Do you need a high-powered copy editor, or could your 10th-grade teacher do the job just as well? At the end of the day, it all comes down to one thing—your goals and your writing ability. If you are a decent writer, and you simply want to publish a book without embarrassment, then it is possible that the average 10th-grade English teacher will be able to provide a light copy edit. If, however, you are looking for something that will stand up to publishing industry standards, a proven copy editor is generally your best bet.

Unless I absolutely had to, I probably wouldn’t go to my son’s barber to have my hair highlighted. And I wouldn’t swing through a drive-thru car wash to have my brakes done. Editors deal with the work of aspiring writers all day, every day, and as a result we quickly acquire a feel for a text’s strengths as well as its weaknesses (and how to remedy them). Moreover, a friend, English teacher or not, will likely find it difficult to be completely honest. An editor will help an author apply general principles of logic and organization to a text to ensure that the author’s creative idea makes sense to a reader in the author’s target audience. If an author is trying to publish a cookbook, an editor will ensure that recipes are organized by different meals, or by different ingredients, or by different seasons, or by whatever other organizing principle is appropriate and accessible.

There are a variety of style guides on the market (MLA, AP, APA, just to name a few), but The Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition (CMOS) is the primary style guide for the general publishing community. Most teachers are not acquainted with CMOS at all, and learning its fine points can take a long time. A quality copy editor, however, is well-schooled in what it takes to turn a manuscript into something you can be proud of.

In matters of spelling, the most recent edition of Merriam Webster’s dictionary is the industry standard. The English language is an ever-changing target, and copy editors are paid to keep up with its changes. How long has your English teacher been teaching? The conventions from thirty years ago may no longer be relevant in today’s world. Good copy editors have to stay on top of changes in standard spelling, usage, and grammar, or they simply won’t have a job.

Knowledge of the elements in a book is extremely important in publishing. Even if you can find an English teacher who is an acceptable choice for the everyday grammar, a professional copy editor has publishing-related knowledge: how the front matter/back matter is organized, how references are cited, the relationship of figure callouts to figures in the text, and the hierarchy of headings within a book, among other things.

Now, just in case the 10th-grade English teachers haven’t already sent their angry emails, I have to say that I’m sure most of them can edit a whole lot better than our average copy editor could teach a 10th-grade English class. Teachers are professionals, and few people are good enough to step into a classroom and just start teaching well. The same holds true for copy editing: nonprofessionals, no matter how bright or how well-read, are almost never as good as the professionals.

Last 5 posts by Margaret Jennings

• Choosing the “Perfect” Service Provider - March 4th, 2006
• The Power of a Comprehensive Editorial Evaluation - January 3rd, 2006
• What’s Behind a Proofread? - December 6th, 2005
• Copyedit or Copy Edit? - October 11th, 2005
• Finding the Right Manuscript Editor - September 11th, 2005