Reading Between the Lines: All About Elephant Page Publishing’s Editorial Team
Editing a manuscript is a complex and lengthy process that is split up into three main parts: structural editing, copyediting and proofreading.
Structural editing looks at the manuscript together as one big picture. In this stage, editors make sure that elements such as the theme, plot, characterisation, pace, style and dialogue are consistent. The edits made in this stage are to ensure that the story makes sense and is organised accordingly. These suggestions are made to the author through an editorial letter.
Once the author has incorporated the structural edits to their manuscript, editors can move onto the next step. Copyediting looks at the finer details, such as checking punctuation and grammar, and language and content editing. Edits made in this stage are highly subjective as every author has their own unique writing style. Thus, these suggestions are made through track changes on the Word document, where authors can accept and reject changes at their own discretion.
Proofreading is the last step in the editing process, where the final checks are made. This stage typically occurs after the manuscript has been copyedited and typeset by designers. Editors recheck the text to ensure that no errors have been missed by the copyeditor and that the pages have been correctly typeset.
As a student-run publishing house, Elephant Page Publishing prioritises the learning and growth of students. Thus, we are given an opportunity to both improve our skills, try something new or do something that we love. The perks of working at Elephant Page Publishing is that we have total control of our work schedules. We get to choose what tasks we want to do and when we want to do them, as long as they’re done by class the following week. It’s an even mix of work and fun, and despite the many challenges we face trying to share our work with each other online (Microsoft Teams, I’m looking at you), we’re all eager to keep doing what we’re doing and working our magic.
The classroom is always, without fail, a lively environment. Everyone is so passionate about their work and genuinely so happy to be there that there is never a boring moment. It’s to the point where the editors often can’t hear each other speak, but we welcome the chaos regardless. We have since relocated to a cosy little table outside the classroom to have our department meetings, which offers more peace and quiet, but the atmosphere remains equally as lively. Even in our own little bubble, we manage to keep things fun and exciting. We were even lucky enough to get some free icy poles from a few Student Guild representatives on one of the hottest days of the semester. It’s hard to describe just how amazing it is to talk to and work with people who are as passionate as you are, and it’s what makes the whole editing process go a lot smoother. It’s like talking to an old friend that you haven’t seen in a long time; it’s easy, fun and welcoming.
In the Editorial Department, we are fortunate to be able to choose which parts of the editing process we want to be involved in. Our work is a group effort, assisting each other and providing multiple perspectives on edits, all while trying to accommodate everyone’s preferences. We also help the other departments by editing social media posts for the Marketing and Digital team, writing blurbs for the Design and Production team to include on book covers, editing author letters for the Acquisitions team, and more. The editorial team is deeply committed to and passionate about helping authors unlock the full potential of their work and see to it that their vision is brought to life.
There are a lot of moving parts when it comes to getting a book published. The Editorial Department’s job is to edit an author’s manuscript to make sure that it is the best it can be. Alongside Elephant Page Publishing’s other departments – Marketing and Digital, Acquisitions, and Design and Production – we work together to bring authors’ stories to life and get them into the hands of their intended readers.
Cheree Navales
Editorial Associate