The Matisse Puzzle begs the question: Are editors important?

Somebody asked me the other day if getting your book edited is a good idea. My answer, in two words: hell yeah.

An editor means a new set of eyes cast upon the product of your brain. Not only do they read the text from the outside, but they do it the professional way, i.e. by looking precisely for the things the public is responsive to. You may have a very good picture of where the story goes, of the chronological order of your episodes, of the nature, density, and personal development of your characters. But, surprise-surprise, things that are crystal clear in your brain may be opaque as muddy waters in the brain of somebody else. And while it’s advisable to have your book read by friends, relatives, and well-wishing acquaintances, the kind of reading performed by an editor goes well beyond kitchen wisdom or family commendations. And that’s because they read not with the heart but with the mind.

It sometimes feels like this, I know: senseless murderers killing
all that was good in your book. But take a step back and think again.
Maybe they're right every now and then.
(c) Picture Book Den

An editor is trained to see mistakes you fail to notice, even after going over the text for the tenth time. From grammatical inconsistencies to spelling mistakes, and from structural flaws to logical slips, there is an impressive range of things they have their eyes open to.

In saying this, you might want to ponder this: what exactly are you looking for – a copy editor, or a developmental editor? And since the question has been asked, I better try to say a few things about these two.

Copy editors

A copy editor may be trained to do a lot of things with your book. However, they will most likely concentrate on things to do with grammar, typography, punctuation, capitalization, paragraph structure, titles, hypertexts (if applicable) and such things that pertain mostly to the material aspect of your text. In other words, they make sure you look good through your words. The role of a copy editor cannot be in any way diminished. Readers respond often caustically when encountering a poorly edited text, full of mistakes and dirty with editorial inconsistencies. Sometimes, a mere typo gives way to a deluge of malicious criticism, which is very hard to get out of without sustaining some serious injuries to your ego. And so, the thing about copy editors is this: they are vital.

Developmental editors

But there is another type of editors, whose role is of equal importance. Developmental editors are trained to look for things that transcend simple copy. Yes, they will tell you if grammatical mistakes have slipped into the final copy. They will tell you if you’ve used the apostrophe in the wrong way or if you missed to capitalize ‘The Matisse Puzzle.’ But what they are even better at doing is pointing out to you mistakes of a different nature. A developmental editor looks primarily for flaws in character development, in narrative progression, in the chronological order of your chapters or episodes. If you have a character who kills someone at 7am in chapter three but then is found still asleep at 9am in chapter six, you’re in trouble. As with all kinds of self-reading, it is very likely for mistakes of this kind to find their ways into your text. You don’t have to chastise yourself for it. Great authors who are read by millions have gone through similar processes. And because they used good editors, they succeeded only with the embarrassment of having to buy them a coffee for every major mistake found in the text, rather than having to face the rage of disappointed multitudes. If you don’t know what I mean, think of all those websites priding themselves in being the champions of chasing for mistakes in movies. Take that, and apply it to books – it works the same way.

First page of JG Ballard's Crash: a case of editing to show that authors
are used to not being completely pleased with themselves.
Source: LitReactor

So get that editor, no matter what

As Paul Jarvis says in his Write and Sell Your Damn Book, if you have any budget saved for the purpose of this book of yours, spend the money on a good editor. Forget about fancy covers, about paid ads, and other similar money-eating things, which can’t even guarantee any success. Get instead that editor who can give you the peace of mind that the text is safe and sound, and that it can stand the test of avid readers.