Ive seen references to substantive editing, line editing, and copyediting. Whats the difference?
If the content of your book needs organization, pacing, completeness, a brighter writing style, and embellishments like snappy subheads, that’s a job of substantive editing. Line editing concentrates on the nuts and bolts: things like paragraph and sentence structure, errors of syntax and grammar, repetitions, overspecialized vocabulary, cliches, sexist language. Of course, anyone who does substantive editing of a manuscript will give attention to these things, too. Before the book goes to the printer, the publisher will send it out for copyediting to be sure it’s consistent throughout in its style of punctuation, use of italics and capital letters, use of arabic vs. written-out numbers, etc. What does a ghost writer do? A ghost writer is a skilled writer who collaborates with an author who needs help in turning a book idea into a finished piece of work. Ghost writers are commonly employed in many fields of book publishing, including both fiction and non-fiction; in fact, at any given
