The Ultimate Guide to the Book Editing Process

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It takes many rounds of editing to take your novel from a rough first draft to a polished manuscript. But don’t be intimidated — by the end, your story is going to be so much stronger and more effective than you ever thought it could be. Today, I’m going to go over all of the different phases and types of editing your book will need so you can feel confident going into revisions and help your story reach its full potential.
 
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GREAT BOOKS ABOUT WRITING/PUBLISHING:
 
SOME OF MY FAVORITE BOOKS:
 
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MORE WRITING AND PUBLISHING ADVICE:
 
MY PUBLISHING PREDICTIONS FOR 2024:
01:10 – Phase 1: Structural or substantive editing
02:29 – Editorial assessment  
04:08 – Developmental editing
06:02 – Phase 2: Sentence-level editing
07:03 – Line editing
07:44 – Copy editing
08:44 – Proofreading
09:58 – Your editing roadmap
10:44 – Other types of editing
 
ABOUT ME: 
My name is Alyssa Matesic, and I’m a professional book editor with nearly a decade of book publishing and editorial experience. Throughout my career, I’ve held editorial roles across both sides of the publishing industry: Big Five publishing houses and literary agencies. The goal of this channel is to help writers throughout the book writing journey—whether you're working on your manuscript or you're looking for publishing advice.
 
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[GeorgeMiller-jyje]

Thank you so much for this much needed explanation Alyssa, to the people entering this world of finding an "Editor" & a "Ghostwriter". It can be tough and there are some shady people out there. I was lucky to have my book written and published through "Writers Of The West" and that saved me a great amount of time and hassle and paid like $1000 for editing a 200 page manuscript which was a pretty sweet deal!

[garypadiham]

At school my English teacher hated me, called me "stupid" in front of the class, and made sure I came bottom. I must have reminded her of someone she did not like, and she punished me. I was not stupid, and with another English teacher I came third in the class. This experience has shaped my writing because I don't assume I'm good at writing, and will be praised. Instead, I try to think of all the things I could be criticised for, and outpace those. I've just finished my third draft. I got a list of fifty things I will add. When my fourth draft is finished, in about two months, I will pay for an assessment. My manuscript is 182, 000 words. This video has come at the time I'm doing editing, thank you.

[JamesPatten-lc]

This video was very helpful to me by explaining the proper order in which to edit. I find myself getting distracted and frustrated by misspelled words and going back to fix them. Editing is, to me anyway, 10x harder than writing the drafts, or coming up with ideas. My first draft was 156K words but I've managed to get it down to 108K through over a year of editing and fixing drafts.There was so much that didn't need to be there.

[absolutelycitron]

Im only in the 2nd draft rn and after watching this I think there will be at least 5 drafts. Also I for sure cant afford these all personally so here's to hoping that agents will want me as a client and publishers will accept the submission. Im really grateful you have query videos 😅

[michaelakainz]

I am currently working with a developmental editor and her input and ideas were eye-opening. I am so glad I decided to invest and work with a professional.

[daviddarlingauthor]

sometimes things slip through the cracks, despite several eyes and many revisions. Daniel Silva misspelled Switzerland, and no one caught it, and it went to print. World-class author... it happens!

[kcandon]

The image of a funnel is helpful in understanding what you are saying about the book editing process.

[absolutelycitron]

Also tysm for the free knowledge. The process seems way less nebulous now

[MichaelHollandCollins]

At the end you ask us to state where we are at in the writing or editing phase. I started in July and I’m now at around 64k words and feeling it’s almost done. I’m working on the couple final stages in the plot. Then I plan to do a reverse outline, as you talked about in video of yours. Then go through and edit on my own, and I would like to get it professionally edited. My goal is big five, and the dream debut; so your advice is extremely respected and I do plan to reach out. I’m just not sure WHEN I should since I’m not “done” yet and you’re so booked in advance 2-4 months. Thanks so much for all these videos! It’s my nightly ritual 😊

[annworthington]

Great video. I love the funnel image; starting with bigger issues and slowly working towards the smaller, more detailed issues.

[clayfinity]

This may as well be the best structured technical advice I have heard over 2.5 years of researching on how to write, to be honest. Thanks, Alyssa <3

[rodgilley-writer]

Very well done! You'll help many authors know the steps with this great video!

[TheEccentricRaven]

Thank you for this overview! Too many writers don't realize all that's involved. Too many don't edit at all 😮 I recently finished my first draft. I'll soon get down to writing the second draft. My plan is after I write the third draft, I'll look into beta readers. I already have some volunteers that make me happy 😊

[montenegrogirl]

Just found your channel. So helpful and very clear and informative guidance! Thank you. I finished my first draft a few months ago, read it through and as you said in another of your videos, found that it was a very crappy first draft! Now embarking on the editing process and rethinking the storyline and have decided to fictionalise it (it was based on my own experience totally before). Will be checking out more of your videos and advice without a doubt!

[ATMcGWriter]

A very helpful video with the depth of explanation I’ve been looking for. Thank you. 🙏🏼

[leafandmachine]

Speaking of editing--your video editing on these is getting slicker! Nice work.

[tomorrowkiddo]

Still drafting a series of interconnected stories.

Great video, as usual.

[honu]

This was a very helpful video. Currently, I'm on my first revision. My goal is to boost my word count from the 48K original to around 60K without harming the pace of the book.

[rowan]

I try to edit as much as I can by myself. Then I use prowritingaid, which again, is pretty helpful to point out some issues I missed. Sometimes even rewrite an entire paragraph.
Then it's off to my development editor and she is thankfully honest. Pointing out issues or has some great suggestions I have never thought of or noticed. Even my beta is pretty good and has good suggestions. Both highly suggested to write new opening chapters of an older work.
But I only do the first few chapters as if I do the whole book, I would have no money at all anymore. Since majority of agents want the first three chapters. Yes, I do beta read my whole book to get other issues fixed.

[InvestigatingDavidCrowley]

This video is extremely helpful. Thank you so much!