Following along from Part 1 of this little series about becoming an editor, today we’ll talk about the copyediting process.

I tell my students that this (or proofreading) will be the entry level job in a publishing house. To break in, they will look for jobs as copyeditors or sometimes they’re labeled as editorial assistants.

In a publishing house, after the content editor, in consultation with the author, finalizes the manuscript and considers it solid at the big-picture level, the manuscript will move on to a copyeditor.

The copyeditor reads at a more micro level. The macro work has been completed, so the copyeditor focuses on every paragraph, every sentence, every word, every bit of punctuation. She reads closely for sentence construction—looking for dangling or misplaced modifiers, run-ons, lack of parallelism, correct subject and verb forms. He fact checks and queries if something doesn’t make sense. She marks if a transition is needed. He checks spelling, grammar, and punctuation and works to be correct without changing the author’s voice or stylistic choices. (Yes, sentence fragments are often just fine.)

In addition, the copyeditor makes sure that the the manuscript follows house style guidelines. For instance, some Christian publishing houses may have a style that uppercases deity pronouns (He, His, Him, etc.). The copyeditor will make sure all pronouns for God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are capitalized. However, if an author doesn’t want it that way (or if everything were vice versa), the copyeditor notes that on the style sheet. On that sheet goes anything specific to a manuscript that the copyeditor doesn’t want proofreaders to change when they do their pass.

The copyeditor makes the manuscript readable.

But wait, there’s more! The copyeditor also makes sure the front matter (title page, copyright page, table of contents, dedication page, etc.) and back matter (appendix, index, endnotes) are in place. He might often be charged with writing the back cover copy for the book.

Besides understanding the role and where you would fit into the publication process, what else do you need to know to be a copyeditor?

Grammar, punctuation, spelling

You need to absolutely know the basics, but beyond that, you must be willing to get into the weeds to really understand where commas should go, how to use semi-colons, nuking passive voice (when necessary), or how to render footnotes and bibliography entries.

Here are a few resources:

• The students in my editing class use The Copyeditor’s Handbook (currently in its 4th edition) and the accompanying The Copyeditor’s Workbook (also currently in 4th edition). Working through these books will provide a solid foundation for you to know more than you ever wanted to know about grammar and punctuation. But to be an excellent copyeditor, you need these skills. I highly recommend these books for your personal study and reference if you want to be a copyeditor.
• For fun and to test your skills, take advantage of several weblinks that offer grammar quizzes. See what you know; test what you still need to learn or improve. Try: Punctuation Practice Test; Free Grammar Quizzes (you can pay for more access, but try all the free stuff first); Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL). Work your way through all of these. Find out your weak spots and then study up!
• Work on your spelling and know the correct word. You do know the difference between disinterested and uninterested? Affect and effect? Venomous and poisonous? Save this link on your computer, Easily Confused Words, to check on words where you’re just not clear. Study them, learn them. When a word gives you pause, look it up! Your dictionary is still your best friend.

Style manuals, guides, sheets

You’ll need to know how to use style manuals; these industry “bibles” provide the standards for correct usage of anything from how to write people’s titles or addresses, to how to render times of day, to how to write centuries, to the order the front and back matter pieces. Study these books and always have them on hand as references when you come across something you need to know how to do correctly.

• If you want to get into book editing, you should have a copy of The Chicago Manual of Style (currently in its 18th edition) or a membership to its website. This is the standard guidance for all of book publishing.
• For magazine and news editing, which use AP style, you’ll want a copy of The Associated Press Stylebook (currently in its 57th edition).

Style guides are specific to every publisher, every organization. They should have standardized spellings and usages for words or other notations specific to the industry. For example, each Christian publisher may have a different way to write Bible book abbreviations and references, or different spellings for names of people or places (is it Ishbosheth, Ish-bosheth, or Ish Bosheth — actually all three are correct depending on the publisher).

If you’re working for a particular company as an employee or freelancer, get their style guide. The guide supersedes the style manuals (noted above), so you always go to the guide first.

As you work on a particular project, you may create a style sheet that will go with that project, noting any choices made by you or the author that differ from the style guide or style manual. For instance, I once proofread a book in which the author wanted the word Heaven capitalized. In most style guides, that word is lowercased, but because the author wanted it that way, that word went on the style sheet. That way, when the book went to the proofreader, he wouldn’t lowercase the word as incorrect.

Microsoft Word

Chances are you’re working in Microsoft Word, which is the industry standard for manuscript submissions. As a copyeditor, you can make use of the Editor tool (on the Home ribbon) that can do a quick check of spelling, grammar, punctuation, and other writerly issues. I would only use this as a preliminary pass, however, as it isn’t perfect.

• Learn how to do track changes. (And learn how to hide track changes while you’re working. That can help you avoid introducing errors while you copyedit.)
• Learn how to accept and reject changes.
• Learn how to do commenting. This is so important in explaining a change you’re making or querying when needed.
• My YouTube channel has several videos that can help you with other tasks, such a inserting a title page, adding a Table of Contents, or doing basic cleanup tasks before you begin copyediting.
• One video explains how to use templates and style tags. You may or may not need to do this for a publisher, but if it comes up, this video can help.

And note, never put what you’re working on into ChatGPT for a proofread or grammar check. You’re basically giving away that writing when you do so — someone’s creative work, a professor’s research, or company internal information. Steer clear!

Practice

Practice copyediting every chance you get. Offer to read the church newsletter or the worship song slides (!!). Anytime anyone has written anything, it needs another set of eyes. Let those eyes be yours.

Consider certifications

You might consider enhanced training and professional certifications through organizations such as ACES: The Society for Editing, EFA (Editorial Freelancers Association), or CIEP (Chartered Institute of Editing & Proofreading, based in the UK), or other courses at local colleges or writers conferences. You will always learn something new.

After all, we editors are saving the world by fixing one typo at a time!