There is a lot of confusion about the difference between the different types of editing, even in the publishing world, and some editors and publishers also use the terms line editing, mechanical editing, content (substantive) editing and developmental editing. However, most will agree that:

• Copy-editing looks at the details of grammar, punctuation, spelling, logic and flow, as well as consistency and accuracy.
• Structural editing looks at the big picture and identifies issues with plot, pacing, characters, settings, themes, writing style.

An editor is often asked to perform only a copy edit, but seldom asked to perform only a structural edit.

Some editors regard copy-editing, content (substantive) editing and structural editing as separate but performed in combination, and they charge higher rates the more these are combined.

Other editors perform structural editing (on publishable texts, not examinable academic texts) as part of their copy-editing service and fee. It rather depends on the extent of the structural problems and on any factual errors we detect (which are usually the author’s responsibility to resolve).

See more about the types of editing generally here and about the types of editing for trade books here. Read about the difference between proofreading and copy editing here.

Published on: Nov 25, 2022 at 20:00

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