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Book Publishing Process - Editing
BOOK PUBLISHING IN AUSTRALIA AND BEYOND...Editing
Presuming you have already entered into the book publishing process with us and have had your manuscript appraised, feedback has been addressed and you are confident to move forward in the publishing process - the next step is editing.
Before we allocate your manuscript to our team, we would like you to go through a self-editing process. This is where you reacquaint yourself with your manuscript to correct mistakes you didn’t catch while writing. Thankfully, the appraisal process should mean you have had a break from the manuscript for a while so revisiting it with fresh eyes will be a healthy exercise. You might find a few typos or you may rewrite larger sections, it’s up to you but we do recommend this to ensure efficiency once in process.
We now begin the editing process where our professionally trained and qualified book editors begin their magic to make your manuscript the best it can be. You may be thinking that your book is great already but here’s the reality. You’ve spent so long with your book that you’re too close to it. Your future readers, however, are not. Editing ensures your words portray the message as intended and to achieve that, we need a team of experts to dig deeper into the manuscript.
BOOK PUBLISHING IN AUSTRALIA AND BEYOND...Editing
Ocean Reeve Publishing has a comprehensive process in the book editing stage. We tend to follow a similar system that traditional book publishers implement. First, we engage one of our top structural editors to look at the manuscripts big-picture matters. In nonfiction genres, this may include improvements in clarity, structure, or argument. With fiction, a structural editor focuses on plot development, character development, and dialogue - amongst other things. Each stage of the editing process has a specific purpose and in this first stage, we want to ensure the major issues are addressed along with minor line editing.
Once the first edit is complete, you will be sent the manuscript with the recommendations and suggestions marked-up on your manuscript ready for you to review. We also send a guide to manage the editing process so you are aware of the process and your responsibilities as an author at this stage of the book publishing journey. Remember, you don’t have to take on all or any of the suggestions, however, you are paying for this professional guidance for a reason and we highly recommend you do look into each suggestion objectively and ensure your decision is for the best of the book and it’s intending audience. After all, whether you are book publishing in Australia or anywhere else in the world, the market will be most critical if fundamental structural issues aren’t addressed.
BOOK PUBLISHING IN AUSTRALIA AND BEYOND...Editing
Next, you want to send the manuscript back to us for the second editorial review, which is a different process from the above. In most self or independent book publishing companies, they are likely to only use the single editor. We want a new set of eyes on the manuscript as this next stage looks deeper into the paragraphing, sentences, grammar, and spelling. Our copy editors will get into how you’re saying what you’re saying. During this process, we will correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation, along with identifying and inconsistencies or errors in language. More often than not, our copy editors will go above and beyond and step into the previous editor’s role and make recommendations on a structural level. This is likely going to endorse a previous recommendation, maybe even one you dismissed. That’s another important reason why we use a different editor at this stage as they will be even more objective to ensure your manuscript really sings.
Now we reach a very important stage in not only the book publishing process but also in the book marketing journey. This is where we encourage you to seek out beta reader reviews. Beta readers are volunteers who will read your book and provide feedback. They’re not substituting the role of the editors but they are a fresh set of eyes and may spot a few things needing to be addressed. When it comes to finding beta readers, ideally we want people who are familiar with the subject or enjoy the genre in which you are publishing. Ensure you give a firm time frame for them to get back to you as we will be continuing the book publishing process whilst these beta reader reviews are being completed.
Now back to the actual manuscript. Following the second edit, you are to review the changes and suggestions in the same manner as earlier and again, send it back to us for the third and final stage of the formal editing process. Proofreading. Yes, another new set of eyes goes through the manuscript to pick up and final typos or errors with punctuation before we sign off as ready for book formatting. There will be another opportunity for you to review the proofreading and still make changes once formatting is in the process, but consider this step to be the final stage in editing.
All of the editors we use in the book publishing process are in Australia. So their focus will be on Australian/UK English. However, we do have international editors we call on when we are publishing for the US market. Costs are dependent on word count and as a guide; a 50,000 word manuscript is likely to cost you no more than $1400AUD to go through our comprehensive editing process to ensure you manuscript is the best it can be. A 100,000 word manuscript would be closer to $2800 and this is regardless of topic, genre or subject. Professional book publishing in Australia, or anywhere, should always implement a comprehensive and qualified editing process and Ocean Reeve Publishing does exactly that.
