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Erebus172 t1_j6mc0ll wrote

What do editors do? How much do they change about a book?

The book I'm currently reading has a significant amount of typos, much of the dialogue doesn't make sense, and there are many contradictions in the story that are a page or two apart. Shouldn't a good editor have caught those issues? Do authors just publish books without running them by an editor now?

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Intelligent_Prick_00 t1_j6mj560 wrote

If it's a self-published book, it's possible there was no editor for it. Because from what you've described - all those things would've been caught by one. I work in a small publishing company and we have not only an editor for each book, but before we send it to print, we have it double checked by a proofreader.

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Erebus172 t1_j6mot25 wrote

Thanks for that info. I don't know anything about how the publishing industry works. The book says Simon & Schuster on it so I guessed that would mean it should've been seen by an editor.

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Lumpyproletarian t1_j6mpadl wrote

Even if it’s not self-published, I think editors for pulp entertainment reads is a thing of the past. I am constantly finding typos and wrong word usage that an editor ought to find

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videopox t1_j6mgi3e wrote

I think a lot of books are published without editors nowadays, yes.. Also, the cover of that one looks like it was designed on Canva, haha

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Erebus172 t1_j6mh121 wrote

The last couple books I read covered some dark/heavy topics so I wanted something more lighthearted, but this book has just made me angry. lol. It has great reviews on GR too, which I don't understand. Booktok, maybe?

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videopox t1_j6nd4m4 wrote

Hmm! I have really been noticing errors in my books recently and it drives me nuts! I wish I could highlight them on my kindle and the the author would see it and fix hahah Some are glaringly obvious. I’m not sure I trust booktok quality selections..

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Trick-Two497 t1_j6picoe wrote

Typos are the job of proofreaders, not editors. It's the last step in the process.

There are several kinds of editors. The kind of editor that catches the issues you're talking about is a developmental editor I believe. They make sure the story is hanging together. If you're really interested, here is an article about all the different people involved in the editing/proofing process. https://www.gcu.edu/blog/language-communication/types-editors

Probably if you're not working with one of the big houses, your book isn't getting the full treatment. And if you're an indie, you're paying out of pocket. I proofed a book for a gal whose book needed 3 levels of editing it didn't get. Plus fact checking. She used quotes that weren't real or were paraphrased. I flagged those for her (she wasn't paying me for that). When she sent me a copy of the book, she hadn't fixed them.

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