“I asked the Zebra, are you black with white stripes? Or white with black stripes? And the zebra asked me, ‘Are you good with bad habits? Or are you bad with good habits?’ …”

—Shel Silverstein, American poet and songwriter, 1930-1999.

To use the term “basics” in relation to “copyediting” understates both the role and the function of a copy editor. Although the production process within all publishing spaces has been shortened and tightened considerably over the past 30 years in terms of the time spent at any given stage, the role of the copy editor has grown more complex. The confusion among those not involved in this activity has increased as well. It can be just as confusing as the question above concerning the zebra.

The areas of confusion can be summarized by two questions:

• • What does it include?

• • What doesn’t it include?

Throughout this series we’ll be referring to a “manuscript” to mean whatever text the copy editor is editing: In our world these are book chapters. We’ll also be referring to the final “product,” rather than published books.  The concepts described are identical in all of these cases.

In today’s world the final product can include everything from printed matter, to something intended for consumption online (such as a website), or text to be read on a portable device, such as a phone or tablet. All of this material requires copyediting and the concepts are the same regardless of the type of final product.

Let’s start with a pair of simple definitions provided by The Chicago Manual of Style, edited for content. (Throughout, the end of quoted material is marked by this symbol: ∎.)

From the Chicago Manual of Style, section 2.2:

Manuscript editing. The manuscript editor makes changes to the manuscript (and, where necessary, queries the author) and demarcates or checks the order and structure of the elements (e.g., illustrations, headings, text extracts). ∎

From the Chicago Manual of Style, section 2.45:

Manuscript editing, also called copyediting or line editing, requires attention to every word and mark of punctuation in a manuscript, a thorough knowledge of the style to be followed, and the ability to make quick, logical, and defensible decisions. It is undertaken by the publisher when a manuscript has been accepted for publication. It may include both mechanical editing and substantive editing. It is distinct from developmental editing which more directly shapes the content of a work, the way material should be presented, the need for more or less documentation and how it should be handled, and so on. Since editing of this kind may involve total rewriting or reorganization of a work, it should be done—if needed—before manuscript editing begins. ∎

CMOS says the copy editor “makes changes to the manuscript.” What do these typically include? What is to be ignored? This is determined largely by the CE level, to be discussed in Part 2 of this series.

CMOS also says that CE is “undertaken by the publisher when a manuscript has been accepted for publication.” This is a critical point because the care with which the copyediting is done and the expertise of the copy editor sets the stage for all stages that follow: It can “make or break” a successful final product. This is the primary reason for ensuring that all copy editors are qualified: The work they do affects everything that follows until the product is released.

An important point to understand is that a copy editor need not be a “subject-matter expert” (SME) in the discipline or area discussed in a manuscript to successfully and effectively perform the copyediting. This has become a controversial issue: Many publishers disregard the fact that the copy editor’s concern is the language and the way in which the matter is presented, rather than the content itself. An author may discuss the inner workings of building a nuclear submarine in a manuscript: The copy editor does not need to understand anything about nuclear submarines to copyedit that text. In reality, an SME can be less effective as a copy editor because they will invariably be too interested in the content to notice the flaws in the presentation.

Many years ago there was a copy editor we’ll call Ryan. He held a Ph.D. in physics and was hired as a freelancer to work on higher ed physics books for a large publisher.

The authors hated him.

The managing editor was tasked with determining why. By reviewing his work the ME determined that Ryan was focused on the scientific correctness of the content: He went as far as to rewrite equations and formulas and include queries to the authors with these “corrections.” The problem was he was regularly missing all the elements he should have been addressing: misspellings, incorrect grammar, inconsistent punctuation, and various style issues.

The ME rang him up and advised Ryan that he was being moved to biology books.

“Oh! I don’t know anything about biology,” said Ryan, who was quite disturbed.

“Perfect,” said the ME.

Ryan went on to become a valuable resource as an excellent biology copy editor.

Experienced copy editors tend to spot errors in text everywhere (and sometimes don’t even see anything else!). How would you copyedit this sign? This would be an example of a Level 3 copyedit, to be discussed in Part 2 of this series.