Why Can’t My Editor Proofread My Book Too?
It may seem easier and cheaper to have an all-in-one editor, this way you get all the editing done in one go. Let me tell you why you shouldn’t do this. (Not every editor agrees with me here, and some editors may actually be able to do it all successfully. But most probably can’t. I know I can’t.)
Too Much to Think About
How is one person supposed to focus on a million different things? There are multiple different types of editors that each have a laundry list of responsibilities and things to look out for when reading the manuscript. If you’re unfamiliar with the different types of editors and their corresponding responsibilities, check out this post!
I’m just going to say it: most editors miss errors that they should be catching on their first go around. This is why editors often read through the text multiple times. I normally read the same paragraph (or page) two to three times before moving on, just to make sure I’m not missing anything. This is also why you should have multiple rounds of editing—different people might catch things the previous editor missed.
If you go through the last paragraph and count how many t’s there are, different people will likely come up with different numbers. And that’s just one simple thing you’re looking for. Imagine trying to read an entire book while remembering to check for plot holes, character development, setting continuity, pace, point of view, tense, voice, spelling, grammar, word usage, etc.; the list goes on and on. So, I ask again: how is one person supposed to successfully do the jobs of three or four different people?
Getting Familiar with the Document
To solve the last problem, just have one person do multiple passes on the manuscript, each acting as a different editor and focusing on their respective duties, right?
Nope. This doesn’t work for the same reason that it’s really hard to edit your own work: you’re too involved in it. You’re unlikely to see mistakes because you know what that sentence is supposed to say.
That being said, some editors do combine one or two services for the same manuscript but definitely not proofreading. These are okay with experienced editors who are honest with themselves about their abilities. I sometimes do a developmental edit in one pass, then both a line edit and copy edit together in another pass, but I never proofread a document I’ve already worked on.
When an editor edits my blog posts, they find all kinds of things to fix and change. That’s not an indication that I don’t know what I’m doing as an editor; it’s an indication that I wrote it, and I know what I meant to say, whether or not it actually says that. That’s what happens when the editor gets too close to the writing.
Hmm . . . Are They Legit?
I don’t want to be rude here, but if an editor doesn’t understand why it’s important to have a different proofreader for a project, they may not be qualified or knowledgeable enough about editing to handle your manuscript. The entire point of proofreading is to check that the editor didn’t miss things.
Don’t confuse this for a single editor offering multiple services for different projects. I offer multiple different services: book editing and proofreading. I do not, however, do all services for the same project. It’s editing or proofreading. Many editors offer more types of editing than I do; that’s great as long as they feel confident in their abilities to multitask and don’t include proofreading, or they spread out the multiple services over a few months. It just starts to get a little shady when one editor is offering all types of editing (including proofreading) for the same project all in a month or so . . .
In conclusion, if you want to combine multiple editor’s jobs to one person due to budgetary restrictions (or something else), get a different proofreader. If all else fails, get a good proofreader who has never seen the text before. At the very least, they will be able to catch a good amount of simple errors such as spelling, punctuation, grammar, and formatting.
Please take my advice, and do your best to hire multiple editors. I know it can get expensive, but it really is worth it in the long run. If you still have questions, email me! You can also find me on Facebook or Instagram!
Note: I have a team of proofreaders, which means you can get all your editing and proofreading done with only one contract and one contact (me) while getting the benefit of a new-to-your-book proofreader.
PS How many t’s did you count in the third paragraph? I got 39. ;)