Have you ever wondered what an editor does daily?
I am a full-time freelance writer and editor, so every week (every day!) looks different. This is why I love what I do. My mind loves word gymnastics, so getting to work on different types of projects is my happy place.
In this article, I’ll share what a week in the life of a book editor looks like.
What you’ll learn:
The daily responsibilities of an editor vary, so every week looks different. If you take 100 editors and ask us what we do daily, we’ll have editing and clients in common, but everything else is a mixed bag, from how we market our services and the types of clients we work with to how we organize our day. What I’m sharing with you is unique to me, but I’m sure many editors won’t be far off.
To begin, I specialize in developmental, technical, and copyediting. I’ve been offering editing services for almost twenty years.
Editing definitions:
Developmental: This involves assessing the book as a whole to make sure all of the pieces work together to create a complete picture. This can include pacing, character development, point of view, tone, voice, and more.
Copyediting: Copyediting is more granular than developmental editing. It’s an assessment of the more technical parts of writing, like style, grammar, and punctuation.
Technical: Technical editing, like copyediting, focuses on the mechanics of writing but includes the technical side that focuses on content accuracy.
As a freelance editor, much of my work overlaps. Depending on the number of projects, I can work on multiple types of editing at once. For example, if you’d taken a snapshot of a recent week, it would have included:
- Proofreading a client manuscript before uploading it to Amazon for sale.
- Finalizing the Spanish edition of a marketing book. I did not edit this book, but as the editor of the English version, I am the project manager.
- Technical editing for five articles for an engineering site.
Working on multiple projects means organization is the key to staying on track. For me, project organization is a mixture of physical tools and apps.
I’m pretty old school when it comes to schedules, so I prefer my handy dandy 8” x 11” planner on my desk, a detailed project spreadsheet in Google Sheets, and a financial spreadsheet, also in Google Sheets.
1. What does a typical week look like?
As I mentioned, every week looks different. I typically work from 10 am to 3 pm Monday through Friday. Ideally, my week looks like this:
- Mondays: I start my day by catching up on emails I may have missed over the weekend and responding to them if needed. I review any open projects to make sure I’m still on track. I dedicate two to three hours of deep work.
- Tuesdays: Project days. I split editing assignments with writing assignments.
- Wednesdays: Meeting day and editing or writing.
- Thursdays: Meeting day and editing or writing.
- Fridays. Week wrap-up. I try to wrap up any article assignments before starting the weekend.
- Saturdays: I set aside two hours to finish any overflow from the previous week. If it’s more than a couple of hours, I save it for Monday.
- Sundays: I don’t work on Sundays, but I take about 30 minutes in the evening to review the projects that I have coming up and block off enough time on my schedule to complete the tasks.
While editing is similar whether you’re a freelancer or an employee, the variety of projects can vary drastically from client to client. For me, editing and writing make up 75% of the total time I invest in my freelance business. Other tasks include marketing, networking, billing, and all the “extras” that come with being self-employed.
2. What genres or types of manuscripts do you most frequently work on?
In nonfiction, I typically edit business books, memoirs, inspirational, and travel. In fiction, I edit Christian contemporary, fantasy, and speculative.
3. How do you approach the initial review of a new manuscript?
Whether I’ve been hired for developmental editing or not, I like to take a high view of the manuscript to see what’s working and what’s not. I consider voice, tone, pacing, and consistency. For nonfiction, I assess whether the book answers the initial question or fulfills the promise. For fiction, I look at the characters to see if they have depth, if the conflict is strong, and if the story has a solid structure.
4. What was a memorable experience you had where you helped transform a manuscript?
This comment from a client helped me to see the value of editing from a client’s perspective.
When I approached Shannon to help me edit my book, I was like a 40-year-old teenager. Outward appearances of confidence and defiance but very insecure on the inside. As a non-native English writer, composing the first book of my life, I wanted to make a good impression. But instead, what I had done was to create a 70,000-word monstrosity. The message was in there, but it was hard to find. Shannon saw both, the overgrown teenager and the hidden message inside the wordy chapters. An editor alone was not going to be enough. I needed a mentor. And what happened over the next 12 weeks was a lot of empathy, care, and occasional tough love. Shannon went way above and beyond what an editorial job would have called for. She helped me get comfortable communicating my ideas in a reader-friendly yet fully self-expressed manner. —Ninad Sharma, Make Travel Matter
5. How do you balance maintaining an author’s voice while making sure the text is polished?
It depends on whether the book is nonfiction or fiction. With nonfiction, it’s important to meet with the author and listen to them speak. Do they use signature phrases or have a specific cadence to their speech? Are they more casual or formal when expressing ideas? I try to capture this when I make suggestions so we’re not losing the author’s voice when revising. I remind the author that with any suggestion, they should take what works and then leave the rest if it doesn’t sound like them. Ultimately, it’s the author’s book, so they should feel good about the final product.
6. What common challenges do you face during the editing process, and how do you overcome them?
Here are a few things that pop up:
- Repetition, repeating the same things over again, is a big one.
- Talking at the audience instead of to them. It’s important to remember that a book is a dialogue between you and the reader. It’s not a theatrical presentation, where you are on stage and they are sitting far back in the audience. The reader should feel like you’re sitting next to them, walking them along a path, and sharing the experience with them.
- Marketing too much. Readers are smart. When every other paragraph is a link to a product or service, the content loses its luster.
7. How do you stay up-to-date on industry trends or changes in language usage?
I try to stay current with the most recent AP and Chicago Manual of Style guidelines. I also have resource websites that I visit frequently.
8. What tools or software do you rely on to make your editing process smoother?
Grammarly, ProwritingAid, and Hemmingway Editor are great tools for catching grammatical errors and sparking ideas for streamlining content. One Stop for Writers is also a great resource for fiction writing.
9. What’s one misconception people have about book editing that you like to debunk?
Editors know everything.
Not true.
No, we don’t memorize all the grammar rules. As editors, we may know more about writing than the average person, but we don’t remember everything. We have to have our reference books next to us and look up a lot of stuff to make sure we’re getting it right. Occasionally, grammar rules change, and we must be ready to change with them.
10. What advice would you give to aspiring editors entering the field?
Develop a love of reading, especially a variety of writers and genres. When you read different types of writing, you begin to understand language and cadence and how people express themselves. You also learn what you like and don’t like.
A week in the life of a book editor wrap-up
This was just a glimpse of what I do as a book editor. Is it what you expected? Whether you’re interested in hiring an editor or becoming one, there are just as many types of editors out there as clients. If you’re a client, don’t settle for just any editor. Find the best fit for you.
If you’re pursuing an editing career, do your research, build your skill set, and trust your instincts. Rules are great, but knowing when to bend them to create a better manuscript will take you from a good editor to a great one.
