Substantive Editing
A paper may include all the right parts such as complete data, logical conclusions, and a detailed discussion on the topic. It may even include a unique angle or a profound discovery. But if the information is presented in an illogical order and makes the reader work too hard to connect key points, then all is lost. This is where a substantive editor comes in. it is a comprehensive analysis of a work as a whole. Substantive editing is often also called developmental editing; the editor rewrites your document with the intent of educating you on how to write in a grammatically correct way. New content is added if the editor feels arguments made in your original writing lack substance or need further support. Lengthy paragraphs may be split into multiple smaller paragraphs that retain clear focus on a singular message.
Copy Editing & Line Editing
In Copy Editing the editor will adjust sentence and paragraph structure, eliminate redundant words, replace repetitive words with synonyms, and substitute weak words, phrases, and sentences with alternatives that deliver more impact or are more relevant to your subject matter. Experienced editor will always make sure your original tone remains intact. Expect noticeable change to your original paper.
Line editing is actual hands-on editing: fixing sections that aren’t working, moving passages as necessary, cutting things that aren’t helping, reworking sentences that could be doing their job better. Most first drafts benefit from some trimming, and it often takes an outside eye to see what’s essential and what’s excess.
Proofreading
After material has been copy-edited, the material is sent for typesetting. This work is then displayed or printed, and that is the proof – proof that it is ready for publication. Proofreading is the quality check and tidy-up. However, some clients expect more than that.
Many proofreaders find they spot more errors on paper than on screen, but proofs may be read and marked in either medium. Proofreading is now often ‘blind’ – the proof is read on its own merits, without seeing the edited version. A proofreader looks for consistency in usage and presentation, and accuracy in text, images and layout.
Rewriting
Rewriting is a markedly different practice to copyediting or proofreading, and consists of a dramatic overhaul of the existing text. In most cases, rewriting a document involves breaking the existing piece right down to its component information or content, and building a new piece from scratch.
Rewriting is often necessary where a document has been translated from another language and now exists in ‘broken language’. For writing like this, the editing process often simply will not suffice because the overall structure of the piece is inappropriate for the target language.
Manuscript Critique
As authors we understand the need to have another pair of eyes look closely at our manuscript and give us constructive advice and direction so we can make our book the absolute best it can be. And the best person to give a critique is someone with years of experience in the publishing industry. He can help you with suggestions and feedback on your ideas before you write that last section of your book. An evaluation will tell you whether you’re on the right or wrong track; a critique deals with specifics. Your manuscript will be examined for areas of weakness, inconsistencies, and development problems. Accuracy, clarity, completeness, faults in chronology, voice, viewpoint, and overall impact of the work on the reader will also be assessed. When necessary, alternate themes, organization, descriptive passages, or tie-ins will be suggested.
Book Indexing
An index is a systematic arrangement of entries designed to enable readers to locate information in non-fiction books. Indexes is not a collection of mere keywords or phrases, but an organized map of its contents, including cross-references, grouping of like concepts and other useful information for intellectual analysis. The value of a publication increases many fold by the inclusion of an index. A well organised index is imperative, the absence of which makes even a good subject content go unnoticed by the reader.
Book indexing is frequently underestimated as it involves meticulously detailed work, long hours of concentration, and an ability to quickly identify key ideas and concepts in text on virtually any subject.