Authored by Jocelyn Hatcher, UNG Press Intern
The publishing process may appear quick and easy when looking from the outside. A story is imagined, then a manuscript is written, and once it is finished, it gets sent to a publisher for printing. However, there is a key step missing from this scenario. Editing plays a large part in publishing and has four different stages: developmental editing, line editing, copyediting, and proofreading. These four stages take varying amounts of time to complete depending on a book’s length, and the process can span over months of hard work. Take a look behind the curtain and see what happens in each stage of editing.
Developmental Editing
Developmental editing is the first step in the editing process. In this stage, an editor will read the manuscript as a whole and identify what does and does not work. They compile a report, aptly named an editor’s report, where they offer suggestions to make the story stronger. Developmental editors look at everything from structure and plot logic to story pacing. Their feedback can range from suggesting chapters be reordered to shifting information to another part of the story. Because of these factors, developmental editing is often the most demanding stage and takes the longest to complete (Khan).
Line Editing
Line editing is the second step in the editing process. This stage focuses on reviewing the manuscript line-by-line to look for things like sentence clarity, word repetition, and tone. To make the story’s prose stronger, editors might suggest more precise verbiage to replace vague phrasing, reconfigure a sentence to fit the story’s flow or clarity, or break up paragraphs that might feel heavy. TWS Publications describes line editing as being “what makes the difference between writing that is technically fine and writing that carries a reader forward”. Line editing focuses on the style of language in a manuscript as opposed to the structure. They will never suggest rearranging parts of the story or how to fix plot issues.
Copyediting
Copyediting is the third step in the editing process. The copyediting stage is where fact-checking happens. To do this, they create a style sheet. A style sheet is a document that tracks all the spelling, capitalization, names, and other structural details to ensure the book is consistent from beginning to end. They catch story details like one name being spelled two different ways or a character’s age changing between chapters. The nature of this editing stage means there is less editorial collaboration with the author than in previous stages.
Sometimes line editing and copyediting are confused for each other or seen as interchangeable. Because of their similarities, publishing houses will either combine the two or only do one. Both are still important and serve their separate purposes in the editing process. As a reminder, line editing is about the language: style, tone, flow (NY Book Editors). Copyediting is about the technical, structural errors: spelling, punctuation, consistency (NY Book Editors).
Proofreading
Proofreading is the final step in the editing process. This comes after copyediting and after the book’s layout and design have been finished. They read the book as it looks printed out and no longer a manuscript. It is the last step before publishing and is the final chance to catch any spelling mistakes or errors that slipped by in the previous editing stages. Sometimes it also helps ensure the layout and design did not create any errors. These could be things like a word or number floating around the page, or if a page is missing its number. This final stage can take a couple of weeks and should never be rushed or skipped because fixing errors after print can be costly (The Paper House).
Khan, Abdullah Ali. “Developmental, Line, Copy and Proofread: The Four Types of Editing Explained.” TWS Publications, TWS Publications, 4 Aug. 2026, https://twspublications.com/blogs/articles/types-of-editing-explained?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic_search&tws_channel=organic_search&tws_source=Google&tws_landing=%2Fblogs%2Farticles%2Ftypes-of-editing-explained&tws_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F.
NY Book Editors. “What Is the Difference Between Copyediting and Line… | NY Book Editors.” NY Book Editors, NY Book Editors, 2025, https://nybookeditors.com/2015/01/copyediting-vs-line-editing/.
The Paper House. “How Long Does Book Editing Take? (Real 2026 Editing Timeline for Authors).” The Paper House Publishing, 24 Feb. 2026, https://thepaperhousebooks.com/how-long-does-book-editing-take/.
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