Anne here, with part two of my posts about editors, how they work, and how we writers work with them. The first part is here.
The Copyeditor
Copyediting comes after the author has dealt with the comments the editor made during the structural edit (see previous post.) The editor reads the revised manuscript, and if she approves it, she passes it on to the copyediting department.
In general, the copyeditor reads a manuscript looking for mistakes — typos, repetition of words or phrases, accidental English/Australian spelling (in my case), inconsistencies, mistakes such as a character's name or their eye color changing — I've done both of those. In the months it takes me to write a book, it's easy to forget tiny details, and sometimes I'll change my mind and miss changing it everywhere. Or change it back and forget.
Some copyeditors are heavy on grammatical correctness which, for me, doesn't always work as people often think or talk in sentence fragments, and not always in perfect grammar. But I've also read books in which an otherwise good author repeatedly makes a grammatical mistake that's never corrected. (eg You've got another thing coming, when they mean another think. Or, not in dialogue, John said he would take Julie and I to the movie, when it should be Julie and me.) That kind of thing frustrates me. (By the way, despite the photo above, most editing happens electronically these days, not with a pen and paper.)
Other copyeditors are big on history, and will query historical dates of words using an etymological dictionary that shows the origin and first printed use of a word. I use the OED (Oxford English Dictionary) and the copyeditors are generally using an American dictionary, and the dates are sometimes different. And sometimes the words they flag are dated several years after the setting of my book, but they would have been in spoken use long before they made it into print.
The problem with reliance on etymological dictionaries
As I said above, an etymological dictionary relies on the first known printed use of a word. But that's not generally the first use of a word. Words usually come into general usage through spoken language, long before they hit some kind of printed page. So slang, nursery language (like tummy), technical terms, and all sorts of everyday expressions might not make it into print until, say a novel, or a specialist printing or a magazine. And those sources might not have been found by the dictionary researchers. The dates ascribed to various words are being altered all the time as older texts come to light.
As well, a copyeditor might flag a word, but if it isn't an obvious anachronism, I don't see the harm. I've had words like driveway flagged, because it's listed as an 1824 word in the OED, and my story was set in 1818. Apart from the likelihood that it would have been in general spoken use well before 1824, I doubt any modern reader would even notice it, let alone consider it an anachronism. Another one flagged my use of the word "nightgown" and suggested I change it to "night rail" throughout.
So some comments/corrections I "stet" — which means "let it stand" -- ie leave as originally written — and others I accept. But I'm incredibly grateful to every copyeditor I've ever had, because their eagle eye has been invaluable.
The proof reader
The final editorial pass is the proof reader. Proofs are the final final final check of the manuscript. The manuscript has been laid out ready to print — each page looks just like the page in the paperback will. At this stage I can't make changes just because I want to — there's a strict limit, after which the publisher will charge me.
As well as the professional proof-reader, I also go through the manuscript with a fine tooth comb, because it we don't catch a mistake now, it'll be there forever. (Actually, I don't use a fine tooth comb — which was used in the past to comb out lice. (The photo is from this site.)
I use a card that I hold against the computer screen (see below), making me read line by line, otherwise I will tend to skim read and miss tiny errors, because I've read the manuscript so many times before I imagine/remember what's there. Looking at it like this, line by line, forces me to concentrate.
At this stage only a handful of small errors might be found, and they might be a missing word, or a double comma or a missing question mark. When I find an error, I print off the page, mark it with a pen, and take a photo of the page. I also send a list, stating the page no, the line no, what the error is, and what it should read as. In my latest manuscript, The Rake's Daughter, I found five errors. (There's one in the pic above. Can you spot the mistake?)
Despite all the care we take, mistakes can slip through. In The Scoundrel's Daughter, the editor, the copy editor and I all missed the fact that I'd given the nanny three different names — Nanny McBain, Nanny McCubbin and Nanny McBride. It was Mary Jo, who'd asked for an early read of the manuscript, who said, "By the way, do you realize you gave the nanny three different names? I expect you've fixed that by now." I checked. I shrieked! She was right. I hadn't even noticed. I whizzed off an email to my editor, who said the proof reader had spotted one of them but not the other. The book was to go to print the very next day, so phew, they were able to fix it in time, but it was a very close call.
So that's how mistakes end up happening in a book. The author has read the manuscript so many times their brain reads words that aren't there. Or in the writing they have changed some small detail and missed fixing all of them — eye color, nanny names and so on. And copy editors and proof readers, despite their best intentions, can get caught up in a story and miss a small detail.
Editors and Indie Publishing
I mentioned indie publishing (self publishing) earlier. The most professional (and successful) indie authors I know pay for all three levels of professional editing — structural editing, copyediting and proofreading — the same as I get in traditional publishing.
My indie friends generally have to book their structural editors and copyeditors months in advance, and if they miss their deadline, that's it — they lose their slot, and thus their release date. They also hire professional designers for their covers. Of course not all indie authors do this: that's the thing about independent publishing — it's all in the hands of the author.
What about you? Anything in this surprise you? Do you spot mistakes in books? Often? Occasionally? What kind of mistakes irritate you?