Serving as a copy editor for a book-length manuscript requires a level of discipline and organization beyond what is necessary to edit a short article. While an article might be edited in a single sitting, a book requires a period of days or weeks.
Consistency is the most important criterion. There are many points of usage that are difficult to keep constant throughout a long document. In particular, special attention is needed for consistent rendering of compound nouns, proper names, words from other languages, abbreviations, and technical terms. A skilled editor compiles lists of these difficult terms and keeps track of how many times they are used and where. (For example, it may be necessary to italicize a loanword from another language at its first appearance in a chapter and not again until a future chapter.)
As with editing a dissertation, editing a book requires navigating the logic of multiple style guidelines. For example, a press may use The Chicago Manual of Style as the starting point, while also providing a supplemental style guide that modifies or replaces certain aspects of Chicago style. Then there may be a need for the editor to provide informed judgment about the best usage in a situation that is not directly dictated by Chicago style or the press’s style guide.
The editing process for a university press often requires multiple rounds of revisions communicated between the author, copy editor, and general editor. Thorough knowledge of the Track Changes functions in Microsoft Word is essential to this process.
I have experience with editing manuscripts up to 138,000 words in length using Chicago and APA style guidelines. If you are looking for an accomplished editor who can help you to bring your book to publication, you may wish to learn more about my business, Allegretto Editing.
