Publishing a book, without a doubt, is a very exciting process. With so many publication steps, it may be easy to underestimate the importance of copyediting. Although authors often write well, they may not always be punctual. This fact alone may very well affect the credibility of your book.
Copyediting isn’t just a final stage of the publication process—it should persist throughout the entire publishing journey. There’s the first draft that is revisited countless times, the synopsis of each draft thereafter, and then rigorous attention to the last draft. With multiple drafts, it can be easy to overlook typographical and grammatical errors.
With this thought in mind, every author needs a skilled pair of eyes to closely examine his or her work for typographical errors (imagine if you tried to read a book peppered with typos). This is a crucial step since any typo may reflect poorly on you. Plus, any message you are trying to convey in the book can be short-circuited. Club Lighthouse Publishing copy editors stress the importance of having an objective eye read your manuscript because, on average, they find nearly 20 errors per page of work they edit.
However, don’t let this number discourage you. It’s natural to have errors in your book because it’s something you’ve spent a lot of time on. The more you look over it and read it, the more you may begin to overlook errors because you’re so used to reading it a certain way in your head. This has no effect on the author’s ability to write; it is common to have mistakes!
While you consider how copyediting fits into your publishing journey, give thought to your overall goals for the book. If having an error-free book to market and distribute is important to you, place copyediting at the top of your list.
Article was modified and used with permission from AuthorHouse
