I have shared before the many benefits of conferences for authors, editors, and those in the publishing industry, and PENCON is a conference I highly recommend. I am honored to be included in Ten Years of Top-Tier Editing, by PENCON faculty and staff, available for conference attendees. Learn more and register for the conference at PENCONeditors.com
The Well-Rounded, Efficient Editor
~From Ten Years of Top-Tier Editing, by PENCON faculty and staff
An important part of an editor’s job is helping authors improve their craft. Writing is a skill that can be learned, and editors can help writers embrace their talents and grow in their abilities.
Deliver constructive criticism with sensitivity and tact. Some authors prefer a lighter touch, while others welcome ideas (especially if they’ve edited the work a dozen times already). I like to ask authors up front if they have any concerns or questions and in what areas they would like feedback.
Comment boxes are great for wording edits as suggestions, so the author can decide if/how to implement the change. If I’m worried about overediting, I may use a comment box to suggest something like “Have you considered …” Comment boxes are also great for making notes to the author and pointing out good stuff. These little “cheerleader callouts” can provide needed encouragement as authors face looming revisions.
Editors need to be readers, seeing what’s out there and who’s publishing what. They also need continuous education to stay up with technological advances and trends in the ever-changing publishing industry. So attend conferences such as PENCON and get involved with professional organizations like The Christian PEN. Editing can be an isolating career, but PENCON and writers’ conferences provide networking and relationship-building with others in your field. This is especially important as more work is being done remotely.
The Graham School of Editing, part of Chicago University, offers an editorial certificate consisting of five classes, many of which are offered as weekend classes. This can lead to editorial opportunities. Many publishers use graduates with certificates as freelance editors. To get on lists of freelance editors for publishing companies, contact the editorial manager who coordinates freelancers.
An editor needs to be familiar with the Associated Press Stylebook (for articles and journalistic-style publications), The Chicago Manual of Style (for books and popular-style magazines), and The Christian Writer’s Manual of Style (for books in the Christian market.) For word checks, tense, spelling, and more, consult Webster’s New World College Dictionary for articles and journalistic-style publications or Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary for books and popular-style magazines (available at merriamwebster.com).
Before editing, if time permits, read the entire work. Preferably aloud. As you read dialogue, listen for authenticity and disruptions to flow that should be reworded. Switching your mindset between projects and genres can be jarring, such as finishing an adult fiction edit and then editing a children’s picture book. I go to libraries, bookstores, and publishers’ websites to immerse myself in the new genre and help me focus. For example, when I was hired to edit a Story Book Bible for very young readers, I looked at many examples of comparable books, which was extremely helpful when editing.
Before diving into the nitty-gritty, I begin my editorial letter by noting at least two positive aspects of the work, then a couple of areas that need improvement. Don’t be afraid to make reorganizational suggestions for flow and story pacing, especially in longer works. If I have a question that needs to be answered in the opening pages, and I find the answer in a later section, I cut and reorganize as needed for better flow (using Track Changes for the author to see what I did). For example, in one manuscript I edited, when the brother of the main character was introduced, I wanted to know more about what he looked like and his place in the sibling order, but I didn’t find that out until much later. I moved this information to his first introduction to the readers.
When editing children’s books, or adult novels with children as characters, it is beneficial to understand childhood development and stages so you know what is appropriate. Watch for adult-speak versus kid-speak. Is the dialogue realistic to the age of the character or the age range of the readers? Would a child think that way?
Each time I sit down to work on a manuscript, I pray that God will bless the work of my hands so I may bless others and give the glory to him.
With a mission to equip, empower, and encourage editors in the Christian market., the Christian Editors Association is the parent organization for four divisions committed to serving Christian editors: The Christian PEN, the Christian Editor Connection, the annual editors’ conference PENCON, and The PEN Institute.
Kim Childress is an award-winning editor and author of hundreds of books for children and adults, including Find Your Future in Art. She is a product developer in children’s publishing, book editor for Girls’ Life magazine since its 1994 debut, and former middle-grade acquisitions editor for HarperCollins (Zondervan). She has maintained a successful career while raising a personal focus group of four children through diapers, doctors, broken bones, college, and plagues. Learn more about Kim and follow her adventures at ChildressInk.com and Ink-a-Dink.com. You can purchase her workshops at penconeditors.com, including on editing middle-grade and YA fiction and nonfiction, creating books of excellence for young readers, How a Book is Made from Start to Finish, and Trends and Opportunities in Fiction and Nonfiction Picture Books. Find these and more workshops from editors of excellence at penconeditors.com.