ever since. Anytime a chapter or essay feels chaotic or unwieldy, I physically break it apart—scenes, paragraphs, even individual sentences—and move the pieces around like a puzzle.
Not sure where that bit of backstory or anecdote or research should go? Cut it out and slip it into different chapters.
No pressure to rewrite. The original stays intact on my computer, but now I can experiment freely—trying out new structures, cutting sections temporarily, or seeing what happens when I shuffle things into a totally different order. It’s surprisingly fun and incredibly clarifying. Then I just go back in and refine transitions and fix up anything awkward.
Whew, we covered a lot. If you want more detail on some of the steps or recommendations I glossed over, you might be interested in these posts:
Final Thoughts — Editing Is the Real Work (But It Doesn’t Have to Suck)
Look, I get that you’re probably DONE with this book and dying to get it off your plate and get this over with.
The good news? You can! In fact, you should! Remember that the first step is to take a break of at least two or three weeks. (Don’t forget to bask in the glory of what you’ve already accomplished!)
P.S. What did I miss? If there’s something you still need to know, hit me with your question in the comments below. 👇