When submitting work for editing, it is first necessary that all authors compose a ‘jacket flap’ of approximate 250 words for the inside front cover and an author’s bio for the ‘back jacket flap’ of approximately 150 words. Consider these two assignments the information that appears on almost all printed books. Make them interesting and make them pithy. You will also need these when you submit the edited manuscript to literary agents. 

The first step in the editorial process is the overall review of the material which makes up your book. This can be a first draft or a twentieth.  It will give your editor the story arc and demonstrate your expertise in description, character development and dialogue and will show where your writing needs work. You will receive a detailed letter setting out how much editing we think your book needs to take it to its final version. 

It may be that this is all you need to propel your book into a sale, though this is probably a (very) long shot. An old publishing story (I don’t know if this is true) is that the only book that never saw an editor’s red pen was The Catcher in the Rye since J.D. Salinger would not allow anyone to change one word. Even Hemingway, Fitzgerald and Lewis books were edited, all by Maxwell Perkins. Almost every book benefits from the overview by a professional editor to bring it up to the best possible version. 

Your editor will follow through on the original evaluation in great detail, questioning the flow of the story, the components which make up your writing style and how you handle various aspects of your story line and will mark up the manuscript with suggestions and questions which will lead to a more polished and professional version of your work. Once the authors receive this version, they will contact the editor with any questions they may have before revising the manuscript which can be addressed prior to proof reading. Your editor will ensure that the structure of the book flows smoothly, that the author’s unique voice comes through and will rework and reword some of the material so that it all fits seamlessly together.  Basically we will take your unfinished work and reshape it into its ‘final form.’ While a number of editors separate these two kinds of editing, and rework the same material twice, we feel that one hinges on the other and so should be edited simultaneously. 

This is the final step in the editorial process and looks at spelling, grammar, ‘match ups’ and punctuation, to ensure when submitting a book to agents that there are no such mistakes in your work.