Book editing comes in four main types — developmental, line, copyediting, and proofreading — and most manuscripts move through some or all of them in that order, after beta reading and before publication. Which ones you need depends on how finished the manuscript already is and what your beta readers found.
This guide covers what each type of editing actually does, roughly what it costs, and how editing fits with the other steps in getting a book ready. Each section links to a full article when you want more detail.
Editing comes after beta reading and before your final proofread and publication. Sending a manuscript to an editor before beta readers see it risks paying to polish scenes that later get cut or rewritten. See the Complete Guide to Beta Reading and Beta Readers vs. Critique Partners vs. Editors for how the stages connect. Once editing is done, a professional review is often the next step.
A typical order looks like this:
Not every book needs every stage in a separate pass. A shorter or cleaner manuscript might combine line editing and copyediting into one pass; a manuscript with real structural problems needs developmental editing before anything else is worth paying for.
Developmental editing looks at the big picture: structure, pacing, character arcs, and whether the story or argument works as a whole. It's the deepest and most involved kind of editing, closest in scope to what a detailed beta reading report starts to uncover.
Line editing works at the paragraph and sentence level: voice, flow, clarity, and word choice, without changing the story itself.
Copyediting corrects grammar, punctuation, spelling, and consistency (names, timelines, formatting) so the text is technically correct and internally consistent.
Proofreading is the final pass before publication, catching typos and formatting errors after everything else is set.
For the full breakdown, see Types of Editing Explained.
Entrada Publishing's editing runs roughly $1 per page for shorter projects, with a lower effective rate (around half a cent per word) on larger manuscripts. Because a light copyedit is a different job from a full developmental edit, email us for pricing specific to your project. See How Much Does Book Editing Cost? for how that compares to typical rates elsewhere in the industry.
Turnaround depends on manuscript length and which type of editing you need. See How Long Does Book Editing Take? and plan your launch timeline around it, since editing (like beta reading and professional reviews) needs real lead time before a publication date.
Do what you can yourself first. A self-edit pass catches problems you already know about, so your editor's time (and your money) goes toward what you can't see on your own. See the Self-Editing Checklist.
Get Your Manuscript Edited
Entrada Publishing's editing team handles developmental editing, line editing, copyediting, and proofreading, with rates that scale down on longer manuscripts. Email us for pricing specific to your project.
Developmental editing addresses structure and story; line editing addresses voice and flow at the sentence level; copyediting corrects grammar, punctuation, and consistency. Most manuscripts move through some or all of them, roughly in that order.
It depends on the manuscript's length and the type of editing it needs. Entrada Publishing's rates run roughly $1 per page for shorter projects, down to about half a cent per word for larger ones. Email us for pricing specific to your manuscript.
Usually yes. Beta readers tell you how a manuscript reads to a real reader; editors then work directly on the text, at whatever level (structural through line-by-line) the manuscript needs.
After. Beta reading first can surface structural problems that would otherwise mean paying to edit sections that later get cut or rewritten.