You can edit your book, if that was not part of your school training. Follow (carefully) the proceeding guidelines, to edit your book.
Ask who the intended reader. As an editor you will need to know, who is the intended audience. You will determine the readability level, the tone of the writing, the clarity, and the use of jargon for the intended reader.
Read the work thoroughly. When editing, read through a piece several times in order to catch as many errors as possible. The first time through, do not concentrate on catching errors. Instead, focus on getting a sense of what the author is trying to communicate. Then, as you read the piece a second and third time, start marking errors to correct.
Do a “spell check” and readability index. Use the spell and grammar check functions in your word processing program to identify possible errors. (*Note, the word possible. We need humans to actually read and proof books, because Microsoft Word will not catch all spelling errors.) These functions can point out specific types of errors. Most people use Microsoft Word for spell and grammar checks. Once the spell check function finishes, a “Readability Statistics” box is displayed.
“Readability Statistics” box in Microsoft Word:
Click the Microsoft Office Button 
, and then click Word Options.
1) Click Proofing.
2) Make sure Check grammar with spelling is selected.
3) Under When correcting grammar in Word, select the Show readability statistics check box.
While all the statistics in the box can be useful, the two which help the most are the Word Count and the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level score. The Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level score is intended to reflect school grade reading levels.
Make sure the readability score is appropriate for the intended audience. If the writing is designated for a first grader match the reading level to a Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level of 1.0 to 1.9.
If the book is to be read by a general adult population, the readability score should be between 8.0 and 9.0. This level ensures easy comprehension and retention by the vast majority of adults. Remember this is a safe range for most adults to comprehend your book.
If the writing is intended for an academic audience or a highly trained level of professionals, such as engineers or doctors, then the writing level can be 12 or higher. Jargon is permissible when writing to a specialized audience who will be familiar with this selective vocabulary.
School papers and articles for publication may have word count requirements. In general, other pieces of writing do not. Word count is important though, because readers will stop reading documents they suppose too long. They appreciate writing which conveys its message fully and quickly. You may want to edit to lower the word count.
The following are some guidelines for adjusting word count.
- Less than 150 words: books for children under the age of 3.
- 400 – 500 words (one page): business letters, executive summaries, resumes, press releases.
- 400 – 600 words: books for children ages 4 to 6. The word count levels mentioned here are for books intended to be read by these children without assistance from an adult. Children should be read to from books with higher word counts allowing for the possibility of growth in vocabulary and language skills.
- 500 – 1,500 words: Internet articles, newspaper stories, magazine articles.
- 100,000 – 125,000 words (200 – 250 pages): most novels.
Calibrate your review to the intended reader. If the reading level is too high, use these techniques to revise the writing.
- Simplify sentence structures.
- Use vocabulary containing three syllables or less.
- Use sentences with “active voice” and in the present tense.
- Rewrite sentences which require semi-colons or dashes to make them less complex.
- Trim wordy sentences.
- Spell out contractions.
- Revise a paragraph, when possible, to a list. A list, well derived, shows essentials briefly and clearly.
- Keep all writing on target. Eliminate rambling or pointless thoughts.
Read through again and mark possible errors. Check the following:
- Spelling – spell check functions can help with this task, however, look for words spelled correctly but used incorrectly.
- Punctuation.
- Capitalization.
- Grammar – pay special attention to skipped words since grammar check functions do not reliably catch these.
- Repetitious word use – use your dictionary or a synonym finder for possible alternative words.
- Accuracy of statements of fact.
- Flow and consistency of the book.
- Logic – make sure any argument presented is supported and follows a logical thought pattern.
Once you have marked the possible errors, research them to confirm the error and provide suggested changes. Note, always use a dictionary or online dictionary. Note references as appropriate.
Provide feedback to the author. If you are reviewing in an academic or business situation, you may have guidance on how to provide feedback to the author. If not, here is an example of how to present your feedback. This format allows the author to locate the potential change, gives a solution, and a reason for the suggested change. *If you are in Microsoft Word highlight with yellow (tool beside the text color tool). If you are proofing an actual printed document, you a red pen to mark errors. Write notes clearly, and write specific changes to make for the author.
Page 1, Para 12:
• Line 1: Delete “Not” and replace “too soon” with “later”. Reason: Places the action in the correct time sequence.
• Line 4: Replace “her nose” with “Emma’s nose”. Reason: Clarifies the reference noun for the pronoun. As it stands the “her” would refer back to the immediately preceding noun which is the crab.
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