Picture a text that suffers from a lackluster first paragraph, a few wordy sentences, and a character with two spellings of their name. If you were in a novice editor’s shoes, you might be tempted to fix all three problems right there, right then. Working in the publishing world, though, is easier when you can differentiate between those problems. Although editing, copyediting, and proofreading are linked, they aren’t the same and each looks at the text from a unique viewpoint and distance.
An editor primarily works at a distance. This means asking if a book works, regardless of whether every comma is in place. That might mean looking at order of chapters, missing parts, pacing, examples, or whether a title’s promise actually delivers in a book. Or it could mean examining whether a main point is clear enough, if sections connect in a logical flow, and whether a reader is given enough background to keep moving through an article or guide.
Once the structure seems solid, a copyeditor works closer to the text by examining clarity, repetition, grammar, diction, consistency, and sentence-level flow. Unclear sentences can be clarified and repeated thoughts minimized in the process. Transitions may be smoothed out, too. The ideal copyediting pass preserves an author’s voice and allows the copy to shine. It makes it easy for a reader to process the words and get a message without stumbling over issues.
Proofreading takes place later in the game and is often the time after editing and layout when changes have been made to a file. A proofreader looks at details, specifically misspelled words, punctuation errors, inconsistent spellings of names or numbers, dead links, bad page breaks, missing page numbers, captions and caption numbering, and layout concerns that distract a reader. The final stage is a time to make sure those details line up, not to change the chapter order or rewrite entire sections that could result in errors.
One of the best ways to get a handle on editing, copyediting, and proofreading differences is to grab a short sample manuscript, or any manuscript with some problems, and read it through three times to complete one edit, one copyedit, and one proof. On the first pass, make editorial notes about your audience, what’s missing, and how you would restructure or reorganize the piece. On the second pass, read as a copyeditor and make notes on the clarity of sentences, repetition, grammar, and spelling of terms used. And during a third and final pass, view your proof page and look for those last-minute issues that might slip by. You’ll want to look for misspelled words, punctuation errors, inconsistent names, numbers, headings, captions and caption number, page numbers, or broken page breaks. It is interesting to note that a manuscript can have different problems on different levels and those problems are different depending on the stage the document is in.
This can get complicated for beginners because manuscripts in real life do not necessarily suffer from one problem at a time. One section of a text may be in need of copyediting and proofreading and may suffer from structural or organizational problems that might be considered during an editorial revision. The key skill is not just spotting problems, but determining when those problems can be fixed. If the chapter order is in the air, a detailed proofread is too early to be doing and if a piece is in layout, rewriting might cause a delay. Publishing is as much about timing and order of operations as it is about accuracy.
A style sheet can help with all of this. During the editing, a style sheet may record decisions about an audience, tone, and structure. During copyediting, a style sheet may track preferred spellings, terminology, capitalization of headings and names. And during proofreading, a style sheet becomes a final reference to check against decisions made in the first stages and to determine if it all lines up. When editing, copyediting, and proofreading have a purpose in the publishing process, a book or article stops looking like an overwhelming mountain to climb and starts to look like a publication that will eventually make it to your shelves.