The Importance of Professional Insights: Why Developmental Editing Is Crucial for Business Books

Business authors know that their manuscripts require multiple rounds of thorough editing before they’re ready to be published. However, this doesn’t include just copyediting and proofreading; one of the most important phases of editing—and unfortunately one that’s sometimes overlooked—is developmental editing.

Read on to learn why this step is so important in building the foundation of your success, and how to follow it up with additional professional editing services to help you publish the best version of your book.

What is developmental editing?

Just like it sounds, a developmental editor helps you develop your business book. They’ll read your work—whether it’s a stack of notes, a detailed outline, or a rough draft—and create a custom roadmap for you to turn it into a work of art. This is a high-level phase of editing that addresses large-scale elements like your chapter structure, pacing, and how powerfully your points and arguments support your book’s thesis statement.

Your developmental editor will provide constructive feedback that includes ways to build on your work’s strengths, address its weaknesses, and amplify your voice and message. In other words, developmental editing is crucial for business authors because it puts them on the right track to improving their draft so they publish a strong, impactful book that solidifies their thought leadership and builds their personal brand.

How a professional developmental editor improves your business book

As a type of substantive editing, the developmental edit focuses on big-picture aspects of your business book to make sure your message is clear, powerful, and will be well received by your audience. Your professional developmental editor will ask themself questions while working on your manuscript, including:

• Does the content support the thesis statement? Regardless of whether you’re using data and statistics or your personal experience, your entire book should work to reinforce your overall message using well-thought-out, logical arguments.
• Should the author perform additional research? Business books are nonfiction works, and in many cases, they require diligent research and citations. If the points you’ve written in your book could be strengthened by additional research, your developmental editor will let you know.
• Is there a cohesive structure? Readers will understand (and enjoy!) your book more thoroughly if it’s well organized and flows together. A developmental editor might suggest reorganizing some chapters to improve the structure.
• Does the book have a steady pace? You want your readers to eagerly turn the pages of your book, and your developmental editor can help ensure there’s a steady pace that keeps your audience interested.
• Are the style and voice consistent? It’s easy for writers to switch between more formal or casual tones depending on whether they’re discussing their personal experiences or more technical, scientific data to support their arguments. However, it’s important to keep a steady tone of voice throughout your book.
• What other insights or suggestions will help this book thrive? Your developmental editor is your partner in creating an outstanding manuscript that your audience will flock to. Their suggestions and constructive criticism are designed to help you succeed, so they might recommend additional actions you can take to improve it.

In addition to improving your manuscript, developmental editing can open the door to transforming the way you write throughout the rest of your career as a professional business author. The suggestions your developmental editor makes are designed to help you, so be open to learning from these experts. This willingness to gain new writing skills and knowledge will build a foundation for you to become a successful authorpreneur.

Additional editing services all business books need

The developmental edit is the first of several manuscript editing services that all books must go through. After you’ve enhanced the high-level elements of your book according to your developmental editor’s suggestions and crafted a new and improved draft, it’s time to pave the way for a refined, polished book with the line edit, copy edit, and proofread.

Line editing

Once you and your developmental editor are thrilled with your manuscript, you can turn your work over to a professional line editor. This expert will help you take the next step in perfecting your manuscript by looking at elements like your:

• Paragraph structure to ensure each group of sentences is easy to read and follow
• Sentence flow so your statements gracefully lead into each other
• Word choice to maximize the impact of your language

Line editors focus on your book’s presentation. Although they might catch some typos and grammatical issues, those details are mostly addressed in the next phase of editing: the copy edit.

Copyediting

Copyediting is an exciting process for professional business authors because it means the finish line is in sight. You’ve finished your revisions and rewrites, and now your professional copy editor can fine-tune your manuscript. The copy editor will pour over your almost-final draft for typos, misspellings, grammatical errors, and any accidental inconsistencies or repetitions. After this phase, you’ll be ready for professional book formatting and, finally, proofreading.

Proofreading

The final phase of editing is the all-important proofread. Your book has already been formatted for its print or e-book publication, and one last editor puts it under a microscope to check one more time for any typos or punctuation errors. A proofreader will meticulously comb through every word and sentence to ensure you publish a beautiful, clean, and error-free book. This is your last line of defense before sending your book out into the world, and it’s just as important as the developmental edit that you started with.

Elite Authors Will Set Your Manuscript Up for Success Starting With a Professional Developmental Edit

Business authors write business books to help their fellow professionals, reinforce their thought leadership, and enhance their personal brand. And the best business books go through multiple rounds of rigorous editing, starting with the developmental edit. We’re the gold standard in editing these professional publications from the initial manuscript evaluation all the way through the fine-tooth comb of proofreading.

Tell us about your project today so one of our talented developmental editors can put you on the path to authorpreneur success!