{"id":169,"date":"2022-08-31T11:43:48","date_gmt":"2022-08-31T11:43:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wlwediting.com\/wordpress\/?p=169"},"modified":"2022-08-31T11:43:48","modified_gmt":"2022-08-31T11:43:48","slug":"editing-beta-and-proofreading","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wlwediting.com\/wordpress\/blog\/editing-beta-and-proofreading\/","title":{"rendered":"Editing, Beta, and Proofreading"},"content":{"rendered":"

1. When do you ask someone to edit your book?<\/strong>
\nThe best time is when you have read, reread, and amended it many times. In other words, when you, as the author, are sick of the sight of it. Okay, so now you think \u201cI need someone to read this, baby.\u201d Some experts suggest this is the time to engage an editor, but in many cases, it\u2019s better to send it to beta readers.<\/p>\n

2. Who are the best beta readers?<\/strong>
\nAlthough you could choose one or more of your relatives, beware there is a bias here. Your mother loves you. Is she going to tell you what has taken your blood, sweat, and tears to write a load of brown stuff? Probably not. The same goes for your significant other. They may believe they are unbiased and will tell you the truth, but it is human nature to want to please. They could, however, be your alpha readers. Alpha readers are the first people to read your work in progress and give feedback on how they did or didn\u2019t enjoy it.<\/p>\n

So, what do you do? Announce on social media that your latest masterpiece requires beta reading? Possibly. This is how I started beta reading. My motivation was to satisfy my addiction to lesbian fiction for free. However, I was determined to give honest feedback to the authors. They did not pay me, so it was unbiased in every way.<\/p>\n

3. What do you do once you have feedback from your beta team?<\/strong>
\nDepends on the feedback. Betas are not editors or proofreaders. Choosing different beta readers is also vital, for they will form the foundation for your process. Their feedback will depend on their own experiences, their likes and dislikes. Some authors send their beta readers a questionnaire to follow ask questions on character chemistry, strengths or weaknesses, etc. Not a bad idea!<\/p>\n

Now the author can accumulate all the information from the betas and decide the next steps. Some authors go straight to publishing (this is not recommended as an editor is still very beneficial); some send to their chosen editor or scrap the book altogether.<\/p>\n

4. What types of editing are there?<\/strong>
\nThere are several types of editing. According to Butcher\u2019s copy editing (the classic text for copy editors), \u201caim to improve the overall coverage and presentation of a piece of writing, its content, scope, length, level and organization\u201d.<\/p>\n

Developmental editing<\/strong> involves the editor looking at the structure of the work in progress (WIP). This can also be described as an overview or helicopter view of the WIP. This type of editing may require the author to rewrite the WIP. Often this will be done at the beginning before copy editing, and if the author is part of a writing community, this can be done by another author familiar with the genre, as quid pro quo..<\/p>\n

Line editing<\/strong> is a term often used for copy editing. It indicates that each line of the WIP is studied by the editor looking for spelling, grammatical, and punctuation errors. Other terms that are used are; mechanical, substantive or text editing. Mechanical editing is to ensure that the language is correct and consistent. Substantive editing overlaps with developmental editing. Text editing is the same as line editing.<\/p>\n

5. What is the role of a copy editor?<\/strong>
\nAccording to Butcher\u2019s copy editing (the classic text for copy editors), \u201ccopy editing aims to remove any obstacles between the reader and what the author may wish to convey and find and solve any<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

1. When do you ask someone to edit your book? The best time is when you have read, reread, and amended it many times. In other words, when you, as the author, are sick of the sight of it. Okay, so now you think \u201cI need someone to read this, baby.\u201d Some experts suggest this […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-169","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"yoast_head":"\nEditing, Beta, and Proofreading - WLW Editing<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/wlwediting.com\/wordpress\/blog\/editing-beta-and-proofreading\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Editing, Beta, and Proofreading - WLW Editing\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"1. When do you ask someone to edit your book? The best time is when you have read, reread, and amended it many times. In other words, when you, as the author, are sick of the sight of it. Okay, so now you think \u201cI need someone to read this, baby.\u201d Some experts suggest this […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/wlwediting.com\/wordpress\/blog\/editing-beta-and-proofreading\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"WLW Editing\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-08-31T11:43:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wlwediting.com\/wordpress\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/wlwediting.com\/wordpress\/\",\"name\":\"WLW Editing\",\"description\":\"Book Editing and Proofreading\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/wlwediting.com\/wordpress\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wlwediting.com\/wordpress\/blog\/editing-beta-and-proofreading\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/wlwediting.com\/wordpress\/blog\/editing-beta-and-proofreading\/\",\"name\":\"Editing, Beta, and Proofreading - WLW Editing\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wlwediting.com\/wordpress\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2022-08-31T11:43:48+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-08-31T11:43:48+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wlwediting.com\/wordpress\/#\/schema\/person\/3ff87ff59357670fe23f35462f80445f\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wlwediting.com\/wordpress\/blog\/editing-beta-and-proofreading\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/wlwediting.com\/wordpress\/blog\/editing-beta-and-proofreading\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wlwediting.com\/wordpress\/blog\/editing-beta-and-proofreading\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/wlwediting.com\/wordpress\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Editing, Beta, and Proofreading\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wlwediting.com\/wordpress\/#\/schema\/person\/3ff87ff59357670fe23f35462f80445f\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wlwediting.com\/wordpress\/#personlogo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2418d8d247778daeea48034bbe614bc16f40e4544de0e6ccd74e73822e9d3fa4?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2418d8d247778daeea48034bbe614bc16f40e4544de0e6ccd74e73822e9d3fa4?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/wlwediting.com\/wordpress\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/wlwediting.com\/wordpress\/author\/wlwediting\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Editing, Beta, and Proofreading - WLW Editing","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/wlwediting.com\/wordpress\/blog\/editing-beta-and-proofreading\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Editing, Beta, and Proofreading - WLW Editing","og_description":"1. When do you ask someone to edit your book? The best time is when you have read, reread, and amended it many times. In other words, when you, as the author, are sick of the sight of it. Okay, so now you think \u201cI need someone to read this, baby.\u201d Some experts suggest this […]","og_url":"https:\/\/wlwediting.com\/wordpress\/blog\/editing-beta-and-proofreading\/","og_site_name":"WLW Editing","article_published_time":"2022-08-31T11:43:48+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Estimated reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/wlwediting.com\/wordpress\/#website","url":"https:\/\/wlwediting.com\/wordpress\/","name":"WLW Editing","description":"Book Editing and Proofreading","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/wlwediting.com\/wordpress\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/wlwediting.com\/wordpress\/blog\/editing-beta-and-proofreading\/#webpage","url":"https:\/\/wlwediting.com\/wordpress\/blog\/editing-beta-and-proofreading\/","name":"Editing, Beta, and Proofreading - WLW Editing","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/wlwediting.com\/wordpress\/#website"},"datePublished":"2022-08-31T11:43:48+00:00","dateModified":"2022-08-31T11:43:48+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/wlwediting.com\/wordpress\/#\/schema\/person\/3ff87ff59357670fe23f35462f80445f"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/wlwediting.com\/wordpress\/blog\/editing-beta-and-proofreading\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/wlwediting.com\/wordpress\/blog\/editing-beta-and-proofreading\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/wlwediting.com\/wordpress\/blog\/editing-beta-and-proofreading\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/wlwediting.com\/wordpress\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Editing, Beta, and Proofreading"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/wlwediting.com\/wordpress\/#\/schema\/person\/3ff87ff59357670fe23f35462f80445f","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/wlwediting.com\/wordpress\/#personlogo","inLanguage":"en-GB","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2418d8d247778daeea48034bbe614bc16f40e4544de0e6ccd74e73822e9d3fa4?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2418d8d247778daeea48034bbe614bc16f40e4544de0e6ccd74e73822e9d3fa4?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/wlwediting.com\/wordpress"],"url":"https:\/\/wlwediting.com\/wordpress\/author\/wlwediting\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wlwediting.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wlwediting.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wlwediting.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wlwediting.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wlwediting.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=169"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wlwediting.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":170,"href":"https:\/\/wlwediting.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169\/revisions\/170"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wlwediting.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=169"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wlwediting.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=169"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wlwediting.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=169"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}