Quote:
Originally Posted by Spacejock
There's proofing and there's editing, and they're two different animals.
Editing is the big picture, mostly structural. Are there too many characters, too many subplots, is the pace all over the map, does the author know how to leave the reader wanting more, etc, etc. This sort of editing is what 99% of writers skip over or ignore.
Proofing is checking for typos and inconsistencies. Does someone's eye colour change from one chapter to the next, are place names spelt the same, etc. (I use British spelling & language and I've seen one review accusing me of 'errors' where it's really just a different convention.)
Editing can make a poor or average book into a good one. Proofing just polishes the thing.
I'm sure most of you know this anyway, but structural editing is the key to finding and keeping readers.
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We may call things by a different name here in the U.S. so it is possible we are saying the same thing but . . .
Actually, there are two types of editing: substantive/developmental and copy. Your "structural" is our substantive/developmental editing. That editing occurs during the writing process and before copyediting.
Copyediting occurs when the author believes he/she has a finished product ready for publication subject to the copyedit and the proofreading. Our copyediting is similar to your "proofing".
Proofreading is the step that occurs after the book has been typeset. Its purpose is to check to make sure that errors weren't introduced during the typesetting and that the typeset version conforms to the final, author-approved copyedited version. It is also a final check for misspellings, but it does not look for inconsistencies other than those differences between the final copyedited version and the typeset version.
For additional information check these blog articles: