Working with your editor: how to read an edit and respond

How to read an edit

Most authors find their first serious edit hard to read. A manuscript covered in red can feel like a verdict on you. It is not. It is a detailed record of someone paying close attention to your book, which is what you paid for.

Steve Mastroianni, who wrote Hobby Boss with Scribe's Guided Author program, describes the fear many authors share before an edit: "I had this fear that the editor would turn my book into a textbook." According to his story on scribemedia.com, the editor did make some conventional changes, such as spelling out numbers, but explained how each change would make the book more readable, and he had input on every decision. With twins newly born, he also got checklists from his editor showing exactly what needed to change in each section.

That is what a good edit looks like, and here is how to meet it halfway:

1. Read everything once, change nothing

   The edit letter if there is one, then a skim of the marked-up file. Get the overall picture.

2. Wait a day

   Defensiveness fades. Notes that stung on Monday often look obviously right on Tuesday.

3. Sort by size

   Structural notes first, then paragraph-level comments, then sentence-level changes, then queries. Fixing a sentence in a section you then cut wastes your time.

4. Work in a copy

   Save the edited file under a new name before you start (for example, Book_copyedit_author-review_2026-11-02.docx) so you can always go back.

5. Keep a running list

   Note questions for the editor and anything you want to talk through, rather than firing off emails as you go.

Track changes, comments and queries

Most book editing happens in Microsoft Word with Track Changes switched on, or in Google Docs in Suggesting mode. Either way, every deletion, insertion and comment is recorded and attributed, and nothing is final until you accept it.

• Leave tracking on. When you make your own changes during your review, keep Track Changes on so the editor can see what you did. Changes made with tracking off are invisible, and invisible changes do not get checked.
• Accept and reject change by change, not with "accept all," at least for line edits. For a copyedit, accepting all the obvious fixes in a chapter at once can be reasonable, once you have read them.
• Use the views. Word can show all markup, a simplified view, or the text as it would read with every change accepted. Read a tricky passage in the clean view to judge how it actually reads.
• Reply in the comment thread rather than deleting comments. "Done," "Kept original, see note" or a short explanation tells the editor what happened.
• Answer every query. Editors often mark questions for the author with "AU" or "Author." They are questions only you can answer: which spelling of a client's name is right, which of two figures is correct. Do not leave any unanswered.

The Scribe Method's copyediting chapter sums up the review in three moves: accept the obvious fixes, review the suggested rewordings against your voice, and reject changes that do not fit your style.

What to accept and what to reject

How to push back

Disagreement is a normal part of editing, and good editors expect it. The trick is to disagree about the problem, not just the solution.

1. Ask what the editor was reacting to. A rewritten sentence usually means the original was unclear, too long, or ambiguous. If you reject their fix, fix the problem another way.
2. Give a reason in one line. "Keeping 'folks': it's how I talk to clients and it's on every page of my site" is enough.
3. Defer on rules, decide on taste. If the editor is applying the style manual, the default is to follow it unless you have a reason. If it is a matter of taste, it is your book.
4. Talk about big things. For a structural note you disagree with, ask for a short call. Ten minutes of conversation beats a dozen comment replies.
5. Pick your battles. If you find yourself rejecting most of an editor's changes, step back and ask whether the problem is the edit or the brief. Either you hired the wrong type of edit, or you and the editor need to reset expectations.

An example exchange we wrote, of the kind that works well:

How many rounds

There is no standard number, which is exactly why it belongs in your contract. A common shape for a self-published nonfiction book:

• Developmental edit: one edit letter and margin notes; you revise. Some editors include a second look at the revised manuscript or a follow-up call; agree on this beforehand.
• Line edit and copyedit: one pass by the editor, one review by you, and a clean-up pass in which the editor checks your responses and any new text.
• Proofread: one pass on the designed pages, then a check that the designer made every correction.

Rounds multiply when the brief is unclear or the author keeps writing. Protect yourself by finishing the content before the copyedit. The Scribe Method's copyediting chapter warns that every change after formatting and layout begin can add hours of work and hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars. At some point, as that chapter puts it, you have to stop editing and move forward.

If you have not hired anyone yet, see how to find a book editor. If you are not sure what kind of edit your manuscript needs, the editor finder can suggest a starting point, or you can book a free call with the Scribe team to talk it through.