Your Final Book Edit: What to Revise (and Not Revise) After Copyediting
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Copyediting is your book’s final edit. It’s the line-by-line edit that amends any grammatical or spelling errors, and makes revisions to improve flow and readability. This means once you receive your book back from the copyeditor, you are expected to focus on which revisions you agree with, rewriting or deleting huge chunks of your book.
Once your book has been copyedited, the next stages in the publishing process are typesetting (formatting your manuscript into a book) and proofreading. Sending your book to be copyedited marks the end of the writing and editing phase. Many writers find this more difficult to accept than they thought. When you’re in the first-draft trenches you can’t think of anything worse than rewriting and editing, but when the time comes to turn your manuscript into a finished book, the temptation to keep tinkering can be hard to resist!
But resist you must. In this post, I’ll remind you of the different editing stages of a book, define what copyediting is for, the damage you can do if you revise too much after copyediting, and guide you on the sorts of changes you should make after copyediting.
A recap of the editing stages
In case you’re not sure what I mean by copyediting, proofreading, typesetting, etc. let’s have a quick recap of the different stages of editing, particularly for self-publishing authors. You can also read in more detail about the publishing process in this blog post, and to help with this post in particular, read about what copyediting is.
Ultimately, self-publishing is always about balancing budget, time, and the support you need to publish your book. Working with a publisher would involve multiple rounds of editing, often taking months and years as you go through rounds of structural edits, then the line-by-line edits (line editing and copyediting), and ending with a proofreading round or two.
Non-fiction writers sometimes even work with their editor as they write the book, getting feedback on chapters or parts of the book as they write them, so they can work together on how the argument is handled and structured. This means by the time the book gets to the copyediting stage, those top-level aspects of the book are secure and unlikely to budge.
That support is still available for self-publishing authors, but it comes at a literal cost, meaning most writers have to choose what to compromise on. Most self-publishing writers opt for some structural support (working with a writing coach, and/or having a developmental edit, and/or a manuscript appraisal), followed by a copyedit, and then a proofread if the budget allows.
By the time your book is being copyedited, it’s all about refining the flow and readability at a paragraph level at most. It is not the time for removing chapters or re-writing entire paragraphs. Though there is some flexibility here when working with self-publishing (for example, if I spot a paragraph that undermines your argument or a line that would work as the perfect opening to a chapter, I’ll highlight this), my point is more about not applying dramatic revisions after copyediting.
Copyediting is not rewriting
You want to think of the copyediting stage as refining what’s already there. It’s not the time for writing entirely new content: that needs to happen before you send your book for copyediting. When I copyedit, if there are any parts I can’t quite work out to directly tweak or give various alternatives for, I will leave notes along the lines of ‘Can you make it clearer what you mean here?’ or ‘I can’t quite work this out’, but even in these scenarios I’m only expecting a few extra or different words to help sort it out.
It’s also important to stress that these sorts of comments make up a small percentage of my feedback. Most of my copyediting amends are either made directly to the manuscript with Track Changes or as a comment where I usually say ‘what do you think of this [insert suggested tweak]’ or I offer a few different synonyms that could be more accurate or fitting.
When you get your revised manuscript back from copyediting, you’re not expected to heavily rewrite paragraphs (certainly not whole chapters!). It’s more about seeing which amends you agree with that that copyeditor has made or suggested.
How many rounds of copyediting should you expect?
This is when being clear on project terms is key for any author, but especially self-publishing authors. Some copyeditors include a review round as part of their copyediting services, others (like me) focus on one round of copyediting at a time. This means you send me your book for copyediting, I edit your manuscript with comments and Track Changes, then return your manuscript for you to review and apply final amends.
I find this gives writers more flexibility for going through their copyedit, which can be quite overwhelming to work through at first, and isn’t something that should be rushed. It also means you can save some of your publishing budget for proofreading, which is the final chance for any remaining errors to be spotted and sorted.
How to avoid making significant changes after copyediting
It can be so tempting to make significant changes when you get your copyedited manuscript back from your editor. Seeing your sentences flow just that little better can buoy you up to see if you can add some more sparkly content to the rest of your book. But you must not give in to this temptation!
You have to trust that what is there is ready to publish.
That mindset can make the biggest difference to resisting rewrites, but there is other work you can do before the copyediting stage to ensure you don’t feel tempted to add or delete huge chunks of your book once it has been copyedited:
Feedback, feedback, feedback. Get feedback on your book before you send it for copyediting. This can include working with a book editor or writing coach, but should also include using beta readers, family members, and friends, asking for their honest feedback. Use my blog post on beta readers to get the most out of this.
Don’t rush straight from first draft to copyedit. Add in plenty of breathing space and thinking time so you can truly think about aspects from the highest level (‘what is my book about?’) to working through those paragraphs and sentences that just aren’t flowing quite right. (This blog post tells you what to do with your manuscript before you send it to a book editor.)
Work with your editor. Let them know if there are any chapters or sections of your book that you’re concerned about and even considering deleting. This means your editor can suggest ways to manage this so you don’t end up in a self-editing quagmire as you scrabble towards your publishing deadline.
Why changes matter after copyediting
You might be wondering why on earth you can’t make as many changes as you like after copyediting. It’s your book after all, surely you can do what you want with it! Well, yes, you’re right. It is your book. And if you’re self-publishing that means you’re the author and publisher, giving you ultimate control over the book.
But you need to remember that the whole point of publishing this book is to reach as many readers as possible. And that means you need your book to read well. Changes made after copyediting means such changes either won’t be reviewed or will cost you extra to have your book edited again.
If you don’t have the time or budget for your book to be edited again, it’s likely new errors will creep in, which could range from the innocuous (mis-spelt words) to the damaging and detrimental. After all the hard work you’ve put into writing the book and the time and money spent on using a copyeditor, you don’t want to undo it all!
What changes are appropriate after a copyedit?
Don’t think you can’t make any changes once you get your copyedited manuscript back from your editor; it’s more about the level of changes you should make. Focus on changing things at a paragraph level and don’t be tempted to change anything beyond that.
Take your time reviewing the suggestions and changes from your copyeditor, bearing in mind you do not have to accept every change they make (a decent copyeditor will make it clear which changes are more technical, like spelling and grammar, and which are more subjective, like rewording).
These are your basic guidelines for what you should focus on during your copyediting review:
Word choices. If you don’t agree with the word changes made by the copyeditor, be sure you truly understand the meaning of the word you choose instead!
Facts. Ensure you are entirely accurate with any facts in your book, especially data, numbers, dates, and names.
References and citations. Check whether any references or citations have changed since your first draft and update them if needed.
Also make sure you use the style sheet from your copyeditor when you make your own revisions, which will detail aspects like spelling choices and punctuation style.
Look forward to the final stage: publishing!
There are a few common reactions to getting your book back from the copyeditor. Some authors feel delighted to see their book in such good shape and want to see what other improvements they can make (as I described above). Some feel disheartened by the number of changes and doubt their writing ability (this soon dissipates when you realise most changes are small tweaks). And some have a mixed feeling: invigorated to see their book reading so well but now feeling equally excited and daunted by getting closer to the final stages of publishing their book.
As with every stage of publishing a book, make sure you take time to congratulate yourself for getting through this stage. For trusting someone with your book, for being open to feedback, for making the time to go through the amends, for writing a bloomin’ book (remember how amazing it felt to finish that first draft? That’s still you!).
As hard as it is, once you get to the copyediting stage, try and see it as the start of the final push towards publication date and getting your book in your hands and on the shelf. You’re almost there now, just keep going! (But small tweaks only, no major rewrites, right?)
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