Editing is not just someone correcting mistakes in something you’ve written. It’s a dialogue in which the writer has a vital part to play …
When I submit a quote for an editing job, it contains this sentence:
‘The fee includes one set of amendments based on client feedback to queries.’
In my head, it’s crystal clear what that means. But I’m learning that clients don’t always understand what’s on offer or how the process regarding these queries unfolds. Here’s what you need to know if you are starting out in your relationship with the editing profession.
What is a query?
Most people know what editors do. They fix spelling and grammar errors and make sure that the document is formatted consistently (for instance, are the titles of books all in italics and are all the headings in bold?). Generally, an editor does do all those things and they will do them without telling you that they have made those changes. Life is just too short for that!
To me as an editor, a writer who is happy to take this on faith is a blessing; it’s a sign of the writer’s trust in me to make things right. But editing is rarely so simple. There are often places in a document where a meaning is unclear or where something appears to be factually incorrect or where an editor thinks something should be changed, for reasons of their own.
It is at these points that an editor will, as it is known in editing jargon, ‘raise a query’.
Example
An editor is faced with a text that contains this dodgy paragraph (which I asked Claude AI to write, complete with mistakes):
‘To use a dictionary effectively, start by locating the word you’re looking for in the alphabetical listing. Most dictionaries are organized from A to Z, although some older versions may use a reverse alphabetical order. Once you find the word, you’ll typically see its pronunciation guide, which uses special symbols to indicate how each syllable should be pronounced. Next, you’ll find the part of speech, such as noun, verb, or adjective, followed by multiple definitions.’
The queries which arise in my editor’s mind on reading this are:
- ‘ … some older versions may use a reverse alphabetical order’: That doesn’t sound right to me, but perhaps the writer (who is an expert on dictionaries) knows something I don’t?
- ‘Next, you’ll find the part of speech, such as noun, verb, or adjective, followed by multiple definitions’: This sounds like the part of speech is being defined (rather than the word in the dictionary entry) but the author almost certainly didn’t mean that. Perhaps it should be rewritten like this: ‘Next, you’ll find the part of speech, such as noun, verb or adjective. The part of speech is then followed by multiple definitions of the entry.’
Now, I could just change the text according to my own thoughts and research. But I might be introducing errors because my knowledge of the subject matter is just not as good as that of the writer. Since the article will eventually be published under the writer’s name, answering these two questions is simply not my call to make. The writer needs to be consulted! Which means I must ‘raise some queries’.
How will queries be raised?
Typically, a query will be raised using the Comment box function in a Word document. They generally appear down the right-hand side of a document and look like this:
It’s also possible that an editor will make a list of all the queries and send them to the writer in a separate document. If there are only one or two queries, they might be sent in an email or a WhatsApp message.
What does the writer need to do about queries?
As the writer, you need to answer the query. You can reply to the comment in the Word document, write your answers in the document sent to you or answer the email. (Be aware that replying in the comment box in the document is quickest for the editor. If you insist on a full written list of queries, that’s going to take longer and will increase the price given in the quote.)
In the example of the supposed versions of dictionaries that began with the letter Z and ran to A, you might reply: ‘Of course that’s wrong! I meant to say that in some older versions there might be multiple volumes – please fix!’
What will happen then?
As promised in the quote, the editor will rewrite that sentence (although they will always hope that you will do that yourself). You’ll then get a version of the document with the changes made, for your final approval.
What happens if you don’t answer the queries?
The editor has a choice: They can change the text as they see fit and possibly change the meaning or they can just leave the (possible) mistakes as they are. Neither of these is a satisfactory outcome: it means that the work the editor has been paid to do is incomplete and that the text is not as good as it might have been.
So, to get your money’s worth out of the editing process, build in time to answer queries and view the document in its final form. That’s the best way to honour the creative work that you have put into the writing of it in the first place.
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