It's All About the Content

Horror stories…

I’ve heard horror stories about authors who got pages and pages of content edits back from their editors. Deep down, I’ve secretly been biting my fingernails to nubs thinking I’d be one of them. Worse, I had visions of my editor contacting me and apologetically informing me she’d been wrong--my plot was terrible, my writing weak, and she was mistaken to ever have signed me.

Instead…

My first ever content edit came back surprisingly free of any major revisions. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve got corrections to make, but nowhere near what I’d feared. On top of that, my fabulous editor offered wonderful suggestions for clearing up some of the problem areas.

So what does a content editor do, you ask? Well, these hard working people check for inconsistencies, plot weaknesses, and character development. They mark areas in the manuscript that could be made stronger and highlight places where characters acted or spoke in a way not in keeping with their beliefs. All in all, a content editor can be your best friend when it comes to helping you put together a story that flows well and is free of glaring errors that would otherwise trouble your readers. They make sure you’ve been careful to tie up all the loose ends, answered all the questions, and created sufficient conflict to keep the reader turning pages to the very end. In short, they read. And if anything stops them, they let you know it.

Whew. I’m past one hurdle. On to the line edits!