The Decay Within – Production Diary, part 2 – Copy Editing

Is it there, their, or they’re? Do I use a semi-colon or just a comma? Or maybe a period? When it comes to writing a book, grammar and punctuation often get pushed aside in favor of focusing on the content of the book. That’s a huge mistake because a person can have great content that no one can understand because the grammar and punctuation is incorrect. How we communicate something is just as important as what we are communicating in the first place.

This month, The Decay Within is starting the copy editing process. As I mentioned in part 1 of the production process diary, the manuscript has been stripped down to its most bare form. No fancy formats, graphs, or charts. Now it’s going to undergo the scrutiny of a grammar and punctuation check.

For this process, Tate Publishing and Enterprises has assigned Copy Editor Brittany Pickering to my book. She will be reviewing the book and making the necessary changes so that when people read The Decay Within they can focus on the content instead of being distracted by my oh-so-frequent grammar and punctuation faux-pas.

At the end of the month, the clean, shiny, grammar-problem-free manuscript will head straight over to the Conceptual Editor. This will be an edit of the content of the book. So, even though things may seem quiet for me during this month, it’s a chance for me to take a break from The Decay Within so that once it’s time to go over the content, I’ll be able to look at it with a fresh pair of eyes. Maybe I’ll learn some patience while I’m waiting!

In the meantime, maybe I’ll do some preliminary research for my next book. You never know!