While writing your novel you have this vague idea that it will require professional editing. Whether you plan to self-publish or traditionally publish, some kind of editing should occur. Many authors who have not worked with an editor still collapse everything into “fix my grammar.”
Editors specialize. Fiction and memoir differ from medical or academic work. Inside those specialties sit different types of editing.
Copyediting
Copyediting corrects grammar, punctuation, typos, misspellings, doubled words, and incorrect words. It also improves clarity and consistency. Fact-checking may appear, but it is not always the copyeditor’s primary job.
Proofreading
Proofreading happens after everything else is corrected. Mistakes still get fixed, but the writing should already be polished. Ideally you do not proofread until the elements are exactly as they should be.
Content editing
Content editing looks at the work as a reading experience: manuscript assessment, critique, line editing, structural editing. A developmental edit often includes several of these across passes between you and your editor.
A manuscript assessment is a lighter critique—plot, dialogue, character, style, description. Every editor approaches the breakdown a little differently, but the goal is the same: help the book become itself, harder and clearer.
Curated from the original Polar Bear blog (2018). For the modern cornerstone version, read types of book editing.