Authors often ask for "an edit" and mean three different things. Editing happens in stages, and each stage looks at the book from a different distance. Doing them in the wrong order wastes money, because polishing sentences you later cut is work thrown away.
Developmental editing: the big picture
A developmental edit looks at structure. For fiction that means plot, pacing, character arcs and point of view. For nonfiction it means argument, order of chapters and whether the reader is taken from a problem to a solution.
The output is usually an editorial letter and notes, not a cleaned-up file. You then revise. This is the right first step when you have a complete draft and suspect something larger than sentences is not working.
Line editing and copy editing: the sentences
A line edit improves how the prose reads: rhythm, clarity, repeated words, voice. A copy edit corrects grammar, punctuation, spelling and consistency, and checks facts and timeline details such as a character whose eyes change colour.
Many authors combine the two. The key point is that both come after the structure is settled.
Proofreading: the final check
Proofreading is the last pass, done on the formatted pages. It catches the typos and small errors that survived everything else. A proofreader should not be rewriting; if they are, an earlier stage was skipped.
Which one do you need?
A rough rule that holds for most books:
- First draft, unsure it works: developmental edit.
- Structure is solid, prose needs polish: line or copy edit.
- Already edited and formatted: proofread.
- Not sure: ask for a quote and describe the manuscript honestly.