The next time you think you don’t need a copy editor, I want you to remember this terrible story. Thirteen years ago, I was hired by an agency after a very major client—let’s say the client was a company called Worldwide—asked for an ad that would contain just one word: Worldwide. (The art was going to do the rest of the talking.)
The agency didn’t bother to have a copy editor look at the page. Why would you? It’s one word!
So the ad was printed in thousands of magazines with one word that read …
Wordwide.
Not Worldwide. Wordwide.
And that’s how that agency learned you always need a copy editor.
“But I’m really careful, and I’ve read my work a hundred times.”
No matter how meticulous you are, it’s a fact that you can’t copy edit your own work. Yes, even if you use spellcheck. Did you ever have some noise going on in the background, and when it suddenly stopped, you realized you hadn’t even been hearing that noise because you were so used to it? It’s the same with anything you write. After a while, you just don’t see your errors. I’ve been a copy editor for 22 years now, and I’m still going to have someone take a look at this post when I’m done. I guarantee you I skipped a small word or did something spellcheck won’t catch.
“You’re a copy editor? Oh, I love to read!”
In order to understand why you need one, maybe it’s best to be sure you know what a copy editor is. Thinking a copy editor just reads all day is like thinking a veterinarian pets kittens all day. There’s a science to copy editing that requires extreme attention to detail and a talent for finding things everyone else doesn’t (like the missing “l” in Wordwide).
Our job, as copy editors, is not to write original copy. That’s a copywriter. And we aren’t just proofreaders. Proofreaders check spelling and punctuation, but they don’t rework sentences to make them clearer, as copy editors do.
A copy editor:
- Carefully reads every word for grammar, spelling and punctuation. (A little copy editor lesson: “Grammar” does not include punctuation and spelling.)
- Checks the entire document to make sure it adheres to the client’s preferred style. One client might love a serial comma, another client not so much. (A little copy editor lesson: A serial comma is the comma before “and” or “or” at the end of a list. “The flag is red, white, and blue” instead of “The flag is red, white and blue.”)
- Checks for consistency. (Why is it John Smith on page 4 but Jon Smith on page 44?)
- Checks for sense. (Wait. You said Jon Smith was allergic to eggs on page 30, so why is he having quiche on page 300?)
- Checks digital work for any links to other web pages and checks for consistent use of keywords, if there are any.
- Changes wording for clarity. I once changed “It is best to use words that are concise” to “Be concise.”
- Ensures everything is consistent, down to the font used on each page number.
- Checks facts, maybe. We’ll discuss that below.
Then, when all that is done, the copy editor reads the whole thing again to make sure nothing got missed, like the cover of a magazine reading “Spring 2019” when it’s the fall issue. That second read is crucial. All sorts of things pop out that didn’t the first time. Just the other day I caught “Mary, Queen of Scotts” on a second reading.
A lot goes into copy editing, and the goal is to get the document as flawless as possible. If you want your copy editor to produce tip-top work, keep this in mind:
It’s going to take longer than you think.
Because copy editing isn’t just reading, your estimate of how long it might take to copy edit something may be off. Let’s take these 99 words below. How long would you guess this would take to copy edit? Five minutes?
Your home should be clean, bright, and organized. But how does one get it that way? Chris Summers, President of Beautiful Homes at www.beautifulhomes.com, says its easy. “All it it takes is planning, thought and a little elbow-grease, she says. Sommers should know because he started with just 1 small home-beautifying office in Wadesborough, N. Carolina population 2,034 now he owns sixteen branches of of his business which he started in 1974. his business blew up when he invented his signature product, Soaksoak™ which cleans just about anything so you have piece of mind that one’s hosue is clean.
More like 45 minutes. See below! Some of these questions need to be researched, like whether the speaker is a man or a woman, or the population of the town. In many cases, the copy editor needs to get hold of the style guide, to find out things like whether this client uses a serial comma.