The Publishing Process

Every book begins at this phase. A developmental edit is a “big picture” assessment of the story. Our editor is analyzing the plot structure, character development, pacing and overall coherence of the story. The editor provides a report to the author noting the story’s strengths and weaknesses. The author implements revisions based on the editor’s feedback. Often, the editor and author work together during this process. It is essentially up to the author to decide what needs to be revised and how. 

After this editing phase, the book is provided to Alpha Readers to collect feedback. Depending on the feedback received, the book could potentially go back through Developmental Editing again.

During this phase, each sentence is scrutinized to make sure it is clear, concise, and adds value to moving the story forward for the reader.

After this editing phase, the book is provided to Beta Readers to collect feedback. It is rare, but does happen, that the book could revert back to Developmental Editing

This is the final stage of editing where punctuation, typos, grammar, and style (we use the Chicago Manual of Style) is corrected. Copy editing can take 3-5 weeks depending on the length of the book. 

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While the book is in Copy Editing, it is also being read by our ARC Insider Team. Depending on the feedback received, the book could revert to any phase of editing the staff believes could benefit the book.

This is the last steps in the process. While our ARC Insiders are reading a pre-release copy of the book, we have a team proofreading the text. In this final stage, the text is being meticulously reviewed for errors such as typos, spelling mistakes, and grammatical issues. It ensures the final product is polished and ready for publication. This is a human process, which means that errors might slip through.

The day the book is available for sale to the public is just as exciting for us as it is for the author! By now, the entire staff at After Dark Ink Publishing Co. has read the manuscript more than one time. The book has become a member of our family because—through the editing phases—we have helped raise it and polish it into a book we believe is worthy of a reader’s time.