EVER WONDER…
About The different types of EDITING there are in the world of publication?
Assunta Maria Vickers, Inland Empire Branch
There is a surprising lack of conformity in the industry, which can vary by region and publishing house, by academia, and even between editors! There are on the other hand, organizations that exist, which put on entire conferences on the subject of editing, in order to formulate standards, have codes of ethics, and provide for accreditation of editors!
When reading about it, keep in mind that the tasks an editor performs can be grouped broadly into three levels:
Substantive editing
Copyediting
Proofreading
Yet, some circles use various other terminologies, such as “light editing,” “medium” and “heavy’” editing, “structural,” “developmental,” “acquisition,” “line” editing, and so on.
It can be a complicated issue! There are differences of opinion and approach in the real world, and so it would behoove all of us to learn what we can on this topic, so that we will be informed, especially when submitting our work to various specific locations.
Included here are just some additional links, beside what Sam already mentioned on page 3*, to other resources that we’ve found, and a couple of more books. You may know of others!
Knowledge is power, so let’s get knowing!
- https://www.editorworld.com/resources
2. https://www.iped-editors.org/about-iped/code-of-ethics/
3. https://editrepublic.com/blog/12-editorial-resources-use-proofreading/
4. https://pkp.sfu.ca/editorial-resources/
AND, link to these additional books, available on Amazon:
• Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, Second Edition: How to Edit Yourself into Print
• The Artful Edit: On the Practice of Editing Yourself
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*Note: This piece first appeared in the September 2021 Fresh Ink, newsletter of the Inland Empire Branch. On page 3 Sam (Samuel Thomas Nichols, branch president) recommended:
“Self-editing for Fiction Writers, Second Edition (2004), by Renni Brown and Dave King, which I have had in my library for quite some time. It had been out-of-print for a time but is available again. The second, The Artful Edit (2007), by Susan Bell, is a recent addition and a worthwhile read.”