Little Syllables: The Blog
Copyediting Marketing Content
My initial aspiration when studying copyediting was to become a fiction and nonfiction book editor. That is mainly what I do in my freelance business. But in addition to my freelance work, I also work as a Marketing Communications Copyeditor.
You might think, “Editing is editing.”
And you’re right…but when the genre, format, and application of the writing changes, so does the editing.
Sure, I still use the same dictionary and adhere (partially) to the same style guide. But here are a few of the main differences I have noticed between editing fiction and creative nonfiction books and editing marketing copy:
The number of cooks in the kitchen.
Of course, I mean this metaphorically. When editing a fiction or creative nonfiction book, I generally work with a single author. Some books have multiple authors, but usually no more than two. Editing these types of manuscripts is more of a one-on-one relationship.
When editing marketing copy, there are a lot of eyes on the writing. The copy is written by the copywriter, then reviewed by many others within the company to make sure that the messaging is consistent, the facts are correct, the tone is right, and the purpose is adequately addressed. As the editor, I try to come in last to check for errors, make sure the copy matches the style guide, and offer suggestions to make the writing as clear and concise as possible.
Style choices are constantly in flux.
Yes, we have a house style guide that we adhere to, but the writers and I often make and record style decisions on the fly. Marketing copy is different from narrative copy. I frequently make decisions about which words should be capitalized in product names and headlines and how to style a fun play on words. Style choices are in flux because context is always in flux.
Nobody cares and everybody cares.
When editing a book, the author is extremely invested in it. A book is written over months and years (sometimes decades) and the writer is attached to it (rightly so). The copy written for marketing campaigns is often written quickly, disseminated quickly, and forgotten quickly. So when I say “Nobody cares,” what I mean is that, in the grand scheme of things, a comma splice or errant capital letter is not going to make a huge difference to any particular person. The writers are not emotionally invested in the writing (for the most part).
But when I say “Everybody cares,” I mean that everyone from the Project Manager to the Marketing Director to the Graphic Designer to the CEO is going to review this writing and feel it is a reflection of the company.
The copy needs to be great. It needs to be effective. It needs to be flawless.
It will also be gone by next week.
Of course, the favorite adage of the copyeditor—Consistency is Key—is just as applicable to marketing copy as it is to all other types of writing. When it comes down to it, the most important thing in editing is making things consistent. Consistency builds the reader’s trust, in an author or in a brand. And ultimately, it is the editor’s job to establish that consistency and maintain it.
Copyediting vs. Proofreading—What’s the Difference?
For writers who are just starting out, the publishing process can seem daunting! Knowing industry terms and procedures can empower you through the process.
Here is an illustration of the publishing process. Many of these steps can (and will) be repeated as needed.
First, create an outline or a rough draft. Consult a developmental editor to nail down big-picture details.
Second, complete a first draft.
Third, find someone to read your draft and give feedback—either on specific areas or the manuscript as a whole.
Fourth, edit and revise your first draft into your second draft.
Repeat steps three & four until you’re ready for professional editing!
Fifth, send your manuscript to a copyeditor.
Sixth, review the edits and revise. Repeat step five as needed.
Seventh, have your book designed.
Eighth, send your proofs to a proofreader.
Finally, after updating anything the proofreader catches, you are ready for printing!
Many people confuse or combine the tasks of copyediting and proofreading, but they are not the same. Read on to see the differences.
Copyediting
Copyediting comes right in the middle between drafting and printing. It is a crucial step that should not be skipped over.
By the time you’re ready for copyediting, your manuscript must be complete! Hopefully, you have gone through several drafts of your manuscript already. You’ve gotten feedback from a substantive (or developmental) editor, a writing group, and one or more critique partners. You’ve ironed out the wrinkles from the manuscript as best as you can, and the work is ready for new eyes.
Your copyeditor will take a very detailed approach to your manuscript. Of course, copyeditors are human and we all work in different ways, but ultimately, in the hands of a copyeditor, your manuscript will be read paragraph-by-paragraph, sentence-by-sentence, and word-by-word. Every punctuation mark will be scrutinized. Your word choices will be analyzed.
With the right copyeditor, you will feel like your work is under a microscope.
The First Pass
Your copyeditor will probably perform several passes over your writing. And they should be able to tell you how they will work before you sign a contract and hand over your manuscript.
I perform at least two full passes on every manuscript that crosses my desk. During the first pass, I am familiarizing myself with the full work and fixing any glaring issues as I encounter them (things like duplicate words, misplaced commas, misspellings, etc.).
During my first pass, I also highlight things I want to come back to in the following pass. Some elements I commonly flag are word choice, sentence structure, tense shifts, character specifics or setting details that don’t match, and timeline issues.
Remember, at this stage, I’m still getting acquainted with the story, so I don’t want to make any big changes at this point.
Watch the video to see a demonstration of what a first-pass copyedit looks like!
The Second Pass (and beyond)
Once I have read the entire manuscript, then I go back for a second, deeper pass. This second pass can get intense!
Not only will I be checking again for the same things I looked for in the first pass, but now I’ll be addressing bigger issues like plot, character, setting. I’ll be looking at sentence structure, flow and pacing. I’ll also be very meticulous about making sure the words you’re using are the most fitting words for the context.
While I do all that, I’ll also create a detailed style sheet (if you don’t have one already), a timeline for the story, and a character sheet.
This second pass takes the bulk of my time in a copyediting project, and hopefully you can see why!
Clean-Up
After the second pass through, I clean up the manuscript and finalize any comments I have left on it. This way, you can focus your revision time on things that need your approval—not every typo or comma.
Proofreading
Proofreading comes after copyediting, revision, and design/layout.
A proofreader looks at the pages of your book (on paper or digitally) as they will appear when printed. Because proofreading comes last, this stage is often only used to check for the most egregious errors that have slipped through.
Proofreaders check:
Typos and spelling errors.
Indentation
Page numbering
Punctuation
Formatting
Widows and orphans (keeping lines of text together on the same page)
The proofreader is the final set of eyes on your manuscript before printing (except you, the author, of course).
You Have Control
One important thing to note, especially in regard to self-publishing, is that the author gets the final word on what is printed in their book. Editors are there to make your writing the best it can be. They are not there to rewrite your book.
Ultimately, you can accept or reject any changes or suggestions that your copyeditor and proofreader make. Just know that they usually have your best interests in mind.
Review - The Littlest Library by Poppy Alexander
I received a free advanced copy through NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
I love little libraries. They’re tiny and charming and I wish I had one of my own! That is what inspired this read of The Littlest Library by Poppy Alexander. I couldn’t resist the premise of a library inside an old red phone box.
I got everything I expected out of this book: an idyllic setting, quirky characters, and a reflection of my love of books…even a little romance. It was just what I needed when I went in search of a quick read.
The story follows Jess, a single woman who has recently lost her grandmother. She needs a change and—rather impulsively—makes one. She buys a cottage in a small village and gets an old telephone box thrown into the bargain. The box belongs to the village, though it’s on Jess’s new property, so she is left to find a good use for it that will help the community.
As Jess gets settled in her new home in the village, and as she establishes her own little library in the phone box, it is the books that help bring the community together. And, of course, it is the books that help Jess find a solution to some of her own problems as well.
The Littlest Library is a light and fun story. Its release date is right around the corner on July 19!
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Review - The Heights by Louise Candlish
I received a free advanced copy through NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
Louise Candlish is not a new author for me. I read and enjoyed The Other Passenger last year (click here for my review). The Heights was a quick read for me. It kept me turning the pages!
The Heights is a story about obsession and revenge. It’s also a story about stories and the power the storyteller has to control the narrative. The novel is built around the premise that Ellen Saint is taking part in a memoir-writing class and the story we read is written by her. As the story progresses, it becomes increasingly clear that she is not the most reliable narrator. She is paranoid, obsessive, and over-protective.
Then we see things from Vic’s perspective. Vic is the father of Ellen’s teenage son, Lucas. Getting a new perspective helps the reader see Ellen differently, though it is unclear who the narrator is in this third-person POV. Vic is shown as a conflicted man. At this point in the book, it’s difficult to know who is trustworthy—if anyone. And I think this was intentionally done to throw the reader off balance.
Candlish does an excellent job of balancing characterization with the limitations of the POV she has chosen. Those limitations help increase the mystery as the reader is left wondering who to believe and whose side to take.
The Heights by Louise Candlish is available now.
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Review - The Other Mother by Rachel M. Harper
I received a digital review copy from NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
Rachel M. Harper’s The Other Mother is a story of family relationships, racial and sexual identity, and loss. It follows a young man named Jenry, an up-and-coming pianist, as he begins to discover the truth of his past that has been kept from him by his single mother and his maternal grandparents. Jenry enters college and seeks out information about the man he has been told was his father. Once Jenry sets out to discover the truth about his parentage, the reader sees the story from the perspective of the other characters as well. We get to know each of Jenry’s parents and grandparents, their stories interwoven through past and present.
This book is intricate and complex. The reader is apprised to the truth long before characters within the book are. We learn about Jenry’s true parentage, and get to know his true family. There have been a lot of lies and secrets, and most of them are unraveled before the story ends.
Ultimately, I felt this book was about how we create our own family based on who we let in, who we keep out, and who we choose to be every day. This is a book that makes the reader consider what they would do if they were in each character’s shoes and consider a variety of perspectives on the same events.
Overall, I liked this book. It has well-written characters and a strong sense of time and place.
The Other Mother is available now!
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Review - The Lives of Diamond Bessie by Jody Hadlock
I received a free advanced copy through NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
The Lives of Diamond Bessie is an historical fiction novel set in the mid-1800s. It is based on the life of a real woman.
Bessie is actually Annie, a teenage girl who is sent away to a Magdalene laundry when she becomes pregnant out of wedlock. This is where we first meet her. We quickly see the conclusion of her pregnancy and the immediate aftermath—her daughter is taken from her to be placed in an orphanage.
Annie is a poor teenager who has been cast out by her family, but she needs money in order to support her daughter, and she is determined to find a way to remove her daughter from the orphanage. Due to her past, she is unable to find employment, and ultimately becomes a prostitute who goes by the name Bessie.
The reader is privy to Bessie’s life in the brothel, her relationships with her fellow sex workers, and her quest to regain her daughter. The characters are well-written and complex. I enjoyed learning more about how and why women ended up in these types of situations, and how difficult it was for them to get out.
Bessie became successful and rich (her jewelry providing her moniker of Diamond Bessie), but she never was able to recover her daughter. This was the part of the story that gave me the most trouble. With how important her daughter seems to be to Bessie, very little time and attention is given to that portion of the story. Instead, we see her go from man to man, searching for one who will marry her and help repair her reputation. She does marry, and that is the decision that leads to her untimely death.
The book is divided into two parts--the first half of the book is her life, and the second half is after her death. I felt this structure was innovative and interesting. We stay with Bessie through both parts of the story, as she seeks to redeem herself and as she seeks justice.
There were things I enjoyed about this story. I found the subject matter interesting and the characters well developed. But I really didn’t like Bessie. And it’s hard to be sympathetic toward a protagonist that you don’t like and who makes terrible decisions. I feel that the author tried to cover too much territory, which made the side plot about Bessie’s daughter feel stilted.
The Lives of Diamond Bessie by Jody Hadlock is available now!
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Review - The Maid by Nita Prose
I received a free copy through NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
Nita Prose’s début novel, The Maid, is a fun, sometimes frustrating, mystery told through the eyes of protagonist Molly Gray, a young woman with a great eye for remembering detail, but a sometimes comical ignorance when it comes to nuance. Molly is a maid at an upscale hotel, who happens upon a dead body during the course of her work. She quickly ends up at the top of the list of suspects and has to work to unravel the mystery before it’s too late.
This book has a great cast of characters—memorable, but not over-the-top. Even if the reader struggles to identify with Molly’s own personality, her backstory and relationships (especially with Gran) help her become a much more sympathetic character as the story unfolds. Through this book, the reader sees more than Molly does, but not much more. Neither protagonist or reader is sure who can be trusted, though the reader becomes suspicious much earlier than Molly does.
Overall, I enjoyed this book. It was a quick read, filled with memorable characters, an interesting plot, and an intriguing mystery. It was sad, funny, and surprising. I highly recommend it!
The Maid will be released January 4, 2022!
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Review - We Live Next Door by Laura Wolfe
I received a free review copy from NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
We Live Next Door is a thriller that pleasantly surprised me. It tells the story of Jessica, a wife and mother, who has moved back into her childhood home. Now one of the (most hated) neighbors has died, and Jessica is suspicious, even though nobody else really seems to be. Jessica becomes borderline paranoid as she works to solve the mystery, and at times, seems slightly unhinged. But it turns out that she’s seeing some problems that everyone else is missing.
The plot of this novel was really well done. The characters were believable and the relationships complex. Jessica is mostly likeable, though sometimes a bit naïve. I had big issues with her husband Mark. I won’t give anything away by telling how that situation resolves, but just know that it does.
This book involves a lot of relationships and relationship issues. It’s about how we know our neighbors (and friends, and parents, and spouse) a little too well, or maybe not as well as we think we do. It also deals with domestic violence, infidelity, drug use, and of course, murder. Even though it is a murder mystery, I felt that this book was ultimately about motherhood, looking beyond outward appearances, and following your dreams.
We Live Next Door by Laura Wolfe comes out November 5.
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Review - The Field of Wrongdoing by Lili St. Germain
I received a free ARC from Netgalley. All opinions are my own.
The Field of Wrongdoing was a tough read for me. This mystery/thriller is gritty, violent, and shocking. It is definitely not for readers sensitive to sexual violence, murder, kidnapping, gore, child abuse, drug use, or language. I found the description of the book to be misleading as well.
I do think the premise of this book is a good one. The characters are generally well-written. The mystery is intriguing. I have no problems with the writing beyond the graphic content. This book follows Leo and his girlfriend Cassie, starting with a gruesome discovery outside Leo’s home (note: not in a field and not discovered by Cassie, as the book description indicates). This event changes their lives in awful ways and neither of them are ever the same afterward.
Later on, Leo is involved in a car accident, the circumstances of which send him to prison for 8 years. The story picks back up when he is released and returns home. Another teenage girl goes missing soon afterward, and the police try to pin her disappearance on Leo. Cassie eventually discovers the truth about these crimes.
I won’t give too much away, but all the crimes in the story are linked. There is also a subplot about Leo’s siblings and mother, which is also disturbing and violent. Pretty much all of the characters in this book are terrible people who make awful choices. A few side characters are okay, like Amanda and Chris, but they have very little to do with the story as a whole. There is not much redemption for anyone and there is a lot of sex, violence, and death. Yes, the ultimate “bad guys” get what’s coming to them, but other peripheral characters get no answers.
I decided ultimately to give this book three stars because I think it was well-written and well-plotted. I couldn’t give it more stars because I hated most of the characters and I don’t enjoy reading the sort of graphic content found in this book.
The Field of Wrongdoing is available now.
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Review - Choose Possibility by Sukhinder Singh Cassidy
Thanks to Mariner Books for the gifted copy!
Choose Possibility: Take Risks and Thrive (Even When You Fail) was a pleasant surprise for me. It’s a book about careers, written by a business leader who has started companies, worked for giants like Google, and has been very successful. I, on the other hand, am someone who discovered her career in her mid 30s and works as a part-time freelancer. I expected this book to be dry, uninspiring, and filled with business jargon. I thought it would have very little to offer me.
I am happy to admit, I was wrong. I loved this book. I found it informative, motivating, and applicable to my life.
Sukhinder Singh Cassidy tells us her story of hard work and success. But mostly, she tells us about the risks she took throughout her professional life to get to where she is. Maybe it’s the “solidly in adulthood existential crisis” phase I am in right now that made this book appeal to me so much. Because even though I am not in a position to be choosing to be a CEO or start my own tech company like the author, I am still in a position to assess risks in my personal and professional life and learn how to take smarter risks.
That is what this book is about. The author gives great advice on how to seek new opportunities, how to keep your options open, and how to accept and learn from failures. And those are things all humans need to do, regardless of their career aspirations.
So while this is a business-oriented book, it is not only applicable to business. I found the author’s style easy to read and her stories accessible and relevant.
Choose Possibility is available now and I highly recommend it.