Editing

Every book you have ever loved has undergone a rigorous editing process. In traditional publishing, all books undergo multiple rounds of editorial scrutiny, even those by the most highly regarded writers. Editing improves your manuscript by polishing the writing and correcting errors, raising your confidence in releasing the finished product into the world.

Purchasing editorial services at the outset has an impact not only on your writing, but also on the marketability of your published book, the level to which readers will engage with it, and your credibility as a published author.

Editing brings fresh eyes and an objective new perspective. It looks for sense, logic, believability and meaning. It tests consistency, and ultimately improves your writing. It interrogates the overall content and structure, and examines the details at the word and punctuation level. It adds value and quality to a manuscript.

There is an unwritten contract between the author and the reader, a trust that is intact when a book is purchased, picked up, and opened. Leaving your book unedited is a surefire way to break that contract; it doesn't take many typos and errors to dissolve an author's credibility. Over the long term, it helps sharpen your eye and hone your skills as a writer and self-critic. If you choose editing for this book, the quality of your writing will improve for the next.

Track Changes is a feature in Microsoft Word used by editors when making comments, queries, suggestions, insertions, and deletions within your working manuscript. The edit is done in this way so that you can open up your edited manuscript and see exactly what changes have been made. You can then decide whether to accept or reject each change. Before submitting your revised manuscript for design, it should be clear of all editorial markup, meaning that all changes have been addressed by accepting or rejecting them.

Your editor will help you improve your book, although it's important to understand that this will be done with your involvement. As the author of your book, you retain the final say as to the content and condition of your manuscript, and as the publisher, you are accountable in the end for what's between the covers. The editor makes edits, comments, queries, and suggestions throughout your manuscript, and when it's returned to you for revisions it is up to you to accept or reject each edit, and to revise or not revise as you see fit. Microsoft Word also provides a function in Track Changes by which you can accept all of the changes without reviewing them.

It's important to understand that editing focuses on language, which is highly nuanced, and editors are, of course, human. There is an accepted industry standard for a 5–10% margin of error per editing round, and a higher level of accuracy is achieved with each round of editing. This also means that the better the condition of your manuscript when you submit it, the better it will be once your editing services have been completed.

All of the timelines in our publishing process are estimations, and since all manuscripts vary greatly, so too can the turnaround. Our editors always do their best to work within the required timeframe (generally two to three weeks per round of editing, depending on the word count), and we aim to be as expedient and efficient as possible. That said, we also value quality above all else, and editing is a service that can be compromised when not given the time it requires; it is by nature careful, cautious, and measured. Due to the depth, breadth, and/or complexity of a manuscript, editing services may be completed before the deadline or, in some cases, shortly after. Your project manager will let you know if there are any changes to your expected timeline.

The rest of the timing for editing hinges upon the time you take with your revisions. This refers to the time between editing rounds, or between editing and interior layout, during which you review the editor's suggestions and make any necessary revisions to the manuscript before submitting.

Our team comprises highly talented editors based across the UK, the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Our English editors are native English speakers, and our French editors are native French speakers.

The editing department is overseen by Tellwell's managing editor, who has a master's degree in publishing and editing, and over fifteen years' experience in book editing—she has edited everything from cookbooks, fiction, children's books, and travel guides, to poetry, academic texts, celebrity memoirs and sports biographies. Together with our lead editor she ensures that all potential editing candidates are heavily evaluated based on their education, accreditation, and book-editing experience; a highly detailed editing test; and an interview process. All edits are closely reviewed by senior editing staff to ensure they adhere to the national editors' association's Professional Editorial Standards. Tellwell works to ensure that all editors have access to any professional development materials and editorial resources they may need, and fosters lively, ongoing team discussions about the evolution of the field, including any editorial standards that may be in flux—language, after all, is in constant evolution, and we work to help our editors feel confident as leaders their field.

The crafts of writing and editing are very different, and they require unique skill sets. Not all good writers are good editors, and vice versa, but both arts are essential to the other. In a nutshell, it is the job of the editor to support the writer's vision, writing style, and overall story so that the work comes out as clear and polished as possible, much in the same way a theatre director makes sure the intentions of the playwright are communicated pristinely to the audience.

The most common misconception of the editor's job is that they rewrite the author's language, turning it into their own project and changing the author's intent. This could not be further from the truth; in fact, the editor's job is exactly the opposite: to champion the author's intentions by tuning in to their unique voice and style to make sure the book is consistent and clear; catching any inadvertent grammatical mistakes, or areas where the writing is not clearly supporting the overall story; and suggesting alternative ways of phrasing within the author's own style.

For example, editors are there to catch inconsistencies in dates, times, spelling (especially with proper nouns like character names), and story details, like making sure hair colour, or job, or family members, or characters' ages, or time of day (etc.) don't accidentally change throughout the story. They will also consider the big picture of the story, and if necessary suggest ways to make it flow more efficiently. Perhaps there is a character introduced to the piece who ends up without any effect on the overall plot … a good editor may suggest that this character be removed, or given an integral role in moving the story along.

We as authors inevitably become intimately involved with our story and our characters, and it is helpful and highly recommended to engage a professional with your best interests in mind to support your work to make it the best, most marketable book it can be. Remember that every book you have ever read has gone through a rigorous editing process, and all your favourite authors will testify to how much they rely on their editors to help them do their best work.

Your editor is first and foremost your teammate and head cheerleader, and wants your voice and expression to be the cleanest and clearest they can be. The author-editor relationship is one of the most important aspects of your publishing process, and here at Tellwell we take that responsibility seriously, and with the utmost care. We are very grateful that you place your trust in us, and absolutely love being a part of making your publishing dreams come true.