Julie Broad (founder of Book Launchers) explains common editorial styles and practical editing workflow for books. She describes three editorial roles used by her company (content editor, copy editor, proofreader), says Book Launchers generally follows the Chicago Manual of Style with a few house-style exceptions, and gives a high-level comparison of CMOS, MLA, APA, and AP—highlighting differences in comma usage and title capitalization. She advises hiring certified/professional editors, checking which style an editor uses, and consulting rulebooks or courses (e.g., Editors and Freelancers Association) for detailed rules. The video ends with CTAs and links to related videos.
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I shared in a recent video that we were criticized for not following the Chicago Manual of Style to a T by another publishing services company. After that video, I had some people asking me, hey, what is Chicago Manual of Style? And what are the rules editors should be following? Well, if you're wondering about the styles and rules of editing, this video is for you. Hey there. I'm Julie the book broad. I'm the founder of self publishing services company Book Launchers. We have a wonderful team of folks that help you write a book, edit it, design, publish, distribute, and of course, market that book. A big part of our service is editing. We have three different kinds of editors that will work on each book. A content editor, a copy editor, and a proofreader. For the most part, we follow the Chicago Manual of Style, also called cmos. But we have a few things that we'd consider. House style. If you're hiring editors and styling your own book, you might be wondering, what are the differences between the styles and. And where can you learn about them? First, I've got a full confession for you. Do not ask me about the rules of each. I'm a big believer in staying in my own lane and being great at where I have gifts and leaving the other things to people who have gifts in those areas. Editing is not one of those areas. I'm not great with details and I'm not particularly good at following rules. So what I can tell you is that there are more than one style. There's cmos, apa, mla. Oh, and there's also ap. Each style has its own book with its own set of rules for everything from punctuation to sourcing citations. Now, if you want to get into it, you really have to just sit down with the rulebook and go through it. There are also courses like the one at the efa, the Editors and Freelancers Association. It will give you a certificate at the end as well, which can be useful if you're seeking work. Now, technically, you have a choice as to what style you follow, but if you have a publisher, they will usually tell you what style for us. Chicago Style. Chicago Style is based on the Chicago Manual of Style, and it's the standard choice for many book publishers, especially in the nonfiction genre. CMOS covers everything from style and usage to sourcing citations and mechanics of editing and proofreading. Now that's cmos. MLA style is based in part on the MLA Handbook. Surprise. MLA stands for Modern Language Association. The latest edition of the handbook focuses exclusively on how to cite source sources. If you're like me. You probably only know MLA and APA exist from university when you had to do citations for your papers and you probably had to find out if the professor wanted it in MLA or APA format. APA style is based on the Publication manual of the American Psychological Association. The APA manual focuses on writing style and source citations. It has an emphasis on data and how to present it and source quantitative and qualitative results in in tables and figures. Again, it's more for papers than for books, but it does have a writing style, which means some books may be edited in ALA style. AP style is based on the Associated Press style book. Just like the name sounds, it's more about journalists and people in the press who report on the news. It consists of a series of glossaries that cover preferred spellings and abbreviations. Because it's for news reporting, the guide is also updated annually. Beyond all that, it's a matter of style so what are some of the differences? In my view, the two biggest differences come in the treatment of commas and also capitalization of titles. There's also other things like possessive and source citation styles. It's why people who are good editors are not the same as people who are professional editors. The combination of all the rules is actually what makes up the style, and if you have someone that has an eagle eye but doesn't know the rules, your book won't have that professional polish. At Book Launchers when we're hiring editors, we have editorial tests, we look for their certifications, and we like to work with editors who are part of editorial associations or groups. Then I have a handful of people on my team who know the rules inside and out so they can spot any issues. Before you hire an editor, you can ask what style they will use and then you can grab the book to check the rules against their work. If you're worried about whether they were good at this or not like this video, make sure you smash the thumbs up button on your way to comment on it. We have new videos every Tuesday and Friday, except in July when we take a little break and when you comment the day a video is released, you you get entered to win some sweet noboringbooks swag and you become one step closer to being one of my beloved besties like Sean Hayes, Mike Herd, Bill Miller, Rachel Robertson, and Linda Kaley. Thank you so much for your comments, likes and shares. Now that you're up to speed on editorial styles, you might be wondering about the different kinds of editors I mentioned. Well, if you are, that video right there is what you need. Now, if you're good with that, YouTube believes that this is the one you need to see. Both are fantastic, I promise. So click on over and I'll see you there.
