Developmental Editing, Second Edition

Developmental Editing, Second Edition A Handbook for Freelancers, Authors, and Publishers

by Scott Norton

University of Chicago Press, 2023
Paper: 978-0-226-79363-4 | Electronic: 978-0-226-79377-1
DOI: 10.7208/chicago/9780226793771.001.0001

AVAILABLE FROM

University of Chicago Press (paper, ebook)

ABOUT THIS BOOKAUTHOR BIOGRAPHYREVIEWSTABLE OF CONTENTS

ABOUT THIS BOOK

The only guide dedicated solely to developmental editing, now revised and updated with new exercises and a chapter on fiction.

Developmental editing—transforming a manuscript into a book that edifies, inspires, and sells—is a special skill, and Scott Norton is one of the best at it. With more than three decades of experience in the field, Norton offers his expert advice on how to approach the task of diagnosing and fixing structural problems with book manuscripts in consultation with authors and publishers. He illustrates these principles through a series of detailed case studies featuring before-and-after tables of contents, samples of edited text, and other materials to make an otherwise invisible process tangible.

This revised edition for the first time includes exercises that allow readers to edit sample materials and compare their work with that of an experienced professional as well as a new chapter on the unique challenges of editing fiction. In addition, it features expanded coverage of freelance business arrangements, self-published authors, e-books, content marketing, and more.

Whether you are an aspiring or experienced developmental editor or an author who works alongside one, you will benefit from Norton’s accessible, collaborative, and realistic approach and guidance. This handbook offers the concrete and essential tools it takes to help books to find their voice and their audience.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Scott Norton was formerly a developmental editor at the University of California Press, where he eventually served as the director of editing, design, and production before retiring in 2020.

REVIEWS

"When I say this eleven-chapter book is an entire semester-long (or longer!) course in everything developmental editing (DE), I do not exaggerate. The material is engaging, relevant, immediately applicable—and just plain amusing. Norton excels in presenting concepts with clarity and coming up with examples aplenty. He is that professor that can lighten the dense, rein in the unwieldy, and still prompt a chuckle or two. . . . This book is one that every publishing professional should dissect and then place on the shelf for future reference."

— Publishing Research Quarterly

Preface

What Developmental Editing Is

Whom This Book Is For

What This Book Covers

How to Use the Exercise Packet

Some Ground Rules

A Few Notes about Cultural Assumptions

1. Concept: Shaping the Proposal

Author Profile: The Veteran

Client Profile: The Agent

Assignment: The Proposal with Too Many Concepts

Locate the Concept

Profile the Audience

Evaluate Market Potential

Bring the Vision into Focus

2. Content: Assessing Potential

Author Profile: The First-Timer

Client Profile: The Big Trade House

Assignment: The Tome with Too Many Subjects

Size Up the Author

Size Up the Publisher

Size Up the DE

Create a Content Summary

Find the Main Subject

Exercises

Author Profile: The Coauthors

Client Profile: The Small Trade House

Assignment: The Study with Too Many Theses

Cull Theses from Topics

Beware of the Rehash

Choose the Main Thesis

Create a Working Title

Exercises

Author Profile: The Historian

Client Profile: The Copublisher

Assignment: The Sprawling Saga

Untangle Timelines from Arguments

Find the Main Timelines

Brainstorm Timeline Strategies

Compose the New Timeline

Fine-Tune the Timeline

Restore Bits of Argument

Exercises

5. Exposition: Deploying the Argument

Author Profile: The Theorist

Client Profile: The University Press

Assignment: The Theory with Too Many Tangents

Untangle Arguments from Timelines

Find the Main Arguments

Brainstorm Argument Strategies

Compose the New Argument

Fine-Tune the Argument

Restore Bits of Timeline

Exercises

6. Plan: Drafting a Blueprint

Write Up the Plan

Compose Chapter Theses

Intervene Strategically

Exercises

Author Profile: The Sole Authority

Client Profile: The Regional House

Assignment: The Local History Turned Personal

Rearrange the Furniture

Draft New Passages

Balance Chapter Weights

Edit for Pace

Exercises

Author Profile: The Dead Author

Client Profile: The Self-Publisher

Assignment: The Memoir with Lapses

Create Opening Transitions

Create Closing Transitions

Draw Conclusions

Place Those Conclusions

Exercises

9. Style: Training the Voice

Author Profile: The Journalist

Client Profile: The Book Packager

Assignment: The Story with Too Many Voices

Set the Tone

Parse the Rhetoric

Master Abstraction

Gauge the Ironies

Harmonize the Voices

10. Display: Dressing Up the Text

Author Profile: The Author-for-Hire

Client Profile: The Trade Reference House

Assignment: The Guidebook with Poor Signage

Consider Subheads

Anticipate the E-Version

Consider Epigraphs

Draft an Art Plan

Illustrate Concepts

Visualize Data

Test-Drive Maps

Add Lagniappe

11. Fiction: Weaving the Dream

Author Profile: The Friend

Client Profile: The Genre Boutique

Assignment: The Novel with Genre Dysphoria

Vet the Premise

Scope Out the Form

Position the Narrator

Scout the Setting

Know the Genre

Advance the Plot

Render the Characters

Sweat the Details

Afterword to Publishers

Further Reading

Acknowledgments

Index