Copyediting vs Proofreading

You always need both

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Hi friends!

I’m going to pretend it’s definitely not the last two weeks of summer, and continue our discussion of editing, and What You Need To Know. Last week we talked about self-editing, and then on Thursday we discussed whether you actually ~~need~~ to hire a freelance editor (maybe) to get an agent (no). Today we’re going to talk about the most blessed of editing, copyediting and proofreading. Did you know those are not the same thing?????? You may think that these are not problems you’ll have, that someone else will take care of them, but that’s completely true.

First, the difference. Copyediting edits the copy. I know! Amazing! But what that actually means is that instead of editing the story or the plot or the characterization, the copyeditor looks at the copy on the page and makes sure it makes sense all together. A copyeditor will point out your comma splices and homophone mixups, but they will also remind you that this character was named Rachel on page 85 and Raquel on page 205. They will point out that there was definitely not a full moon on Thanksgiving, 1986. They will tell you that it can’t possibly be Monday in this chapter because it was Monday in the last chapter. They do so so so so so much more than correct grammar and spelling.

If you’ve written anything longer than a few pages, you know how valuable this is. Currently, in the novel I’m writing, I have no idea what time of year it is. It doesn’t matter to the story and I keep just writing TK weather every time I think I need to mention it, like if someone is putting on or taking off a coat. I am SURE I will miss a detail somewhere, and a blessed copyeditor will tell me and I will fix it. (I will also copyedit my own damn self before I share it with anyone, but I’m only human.)

You will and should copyedit your own work. (You will not get points with me for pointing out my copyediting errors in this newsletter, btw.) It won’t be perfect but it will go a long way with your readers, at any stage, not to stumble over easy-to-fix errors. If you get a traditional book deal, you’ll have a professional copyeditor and it will be amazing. Humbling, but amazing.

If you are self-publishing please, please, please hire a professional copyeditor. Don’t hire your English teacher cousin to “copyedit” your book, unless they are a professional copyeditor. You all have seen (even in this newsletter!) a writer mix up their/there/they’re and worse. What does it make you think of that writer (besides me)? I mean, my clients get all kinds of emails about the typos in their traditionally published books (DON’T DO THIS). Typso happen. Doing what you can to prevent them in your book is worth the time, effort, and money.

(People tend to think that a traditionally published book is the perfect, flawless, paramount expression of a book. That there should be a typo in a PUBLISHED BOOK is an abomination. This is wrong. Books are not perfect. All have typos. Books are made by humans and humans are imperfect. Stop emailing writers if there is a typo in a book.)

So, what’s the difference between copyediting and proofreading? Proofreading reads the proof. The proof is the trial run printing of your book, typeset and pretty. There are various forms of these, and sometimes they’re know as blues (because the ink was blue) or galleys. These are reference formats that digital book production has mostly outmoded, but PDFreading doesn’t quite have the same ring.

A proofread makes sure everything is in the right place, that the changes everyone made are reflected in the draft and no new errors were introduced. A lot of hands touch a book and every one can accidentally or erroneously introduce changes. At the proofreading stage, you won’t be editing sentences and adding or deleting paragraphs. In fact, if you change too much, you can be charged by the publisher for the cost of retypesetting the book. (I have literally never heard of anyone actually being charged, but it’s in your contract!!) The moral of the story is, once you get to proofreading, your book is done. The window for editing has closed.

You might say you’re proofreading your work when you actually mean you’re copyediting. That’s ok. The general public takes both to mean fixing grammar and correcting typos. That’s mostly true, but as you now know, there’s much more than that. I hope you find this as fascinating as I do. If you subscribe to this newsletter, you probably do.

OXOXOX,

Kate

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