The document summarizes the author's experience in an editing program at BYU. They learned various editing skills like copy editing, substantive editing, developmental editing, and book design. They overcame initial apprehensions about skills like Chicago style and book organization. Group projects taught them to trust others and rely on feedback. Communication skills like polite querying of authors were also emphasized. Overall, the program prepared the author for a career in publishing, but they seek further experience in areas like permissions, printing, and learning from experienced editors.

1. Educated Editing
I have grown tremendously through the editing program at BYU. I have learned aspects
of editing and publishing, and how to implement those aspects. Specifically, I’ve learned how to
copy edit, substantive edit, and developmental edit a manuscript; how to design and typeset a
book for print; how to go through the entire publishing process; how to use technology like
Microsoft Word and HTML; how to work in a group with other editors; and how to
communicate with an author. I’ve loved every step of this hard journey and have come to
understand myself better through the editing and publishing principles I have learned and
practiced. I have more to learn, of course, but my education and experience has prepared me to
work well in the editing world.
When I took my first copy editing class, looking at Chicago made me apprehensive. I
was supposed to read and study that huge thing! Many of our editing assignments involved
justifying all our copy edits with rules from Chicago, something I considered quite grueling. But
somewhere along the line, I came to enjoy searching Chicago, a love that confuses my noneditor
friends to no end. Through the class and through Chicago, I learned copy editing rules, and I
developed a discerning eye. Errors started to jump out at me, and applying the Chicago
guidelines became second nature. My book is now well-worn, and I know where to look in
Chicago when I come across copy editing issues I’m not sure about. Through my class, I also
realized that Chicago doesn’t cover all editing issues, and sometimes, a paper has to depart from
Chicago rules; in these instances, it becomes crucial to create a style sheet or style guide to keep
track of copy editing decisions. In my copy editing class, I even had the opportunity to make a
style guide for the international company Xactware. I then applied that skill of making style

2. guides to all my editing classes. The training I received made me love copy editing, and even
now, it’s my favorite type of editing.
My next editing class was on substantive editing, a type of editing I wasn’t sure I could
do. When the class started, I kept recalling the times I wrote papers in high school and submitted
them to those online grading sites—I was always marked down for organization. In high school,
we’d gone over principles like thesis statements, topic paragraphs and topic sentences, and
concluding paragraphs and concluding sentences, but knowing those principles had never
improved my organization score. Those same principles were discussed in my substantive
editing class, and I despaired of improving my skills. But then we went deeper. We talked about
cohesion, coherence, and concision. I learned the principle of old-new, where you first mention
old information in a sentence (or paragraph) before presenting new information; that is cohesion.
I learned to make sure each sentence referred back to the topic sentence and each paragraph
referred back to the topic paragraph; that is coherence. I learned how to cut out redundant
phrases, boring clichés, and impertinent information; that is concision. To tie it all together, my
teacher required us to create outlines before proceeding to substantive edit a paper. I had always
found outlines to be unhelpful, but they became immeasurably useful to me as I discovered how
to use them to improve cohesion, coherence, and concision. Using these new principles to
improve organization became easy as I applied them to paper after paper. I left that class feeling
confident in my organization skills.
The last class I took in my editing program involved developmental editing and book
publishing. The class was divided into groups and given a book to developmental edit,
substantive edit, copy edit, and design and typeset. By then, I felt comfortable with substantive
and copy editing, but the idea of developmental editing an entire book was overwhelming.

3. Fortunately, I discovered through the reading and through class discussion that the same
principles I learned in my substantive editing class applied to developmental editing, but on a
larger scale. After editing two sample papers, my group and I tackled the book. Of course, the
first thing we did was to create an outline of the book. Then we identified the main idea, the
thesis, and the audience, an especially helpful process since the book we were given seemed to
have several different theses and main ideas, as well as two different audiences. We chose the
main idea, thesis, and audience that the author focused on most and were able to develop a
proposal for developmental editing the book, which we presented to the class. My experience
with developmental editing in that class made me realize how fun that type of editing can be.
In that last editing class, we took our books through the entire publication process—from
a raw manuscript to a printed book. First in the publishing process is acquisition, where an editor
either solicits manuscripts or evaluates manuscripts that authors submit unsolicited.
Developmental editing occurs at this stage, and the agent, author, and editor work together to
shape the manuscript, as well as to complete more mundane necessities, like contracts. In my
class, we chose the book we wanted and, based off our preferences, were divided into groups to
start the developmental editing process. Next comes planning. We created a project schedule
with projected completion dates and made assignments for editing and designing tasks. After
this, we started substantive and copy editing our assigned chapters, although we also reviewed
each other’s chapters to ensure the voice throughout the book was consistent. After editing
comes design. We submitted to our teacher our cover design and an thirteen-page spread that
included the half title page, the title page, the copyright page, the table of contents, the opening
page for the preface, a two-page spread from the preface, the opening page of a chapter, and a
two-spread from the chapter. After obtaining approval for the design and making necessary

4. changes, we went into the production stage, where we laid out the text according to our design
and copyfitted and proofed the layout. At this stage, we also put together an index of words we’d
gathered during the copy editing stage; creating an index was more difficult than I thought it
would be. The next step in the publication process is printing, something we weren’t required to
do because of the high costs. But we did discuss printing costs and how to calculate a book’s
price based off of expenditures and revenue. The final stage is postproduction, and the main task
we completed in this stage was to finish our record keeping and evaluate our performance in
relation to our project schedule. I learned how difficult it is to coordinate a large project with a
group of editors and to make deadlines that work for everyone—we didn’t meet all our deadlines
on time, but we pulled through in the end. Meeting our deadlines was also difficult because
throughout the project, we had to address several small issues that we hadn’t foreseen in the
planning stage. The publishing process is more complicated than I thought it was! I knew it
involved editing, typesetting, and printing, but the amount of planning and work that goes into
one manuscript is tremendous. With the training and experience I gained in that editing class, I
feel prepared to participate in the publishing process at a publishing house.
My last editing class wasn’t the only class where I had to design and typeset a book. I
also took a print design class, where we learned how to used Illustrator, Photoshop, and
InDesign. Our biggest focus was on InDesign, and that class was my first exposure to the
program and to graphic design. Doing design had never crossed my mind, even though I’ve
always been interested in art—in fact, my major was originally illustration before I switched to
English language. Others had even suggested that I should try graphic design, and I had laughed
at them and told them design was definitely not for me—but my print design class showed me
how wrong I was. We explored color, type, and design principles like alignment, proximity, and

5. contrast. We designed logos, fliers, and covers, and we typeset our own books. I found that I
actually enjoyed manipulating colors and font to create something attention-grabbing and
beautiful—though I had once scorned design in favor of drawing and painting. Now, I regularly
use InDesign to create invitations and programs, to design covers, and to typeset books for
authors. The satisfaction and enjoyment I get when I typeset a book beautifully has not
diminished. My editing program gave me the exposure and the basic skills I needed to develop
this passion for typesetting. Without my program, I wouldn’t know how much I love design.
In addition to exposing me to tools like InDesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator, my editing
curriculum has taught me about other technology and how to use that technology in regards to
editing. In one of my editing classes, we discussed how Microsoft Word can simplify editing
tasks through macros, styles, and search-and-replace terms and wildcards. I use the Microsoft
Word skills I developed in that class to make editing faster and easier. In another class, we
learned how to use HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to create a website (I made a website about the
steps of independent publishing). With the HTML skills I acquired from this class, I created an e-
book of an editing help guide I’d written and put it on Amazon. I never thought I’d have the
aptitude for writing code, but learning HTML came easily to me, along with learning any
technology I’ve been introduced to. I know there are more technological tools out there that I
have to learn, but learning them will come quickly.
Throughout my editing curriculum, my teachers have required the students to work in
groups. I admit that to begin with, I hated working in groups. I’ve always been an independent
person; I like to get work done on time—or early—and I like the work to be done the way I want
it done: perfectly. My early group projects were frustrating, in large part because of my attitude,
although I didn’t understand that then. I took on a large workload and never trusted my group

6. members to get their work done on time or to do it well, which meant I often checked their work.
I’ve learned better. In my editing program, I’m surrounded by talented people. I’ve learned to
trust them and to rely on them during group projects. I’ve discovered that gently reminding
group members of deadlines helps them to get the work done on time. I’ve come to love
discussing editing questions with group members and hearing their feedback. I value their
opinions. Now, I enjoy group work; having others working with me on a project—having others
I can turn to—brings me peace of mind.
Another focus in my editing curriculum is how to communicate with an author. The
amount of training I received in this subject surprised me when I first started the editing
program. But I’ve come to understand how important good communication is; all my editing
skills are useless if I can’t communicate well with others. Good communication includes obvious
factors, like being polite, not insulting the other person, and being willing to listen to his or her
point of view. But I learned additional techniques that I wouldn’t have known without the editing
curriculum. An example is how to word queries to the author. I learned to avoid saying “you” in
a query because it sounds accusative and to instead use “we”; I practiced wording suggestions by
pointing out how the reader will react to the text, knowing that the author will be more likely to
change something if he or she is reminded of their first priority—the reader; and I began using
polite, nonconfrontational language like “perhaps,” “we could try,” and “consider this.” Another
technique I learned was when to gently explain a change to the author in addition to
implementing it, or when to only suggest a change instead of actually making it. In some
instances, changes require a simple query of “OK?” Finally, I learned to be flexible on issues of
style. An author may want something a certain way, and it’s my job to find out why and then to
either convince the author otherwise or to compromise, depending on the situation. Because of

7. the information and the practice I gained through my editing classes, I feel confident when
communicating with authors, whether through emails or queries—or even over the phone or
face-to-face.
I feel my editing curriculum has prepared me for the world of publishing, and it has been
furthered enhanced by my editing and typesetting experience outside of school. I still have things
I want to learn, though, and I intend to never stop learning. Of course, I will continue to study
and learn from Chicago, and I will keep current on technology. In addition, I would like to learn
more about the overall publishing process, a process that I feel was too complex to completely
cover in my editing curriculum. In particular, I want to learn more about the printing stage of
publishing because though we talked about printing in my editing classes, we weren’t able to
actually print books. Another aspect of editing I need more experience in is permissions. I
understand the basics of copyright law, but copyright is complicated and I don’t have a firm
grasp of it. I also want to practice editing under others who have years of experience because I
know there’s a lot I can learn from them. Most of all, I want more experience in editing! I can
never get enough experience—every book I edit teaches me something.
I’m finishing my degree with the confidence to contribute to the editing and publishing
world and the desire and aptitude to learn more. I’ve learned not only how to edit at different
levels, but also how to accomplish the entire publishing process, how to use current technology
to help with editing tasks, and how to work well with other editors and with authors. With my
training, I am an asset to publishing companies, and I intend to reach my full potential by
working hard and constantly learning.