The Question You’re Really Asking

After decades in publishing, I can predict what an author will ask within the first five minutes of our conversation.

The first question is about cost. The second is about timeline. The third—and the one that reveals the most—is this: “What kind of editing does my book need?”

It sounds straightforward. It isn’t.

The question assumes editing is a single thing that comes in different sizes, like coffee. Small, medium, large. Pick one. But editing isn’t a size. It’s a series of different tasks, each doing different work, and most authors have never had anyone explain the difference.

So let me explain.

Developmental editing looks at the architecture. Does the book hold together? Does the argument build? Does the story earn its ending? A developmental editor isn’t fixing sentences—they’re asking whether the sentences are in service of something that works.

This is the editing most authors need and fewest authors want. It requires rewriting, sometimes restructuring, occasionally admitting that chapter you love doesn’t belong. Developmental editing is surgery. It leaves scars. The book that emerges is stronger, but the process isn’t comfortable.

Line editing works at the paragraph and sentence level. Flow. Clarity. Rhythm. The line editor asks whether each sentence does what you intended, whether transitions carry the reader forward, whether your voice stays consistent from page one to page three hundred.

Copyediting is grammar, punctuation, consistency, style. The copyeditor catches that you spelled a character’s name two different ways. That you switched tenses in chapter seven. That you’ve used “however” fourteen times in three pages.

Proofreading is the final pass. Typos. Formatting errors. The period that should be a comma. It happens after layout, when the book looks like a book, and it’s the last set of eyes before print.

Four different tasks. Four different skill sets. Four different price points.

Here’s what I’ve noticed after working with hundreds of authors: the question “What kind of editing does my book need?” is rarely about editing.

It’s about fear.

Authors ask about editing when they’re really asking: Is my book good enough? They want someone to tell them the manuscript is close—just needs a light polish, a few corrections, nothing major. They want permission to believe they’re almost there.

Sometimes they are. More often, they’re not.

The manuscript that needs developmental editing but only gets copyediting will be a grammatically correct book that doesn’t work. Every comma in place, every sentence falling flat. I’ve seen it happen. The author publishes, the book disappears, and they blame marketing. But marketing wasn’t the problem. The foundation was.

The question isn’t what kind of editing your book needs. The question is what kind of book you want to publish.

If you want a book that exists—that you can hold, that has your name on the cover—a light edit might suffice. The book will be yours. It will be real. For some authors, that’s enough, and I don’t say that dismissively. Completion matters.

But if you want a book that works—that changes readers, that builds your reputation, that becomes the foundation for everything you write afterward—you need to be honest about where the manuscript actually is. Not where you hope it is. Where it is.

This is why Lois and I wrote The Power of Authors. Not to explain editing levels, but to ask the question underneath the question: Why are you writing this book? What do you want it to do in the world?

When you know your why, the editing question answers itself. You stop asking what’s the minimum required and start asking what’s necessary. Different question. Different book.

Before you ask what kind of editing your manuscript needs, ask what you’re building. A single book, or a body of work? A checked box, or a reputation?

The editing serves the purpose. Know the purpose first.

If you’ve ever wondered whether your words could outlast the moment you write them, The Power of Authors is where that question opens up. You can find The Power of Authors on Amazon: http://bit.ly/3K6o8AM. If you’d like an autographed copy: http://bit.ly/4pgmzjM

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