The editing processes June–August 2021
Self- edits
Even as a personal project, I knew that my weakest link in the process was my grammar and spelling. Throughout my schooling, it was 100% for story, 0% Spelling and grammar. I did a search online and bought a subscription to ProWritingAid, a powerful and comprehensive editing software program. The program scans your work on a wide range of writing elements, from sentence length, readability, use of passive voice, emotion tells, to weak adverbs and a lot more, providing an overall score and recommendations for improvements.
During June 2021, I ran each chapter of Sailing into adulthood through the software and slowly improved my writing style and structure from an average score of around 50% to above 80%. The non-human nature of the software always accounts for a few non-errors in the algorithm, so a score of 80% was the best I could do. For me, the task was tedious, running through dozens of long sentences to shorten them, replacing -ly words, and working through hundreds of spelling and basic grammar mistakes. I learned a huge amount through the process, though, significantly improving my writing structure and style from a technical standpoint. By 22 June, I had a manuscript that was about as polished as I could get, based on my personal limitations.
By now, I was adding up the increased levels of effort I was investing in the project. Besides, when I read through certain sections of the book, I realized that something about the overall story was changing. Patterns emerged I had not seen before, themes had developed that went beyond the individual chapters and sections. There were lessons to be had, warnings to be heeded. So I thought beyond my original intentions, like maybe I should just get some professional advice to polish off the manuscript and make it accessible to a broader audience. A deeper dive into the editing world revealed that there was no such thing as a single edit.
There were developmental edits, line edits, copy edits and proof readings, each with its own fiercely defended territory, as well as a specific order to follow.
Professional edits
I signed up to Uplink, a website of online consultants, and soon found my way around the platform, successfully posting my first job to line edit Sailing into adulthood. This was my first experience using a professional editor and what a privilege it was to have someone on my side during this phase of the book development. I found the entire process to be hugely encouraging and motivating. I also believe that it took Sailing into Adulthood into another level of professionalism.
Line edits - 22 June–13 July
This was the first and most detailed edit. The editor I contracted through Upwork was Annie Perik, herself an author. Annie provided so much more than editing, often leaving brief comments like “Love that!” or “beautifully described” among the sea of corrections, suggested changes, notes on confusing or inconsistent sections. I can’t fully describe the value that Annie brought to the process and the encouragement to me personally. Self-publishing can be a lonely road, full of insecurities and uncertainties.
I had divided the book into 4 parts, so Annie would edit one part and send that back to me for review. There would be two types of edits, corrections and comments. The corrections I would accept into the document and then respond to the comments. This would involve adding text to provide more clarity for the reader, or sometimes, rewrites or completely new sections. After I had completed this, I would send the part back to Annie for a review and edit of my inputs.
It encouraged me when reading Annie’s blog; I noticed that on one day she had written; “Back to my sailing memoir again today, a breath of fresh air!” I guess editing scientific papers and journals can be a little tedious!
22 June–Contract signed.
27 June–Pt 1 completed.
2 July–Pt 2 completed.
5 July–Pt 3 completed.
13 July–P4 completed.
Developmental editing–22–25 June
Yes, I know, this was the wrong way around, but I only heard about the process of developmental editing after I started with the line edit. In fact, I would not have had the budget for a proper developmental edit, as it is the most expensive edit, if done correctly. What I ended up doing was simply an appraisal of only one part of the book. The consultant I worked with, through Upwork, was Garath Clegg, a book developer and cover designer. Garath was incredibly supportive, so much more than he needed to be based on the small contract I gave him.
His appraisal was extremely constructive, and I can now see why this is such an important step in the book development process. He basically went through each paragraph of the section, commenting on what he through worked well, and where he felt the story needed to be filled out or toned down. This was nothing to do with grammar or sentence structure and style. This was purely about the story.
I will certainly include this step during the writing of my next book, and hopefully Garath will still be available to undertake this work when the time comes.
22 June–Contract signed.
24 June–Appraisal received.
25 June–Follow-up questions and revisions which I built into the remaining sections of the manuscript.
Copy editing - 20 July–2 August
Initially, I wanted Annie also to do my copy edits, as I had built up a good working relationship with her during the line edit phase. However, Annie recommended I get a new set of eyes on the manuscript. So I went back to Upwork and contracted Catrina Mehitretter who had done a great job of editing a small cycling travel book, Oman Oracles, for me earlier in the year. Catrina was very thorough in her editing process, picking up on any inconsistencies and errors and polishing off the last rough edges remaining.
20 July–Signed contract
30 July - Draft complete–responded to all revisions and suggestions
2 Aug–Final revisions edited and complete.