Poorly edited manuscripts are the death-knell of nonfiction books. The 10 editing tips in this article will help you take your manuscript to the quality necessary to attract the interest of reputable professional editors who can truly take your book to the next level.

Nonfiction Editing

When it comes to nonfiction, all titles are expected to be at a high level of quality, regardless of your niche.

Nonfiction authors – even first-time authors – are considered experts in their field and as such they’ll be held to a higher standard of excellence than most other authors.

Professional vs. Self-Editing

Now, even though you could technically edit your own book and do a decent job, this is something that’s frowned upon by the industry.

The reason is that experts command a level of credibility that’s expected to be matched by their book content. As a result, traditional publishers have for decades set a very high bar for their nonfiction titles.

So, when your self-published book appears side by side with a traditionally published title in an online search, it has to compare favorably it will be labelled as amateurish.

In order to compete, you really have no choice but to hire the services of a professional editor. Yet, don’t look at this as an expense; look at it as an investment.

A professionally edited book will become a true ambassador of your expertise. With the global reach of distribution channels now available to you, your book will immediately travel around the world and open new markets for your business.

Therefore, you always want to ensure that you’re putting the best product you possibly can out there.

Editing Tips for Nonfiction Authors

The following ten self-editing tips will help you fine-tune your manuscript so that you can hand it over to your professional editor in the best possible shape.

This will not only improve the quality of your writing but also make it much easier for your editor to do their job.

Tip 1: Check for Grammatical Errors

Grammar is the set of rules that tells you how to put words together in a language. Breaking these rules makes readers feel awkward, almost as if you were communicating in a language they don’t fully understand.

More importantly, since nonfiction books are expected to be written by experts, they’re also expected to be free of grammatical errors.

The nature of these errors will make them stand out like a sore thumb, and interrupting your natural flow of ideas. Avoid them at all costs.

Here are some examples to consider:

• Wrong use of contractions: Writing “The system and all it’s component parts failed catastrophically.” instead of “The system and all its component parts failed catastrophically.”
• Verb applied to the wrong subject: Writing “The breadth of the chapters aren’t a good indicator of…” instead of “The breadth of the chapters isn’t a good indicator of…”
• Wrong use of verb “To let”: Writing “It’s better that he let’s them go ahead of time.” instead of “It’s better that he lets them go ahead of time.”
• Mixing up similar-sounding words: Writing “The two central ideas compliment each other perfectly.” instead of “The two central ideas complement each other perfectly.”
• Incorrect use of a split infinitive: Writing “She tried to desperately call for help when she…” instead of “She desperately tried to call for help when she…”

Here’s a good online resource to quickly brush up on grammar basics:

https://www.grammarbook.com/english_rules.asp

Tip 2: Check for Syntax Errors

Syntax errors are usually identified by looking at the order in which the different elements of a sentence are placed, and not necessarily by looking at whether grammar rules have been broken or not.

For example, you could have a sentence where all words are correctly spelled and don’t violate grammar rules and yet when you read the sentence it still sounds wrong, or it sounds right but the meaning is not what you originally intended.

Here are some examples:

• • Order of main sentence components: Writing “Glad she certainly is” (object > verb > subject) instead of “She is certainly glad” (subject > verb > object). Although neither is technically wrong, the syntax of the first sentence isn’t expected to come from a nonfiction author).
  • Unclear references: Writing “Susan was able to reach her friend, and she was glad she did” (who was glad, Susan or her friend?) instead of “Susan was glad she was able to reach her friend.”
  • Subject missing from the sentence: Writing “After scanning through all the data, major discrepancies were unearthed” (who unearthed the discrepancies?) instead of “After scanning through all the data, the researcher unearthed major discrepancies”

Tip 3: Check for Punctuation Errors

Punctuation errors are subtler than grammar or syntax errors, which makes them more difficult to detect. However, they’re central to the quality expected from a work of nonfiction.

Here are some examples:

• Missing commas: Writing “Fortunately for his family he was expected to live without further complications.” instead of “Fortunately for his family, he was expected to live without further complications.”
• A misplaced comma that changes the meaning of a sentence: Writing “The travelers, who missed their connection, were given meal vouchers” (i.e. all travelers were given meal vouchers) has a completely different meaning than writing “The travelers who missed their connection, were given meal vouchers” (i.e. only some travelers were given meal vouchers).
• Unnecessary use of commas: Writing “This clearly wasn’t the best decision, because key data points were missing from the analysis” instead of “This clearly wasn’t the best decision because key data points were missing from the analysis.”

Tip 4: Check for Capitalization Errors

Capitalization is one of those areas where rules aren’t always understood by everyone or aren’t consistently applied.

Of course, there are the basic rules everybody knows, like you should always capitalize proper nouns, such as names of people, names of places, names of organizations, etc., but there are other lesser-known rules you need to be familiar with as well.

Here are some examples:

• Capitalize names of historical events
• Capitalize names of days and months
• Capitalize people’s titles when they appear in front of their name
• Capitalize names of holidays
• Capitalize the first letter of a sentence enclosed in quotation marks

Now, the secret is to know how to capitalize the words inside titles or headings since they’re ubiquitous in nonfiction books.

Here are some general rules:

Always Capitalize:

• Verbs (do, be, come), Nouns (clinic, procedure, data), Pronouns (she, it, they), Subordinating Conjunctions (although, because, after), Adverbs (peacefully, suddenly, firmly), Adjectives (hard, deafening, short), Prepositions longer than 4 letters (during, beneath, across)
• The first and last words of a title or heading

Never Capitalize:

• Prepositions shorter than 5 letters (from, by, at)
• Articles (the, a, an)
• Coordinating Conjunctions (and, or, for)

Tip 5: Check for Hyphenation Errors

Hyphens are a unique type of punctuation mark. They’re used for connecting words or numbers that need to be related. Sometimes these groupings stand on their own and other times they’re used to modify a noun.

Here are some examples of hyphenation rules:

• Hyphenate compound adjectives (four-digit code, well-behaved child, open-minded person)
• Hyphenate words indicating a period of time when used as a modifier to a noun (twenty-seven-year-old man, fifty-year-old car, two-year-old toddler)
• Hyphenate ranges of numbers (3-5, 20%-40%, $15-$20)
• Hyphenate spelled out numerical fractions (two-thirds, one-half, three-quarters)

Tip 6: Check for Inaccurate Statements

When quoting statements, facts or figures in your manuscript, you always need to double and triple check for inaccuracies.

Sometimes it could be something as simple as a typo or a missing a figure (e.g. writing “Over 370,000 people die in road crashes each year in the U.S.” instead of “Over 37,000 people die in road crashes each year in the U.S.”).

Many times, however, inaccuracies are due to erroneous information originating from the source. Always make sure to check your information with multiple sources to find agreement and therefore weed out potential errors.

If you don’t do this thorough checking yourself, one of your readers will and cause you great embarrassment, or worse yet, it may call your book’s thesis into question.

Tip 7: Check for Proper Wording

Your nonfiction book will be addressed to a specific target audience so you need to use language that they fully understand.

If you use words above the level of your target audience, not only may they not understand the meaning, but also they may think that the writing is pretentious or even condescending.

On the other hand, if you use words that are below the level of your target audience, they may deem your book to be amateurish.

You need to know your target audience very well in advance of writing your book, ensuring that you choose the right language to make your communication smooth and efficient.

Now, there’s no right or wrong here. What works great with one audience won’t work at all with another. Your goal is to know the level of language that works well with your audience.

For example, more often than not you can’t assume people know the meanings of acronyms or abbreviations, so it’s usually a good idea to spell them out – unless you’re writing for a specialized audience like forex traders, where it would be frowned upon to spell them out (the word “forex” is a good example).

The rule is to always know your audience and write to their level of comprehension.

Tip 8: Check for Unnecessary Adjectives

Adjectives are literary devices that can be used to add color and layers to a narrative.

They work extremely well in fiction, where the goal is to “show, don’t tell,” allowing readers to experience the story through their senses rather than their intellect (fiction works primarily by enticing readers to suspend their disbelief).

But in the world of nonfiction, where critical thinking tends to take center stage, the excessive use of adjectives may have the opposite effect. At best they may be tolerated, but at worst they’ll make your writing feel amateurish.

As an expert in your field, this isn’t a feeling you want to trigger. The solution is to use adjectives sparsely and only when they add meaning and value to your writing.

If removing an adjective doesn’t change the overall meaning of your sentence, then it’s probably a good idea to keep it out. The best nonfiction books are known for their simplicity and their economy of words.

The more unnecessary words that you take out, the cleaner and clearer your text will be. For example, instead of writing: “He didn’t have any meaningful prior experience running a company of any size” write: “He didn’t have any experience running companies.”

The reworked sentence is almost half the size of the original (7 words vs. 13) without any real loss of information.

Tip 9: Check for Unnecessary Adverbs

In the same way that adjectives are used to qualify nouns, adverbs are used to qualify verbs.

This is another literary device that can be used to paint a more vivid picture in a fiction author’s narrative, but when overused it can become a nuisance to nonfiction readers.

The goal in nonfiction is to eliminate any words or groups of words that add redundancy to your text. In this genre, less is always more.

By their nature, there’s usually so much actionable information packed into nonfiction books that the excessive use of words can truly make the reading feel tortured.

For example, the sentence: “We always assume that if something absolutely makes sense to us then it must undoubtedly make sense to everybody else” can be easily rewritten as: “We always assume that if something makes sense to us then it must make sense to everybody else.”

By removing two unnecessary adverbs (“absolutely” and “undoubtedly”) we have a sentence that conveys the same meaning and feels much cleaner and to the point.

Tip 10: Proofread Your Manuscript

The last step, before you hand your manuscript over to your editor, is to do a final, fine-tooth-comb pass checking for:

• Typos (spellcheck errors, incorrect use of words – e.g. “their” instead of “there,” or “too” instead of “to”).
• Inconsistencies in your formatting – e.g. some numbered lists use letters, some use roman numerals and some use numbers.
• Punctuation errors – e.g. missing periods, a double comma, etc.
• Incorrect external references – e.g. a reference that points to the wrong article.
• Incorrect internal references – e.g. Chapter 3 has a section that refers to Chapter 6, except that the old Chapter 6 is now Chapter 5.
• Caption errors – e.g. two images in different parts of the book have exactly the same caption.

Wrapping Up

Before you hand over your completed manuscript to your professional editor, use the above tip sheet to make sure that it’s as free of errors as possible.

If you don’t do this work ahead of time then your editor will, unnecessarily increasing the size of your final bill.

Next Steps

Now that you’ve produced the best manuscript you possibly can, it’s time to turn things over to the professionals to help you level the playing field with traditionally published nonfiction books.

To help you select the ideal candidate for the job, I’ve created the following companion article: “How to Find a Book Editor that’s Perfect for Your Nonfiction Book”.

Good luck!

If you enjoyed this article and are in the process of writing a nonfiction book, be sure to check out my free nonfiction success guide, drawn from years of experience editing books for bestselling authors (including a New York Times bestseller) and ghostwriting for CEOs and politicians. Simply click here to get instant access.

Ben

Leave me a comment below if you have any questions or a specific need that I can help you address – I operate an author services firm that specializes in helping entrepreneurs, professionals and business owners who want to publish books as a calling card for prospects, to establish their status as an expert or to just to generate additional leads for their businesses.

Here are some related posts I highly recommend:

How Long Does it Take to Write a Book to Help Grow Your Business?

The 10 Must-Have Writing Skills for Nonfiction Authors

The 7 Key Rules for Writers of Outstanding Nonfiction Books

Learn 10 Powerful Writing Habits to Fast Track Your Nonfiction Book

How Do I Promote My Self-Published Nonfiction Book?

Bennett R. Coles is an award-winning author of six books published through Harper Collins (New York) and Titan Publishing Group (London). He is also the publisher at Promontory Press, editor for multiple bestselling authors (including a NY Times bestseller), ghostwriter for CEOs and politicians and the founder of Cascadia Author Services, a boutique full-service firm that specializes in premium author services specifically designed for busy professionals. Our end-to-end services include writer coaching, ghostwriting, editing, proofing, cover design, book layout, eBook production, marketing, printing and distribution.

There are five critical book editing benefits for nonfiction writers that’ll make the difference between a book that takes your business or your career to the next level and a book that’s destined for obscurity.

A non-edited (or non-professionally edited) nonfiction manuscript is not only not worth publishing, but could also be dangerous to your professional reputation. Nonfiction books can make overnight experts of their authors and demand a high level of professionalism.

Why You Need to Hire a Professional Editor

The nonfiction genre is highly competitive. While you’re publishing your book to offer a new and unique approach to a problem afflicting your audience, anyone searching for a book will be bombarded by the release of thousands of other titles competing for attention.

The good news is that the vast majority of those books will be self-published without the help of a professional editor and will therefore be dismissed by poor reviews and bad word of mouth.

For this reason, it’s imperative that you belong in the exclusive club of well-edited books so that your message can stand out from the crowd.

A professional editor will ensure that your book shines and becomes a valuable proxy for your expertise. A well-edited book will swing open many doors of opportunity, from landing new clients to opening entire new markets.

The 5 Book Editing Benefits for Nonfiction Writers

Nonfiction books are expected to hit several markers for quality, and this is a job that’s ideally suited for professional editors. They’ll offer the following five benefits that will help you take your book to the next level:

Benefit 1: Message Delivery

Nonfiction books sell well when they’re able to connect with their readers and deliver a strong message in full alignment with their needs.

Although your book will by design be targeted to a specific audience, unless it’s edited in a way they can easily understand at their level, it’ll simply fail to engage them.

If your message is buried under a mountain of research and information (as relevant as they might be to your topic), it won’t reach the very people that it’s intended for. Fortunately, help is readily available.

Developmental editors are trained on message delivery. They’ll help you engage with your target audience while also bringing out your author voice.

They’ll focus on your flow of ideas and the overall structure of your book, and then they’ll help you connect with your target audience so that you can deliver a compelling message to them.

Benefit 2: Clarity

For your message to be delivered effectively it needs to be crystal clear to your audience. This is the job of the content editor.

They’ll scan your manuscript for readability and style, for example by highlighting any phrases that are clunky or hard to read, adjusting paragraphs that are unclear, fixing run-on sentences, etc.

Since nonfiction books usually include textual and graphical elements, a content editor will also recommend the best placement for any illustrations, images, graphs and tables in order to make your message flow more clearly.

Benefit 3: Accuracy

Once your message is delivered in a clear way, the focus needs to change to accuracy. As the expression says, “the devil is in the details,” so you’ll need to ensure that all the facts and figures in your book are accurate and error free.

The accuracy of the information in nonfiction books is central to the credibility of the experts who’ve written them. If you don’t double and triple check the accuracy of your book’s content, rest assured that your readers will.

Luckily for you, there’s an entire branch of professional editors who are trained on this important function: Copyeditors.

For starters, they’ll ensure the accuracy of the language in your manuscript by correcting spelling, punctuation, grammar, syntax, capitalization, and other types of common errors.

Then they’ll identify and correct factually inaccurate statements (e.g. stating “Over 370,000 people die in road crashes each year in the U.S.” instead of “Over 37,000 people die in road crashes each year in the U.S.”).

They’ll also check for misattributed quotes and names that contain errors and check for other inconsistencies, such as enclosing a phrase with double quotes on one side and single quotes on the other.

Finally, they’ll flag potential legal issues, such as libelous statements, copyright or trademark infringement, etc., so that you can make the necessary changes to be protected from legal action.

Benefit 4: Quality

Now your manuscript is almost there, but there’s a final check you need to run. You’ll need to engage the services of a professional proofreader to do a final quality check before your book goes to print.

Sometimes we think as authors that we don’t need a proofreading pass, especially after working with professional editors. In fact, after re-reading our manuscript several times without catching typos we feel everything should be good to go.

But the reality is that it’s never good to go at this stage and here’s why: Our brains are capable of processing missing information and filling in the blanks based on pre-established patterns in order to provide our lives with continuity.

So, for example, if you’ve read the phrase “There are other fish in the sea” a hundred times before, then if you’re reading a book at a good clip and you come up with “Their are other fish in the sea” your brain may not even register the typo.

The difference between professional proofreaders and authors is that the former are trained not to get caught up in the “story” so they can remain focused on the mechanics of the words instead.

In this way, they’re able to apply a virtual “fine-tooth comb” to your words to catch the stragglers that manage to get through all previous filters.

This is a critical function, because once your book goes to print and gets published, there’s no going back without incurring high cost, embarrassment or both.

Benefit 5: Professionalism

Finally, the overarching benefit of professional editing is just that: Professionalism. The best and most prolific writers in the world wouldn’t dare to put out a book without it having gone through the hands of an editor.

The reason is that they’re simply too close to the words themselves to look at them objectively. It always takes a second pair of eyes to see things clearly.

The professionalism infused by expert editors will produce a manuscript superior to anything an author could produce on their own, no matter how experienced they may be.

In this age of online book searches, where your book will likely appear side-by-side with traditionally published titles in your subject area, the bar you need to meet will be very high.

The professional touch afforded to books by a competent editor will make any other title that’s not professionally edited feel amateurish in comparison.

Also keep in mind that your investment in an editor will be an investment in your reputation, which will pay out great dividends over time since nonfiction books have a very long shelf life.

Next Steps

Now. It’s time to begin your search for a good nonfiction book editor. This companion article will help you get started:“How to Find A Book Editor That’s Perfect For Your Nonfiction Book”.

If you enjoyed this article and are in the process of writing a nonfiction book, be sure to check out my free nonfiction success guide, drawn from years of experience editing books for bestselling authors (including a New York Times bestseller) and ghostwriting for CEOs and politicians. Simply click here to get instant access.

Ben

Leave me a comment below if you have any questions or a specific need that I can help you address – I operate an author services firm that specializes in helping entrepreneurs, professionals and business owners who want to publish books as a calling card for prospects, to establish their status as an expert or to just to generate additional leads for their businesses.

Here are some related posts I highly recommend:

How Long Does it Take to Write a Book to Help Grow Your Business?

The 10 Must-Have Writing Skills for Nonfiction Authors

The 7 Key Rules for Writers of Outstanding Nonfiction Books

Learn 10 Powerful Writing Habits to Fast Track Your Nonfiction Book

Bennett R. Coles is an award-winning author of six books published through Harper Collins (New York) and Titan Publishing Group (London). He is also the publisher at Promontory Press, editor for multiple bestselling authors (including a NY Times bestseller), ghostwriter for CEOs and politicians and the founder of Cascadia Author Services, a boutique full-service firm that specializes in premium author services specifically designed for busy professionals. Our end-to-end services include writer coaching, ghostwriting, editing, proofing, cover design, book layout, eBook production, marketing, printing and distribution.

The best way to edit a book in the nonfiction genre is to first perform one or more self-editing passes, and then to hand it over to a professional editor to get it ready it for publication.

Let’s discuss next why your book needs both types of editing and why they complement each other so well.

Self Editing vs. Professional Editing

The most efficient way of writing nonfiction is by doing it from a stream of consciousness. That is, by choosing a topic from your book outline and then letting the words “flow out” unimpeded from your mind and onto the page.

The reason this technique works so well is that the content you’re about to write is already stored in your brain. In other words, you don’t need to create something out of thin air but instead tap into a deep well of knowledge and experience.

Now, writing from a stream of consciousness isn’t centered on quality but quantity. The idea here isn’t to pre-judge what you’re writing as you write it but to just let it flow unimpeded.

What this means is that you’ll have to do a fair bit of self-editing when you’re done.

Typically, it’s most efficient to begin your self-editing passes when you complete a sizable chapter section, but not before (say, 1,000-2,000 words long). You want to at least have an idea developed from beginning to end before you begin rewriting it.

But keep in mind that when you’re done self-editing your book, it won’t be ready yet for publication. You’ll need to hire a professional nonfiction editor to bring the quality of your writing up to the standards expected in the nonfiction book trade.

Different Types of Editing

Professional editing is divided into four distinct stages:

• First Stage: Developmental Editing. Developmental editors look at the overall structure of your book. Their goal is to ensure that your message is being successfully delivered to your target audience.
• Second Stage: Content Editing. Content editors are focused more on readability than structure. They ensure that paragraphs and sentences in your manuscript are well constructed and that the flow of your ideas is clear.
• Third Stage: Copyediting. Copy editors make certain that you’re using accurate language in your manuscript with no spelling, punctuation, capitalization, hyphenation, syntax or grammatical errors.
• Fourth Stage: Proofreading. Proofreaders provide the fine-tooth-comb check that catches any typos that were missed in all prior stages to ensure your book is error-free before going to print.

The Importance of Professional Editing

The need to hire a professional editor is not a poor reflection of your self-editing skills, but a demand of the book market. There are two key reasons why you should hire an editor instead of doing the job yourself or farming it out to friends and family.

First of all, your book will be competing with traditionally published books edited by professionals and you simply won’t be able to complete unless you hire one too.

The ubiquity of Amazon as the world’s largest online bookstore, as well as the world’s largest book search engine, has made it possible for savvy self-published authors to prime Amazon’s product ranking algorithm so that their books appear side-by-side with the pros in the business.

That means that a book search on your subject matter will likely bring up your title among many traditionally published books in your niche. Assuming that your title and cover are as compelling as theirs, buyer selection will come down to writing quality.

The second reason is that your nonfiction book will turn you into an expert in your field; therefore, it’ll become a proxy for your expertise and by extension your professional reputation.

Fair or not, if your book is poorly edited your reputation will take a hit, since readers will assume that a lack of attention to detail in the writing (e.g. poor grammatical choices, typos, punctuation errors, etc.) is indicative of your lack of professionalism.

7 Steps to Edit a Nonfiction Book

With this discussion out of the way, let’s now focus on some best self-editing practices that you need to master in order to edit your manuscript as a pro.

Step 1: Correct Grammatical Errors

Nonfiction books are expected to pass a high bar for quality. This must be reflected both in the way your book looks and in the way it reads.

Readers have the expectation that all titles in this genre are written by experts and demand a high level of execution. Grammatical errors reflect the opposite of this expectation.

These types of errors can create some awkward moments (e.g. writing: “He excepted the fact that…” instead of: “He accepted the fact that…”), and sometimes even cringe-worthy reactions (e.g. writing: “Its clear that…” instead of: “It’s clear that…”) which make readers uncomfortable.

Here are some other common grammatical errors:

• Writing: “Lets use this system for…” instead of: “Let’s use this system for…”
• Writing: “A critical element in most illnesses are…” instead of: “A critical element in most illnesses is…”
• Writing: “They tried to quickly extinguish the fire when…” instead of: “They tried to extinguish the fire quickly when…”

To minimize these occurrences, acquaint yourself with the most frequently used rules of grammar before you begin to write your manuscript.

Now, you don’t need to know every possible grammar rule (some can be very obscure); your professional editor will take care of the outliers. But at least you should learn the basics.

The following website is a good starting point:

https://www.grammarbook.com/english_rules.asp

Step 2: Correct Syntax Errors

If grammar is centered on correct language, syntax is centered on correct structure.

By using proper syntax rules you’ll be ensuring that your sentences are written clearly, with all elements in the correct order for optimum reading.

While the order in which subjects, verbs and objects are expected to be placed can be altered in creative genres (Yoda’s amusing speech patterns come to mind), nonfiction requires established syntax structures.

For example, although there’s nothing technically wrong with the expression “At this conclusion we’re arriving because…” we’d never dare use anything other than, “We’re arriving at this conclusion because…” in nonfiction.

Here are some examples of common syntax errors:

• Missing subjects, e.g. writing: “In looking at the results, glaring errors were discovered” instead of: “In looking at the results, the doctor discovered glaring errors”
• Vague references, e.g. writing: “When the student finally connected with her teacher, she was delighted.” (who was delighted?) instead of: “The student was delighted when she finally connected with her teacher.”

Step 3: Correct Punctuation Errors

In addition to complying with grammar and syntax rules, you also need to pay close attention to the correct use of punctuation rules. These rules, while subtler, are important to help readers understand the author’s intent.

Here are some common examples of punctuation errors:

• Missing commas, e.g. writing: “In any event what works best in that case is…” instead of: “In any event, what works best in that case is…”
• Unnecessary commas, e.g. writing: “The problem couldn’t be solved in the end, because a key element was missing” instead of: “The problem couldn’t be solved in the end because a key element was missing”

Step 4: Correct Capitalization Errors

Capitalization rules tend to be more stylistic in nature, but they’re central to well-written language and play an important role in nonfiction.

As a general guideline, here are some examples of words that you need to capitalize:

• Names of people, organizations and places
• Names of historical events
• Names of days and months
• People’s titles when they appear in front of their name
• Initials and acronyms
• Names of college degrees
• Product brands
• Names of institutions and government agencies
• Names of holidays
• The first letter of a title without exceptions (this includes typically un-capitalized articles and prepositions)
• The first letter of every word in a title with some exceptions (typically articles and prepositions, with additional word-length rules)
• The first letter of a sentence enclosed in quotation marks
• The first letter of a word preceded by a period

Step 5: Correct Hyphenation Errors

Even subtler yet are hyphenation rules. When used improperly, the negative effects are not as stark as grammatical errors, but your readers can still tell that something isn’t quite right.

Here are some examples of hyphenation rules:

• Hyphenate multiple words that are grouped together as a single modifier to a noun (e.g. “This is a best-in-show category”)
• Hyphenate multiple words indicating a period of time that are used together as a modifier to a noun (e.g. “That thirty-year-old man is looking for work”)
• Hyphenate numerical fractions when spelled out (e.g. “Two-thirds, three-quarters, etc.”)

Although hyphens have traditionally been used to follow a prefix, the current trend is to remove these types of hyphens if possible (e.g. writing: “Ex spouse” instead of: “Ex-spouse”).

Step 6: Eliminate Unnecessary Adjectives and Adverbs

Although adjectives and adverbs can be used to great effect as descriptive devices in the world or fiction, the best nonfiction practice is to minimize their use.

The test is: if their removal doesn’t change the meaning of your sentence, then it’s safe to remove them.

Here’s an example of the unnecessary use of adverbs:

Instead of writing: “We assume that if something absolutely makes sense to us then it must undoubtedly make sense to everybody else” write: “We assume that if something makes sense to us then it must make sense to everybody else.”

Here’s an example of the unnecessary use of adjectives:

Instead of writing: “He didn’t have any meaningful prior experience running a company of any size” write: “He didn’t have any experience running companies.”

Step 7: Proofread Your Manuscript

Once you’ve removed as many errors as possible following the best practices shown in steps 1-6, it’s time to go through your entire manuscript with a fine-tooth comb to look for typos and other inconsistencies.

Your goal when proofreading is to do a surface read that doesn’t focus on the substance of the text but on the words themselves.

If you focus on your content when reading, you’ll miss many typos because your brain is focused on understanding the substance in your writing and will ignore typos for the sake of your comprehension.

What you need to focus on instead is a surface read-through that isolates words from the content so you can catch as many typos as possible.

Wrapping Up

By implementing the above seven steps, you’ll be ensuring that your professional editor receives a top-notch manuscript ready to be polished, without having to needlessly spend time fixing common errors that’ll unnecessarily increase your bill.

Next Steps

Once your manuscript is professionally edited, it’s time to move on to the next critical stage of the self-publishing process: Book Production.

Here are two articles to get you thinking in this direction:

• 10 Nonfiction Book Layout Tips That Will Glue Your Audience to the Page
• 5 Book Cover Design Principles for Nonfiction Books

Good luck!

If you enjoyed this article and are in the process of writing a nonfiction book, be sure to check out my free nonfiction success guide, drawn from years of experience editing books for bestselling authors (including a New York Times bestseller) and ghostwriting for CEOs and politicians. Simply click here to get instant access.

Ben

Leave me a comment below if you have any questions or a specific need that I can help you address – I operate an author services firm that specializes in helping entrepreneurs, professionals and business owners who want to publish books as a calling card for prospects, to establish their status as an expert or to just to generate additional leads for their businesses.

Here are some related posts I highly recommend:

How to Write a Compelling Book in 12 Steps: A Must-Read Guide for Nonfiction Authors

How Long Does it Take to Write a Book to Help Grow Your Business?

The 10 Must-Have Writing Skills for Nonfiction Authors

The 7 Key Rules for Writers of Outstanding Nonfiction Books

Learn 10 Powerful Writing Habits to Fast Track Your Nonfiction Book

How Do I Promote My Self-Published Nonfiction Book?

Bennett R. Coles is an award-winning author of six books published through Harper Collins (New York) and Titan Publishing Group (London). He is also the publisher at Promontory Press, editor for multiple bestselling authors (including a NY Times bestseller), ghostwriter for CEOs and politicians and the founder of Cascadia Author Services, a boutique full-service firm that specializes in premium author services specifically designed for busy professionals. Our end-to-end services include writer coaching, ghostwriting, editing, proofing, cover design, book layout, eBook production, marketing, printing and distribution.

If you do an online search for book-editing tips, you’ll find that most advice is targeted to fiction writers, since the vast majority of self-published books falls under this popular category.

The problem is that if you’re writing a nonfiction book, much of the fiction editing advice that’s offered online won’t apply to you. In fact, in certain cases the guidelines for fiction can be the exact opposite of what you need.

In this article, you’ll learn ten editing tips that are exclusively targeted to nonfiction writers like you.

Nonfiction vs. Fiction Editing

In the world of fiction, the goal for writers is to engage readers by inviting them to suspend their disbelief and embrace the emotional journey of the book’s characters.

The main mission for these writers is to entertain readers through fictitious adventures, helping them take a temporary break from the “real” world.

The goal of nonfiction writers, on the other hand, is to help readers deal head-on with actual problems in the real world. Their mission is to be of service.

As a result of this contrast, the editing requirements for both genres are very different.

Nonfiction Book Editing Tips

Here are ten editing tips that will help your nonfiction book stand out from the crowd:

Tip 1: Write First to Connect, then to Inform

The success of a nonfiction title isn’t measured in its ability to inform (although this is something that’s certainly important) but by its ability to connect with a target audience.

If your editing is just focused on content at the expense of connection, you may have a hard time retaining readers. Connection leads to engagement and engagement leads to interest.

When you edit your nonfiction book, you have to ensure that your language is embedded with “connective tissue,” such as making prominent use of the second person, relaying information through stories that your readers can identify with, and being authentic and vulnerable in your writing.

Tip 2: Minimize the Use of the Passive Voice

In order to create a strong connection with your readers, you’ll need to minimize the use of the passive voice and use active verbs as much as possible. For example, you should write: “I decided to…” Instead of “It was decided to…”

The active voice is direct and is perceived by readers to be more honest. Using the passive voice, on the other hand, makes you sound like you’re trying to hide behind your words, adding an unnecessary layer of anonymity to your message.

The use of the active voice is also better aligned with your authenticity as a writer. Being in charge of your statements instead of hiding behind them requires that you become vulnerable in front of your readers.

This vulnerability shows them that you’re not afraid to be who you are and that you’re confident owning up to your expertise in the subject. These are all necessary traits to build trust with your audience.

Tip 3: Avoid Run-On Sentences and Long Paragraphs

The ability to connect with an audience must by nature rely on clarity. Authenticity is certainly a starting point, but if your writing doesn’t allow for frequent pauses to allow readers to process the information, you’ll quickly begin to lose them.

Although writing with authenticity builds trust, poor writing technique erodes it very quickly. Readers aren’t just trusting you with their connection but also with their time.

You need to be mindful of this and create sentences and paragraphs of a length that allows your content to be read, processed and understood clearly.

Your information must be broken into blocks of text that are long enough to be meaningful but short enough to be easily digested by your readers.

How short? It depends on your target audience and their level of sophistication. Remember that you’re not writing your book for yourself or for your colleagues, but for your readers.

Research your target audience well and meet them where they are. Help them solve their problems using language that resonates with them.

Tip 4: Always Use Clean Language – Don’t Embellish

When you take your readers down the path from problem to solution, you don’t want to pepper it with debris. Your choice of words will make the difference between a smooth surface and speed bumps on the road.

Don’t embellish your words to make them sound more “important” than they are. This is a practice that usually backfires because it makes your writing sound pretentious and therefore inauthentic.

While it’s clear that writing requires a different skill-set than talking, you want your writing to “sound” conversational in people’s heads when they read it. If it feels too formal your connection may suffer.

For example, instead of writing “This is a seemingly insurmountable problem that’s faced by the vast majority of people,” write “This is a difficult problem that afflicts countless people.”

Tip 5: Avoid Using Adjectives in Excess

The same goes for the excessive use of adjectives in your sentences. Adjectives should only be used to qualify a noun when doing so adds value to your message.

The best test to verify the need for adjectives in a sentence is to take them out and see if the meaning changes. If there’s no meaningful change, then it’s a sign that they need to be removed.

Unnecessary adjectives become speed bumps for readers because not only do they not add value to your sentences, but they also dilute the value that’s already there.

For example, instead of writing “He didn’t have any meaningful prior experience running companies,” write “He didn’t have any experience running companies.”

Tip 6: Avoid Using Adverbs in Excess

The excessive use of adverbs is another area that can muddy the clarity and impact of your message. In the same way that adjectives are used to qualify nouns, adverbs are used to quality verbs.

Although they can help paint a more defined and nuanced picture in fiction writing (if used well), this is seldom the case for nonfiction writing. Most times, your sentences will read better when you take adverbs out.

Here’s an example: instead of writing, “We assume that if something absolutely makes sense to us then it must undoubtedly make sense to everybody else,” write, “We assume that if something makes sense to us then it must make sense to everybody else.”

Tip 7: Don’t Write to Fill Space

While it’s a good writing practice to set a word-count target every time you sit down to write, shooting for a daily word-count isn’t a license to write for the sake of writing.

Clarity is a hallmark of good nonfiction. Filler words or filler phrases that don’t add value to your message break your flow of ideas, waste your reader’s time and lead to reader attrition.

Whenever you put something down on paper, make sure it has a clear purpose and that it adds value to your message. Now, it’s easy to write just to fill a page and it’s much harder to write with meaning all the time.

Fortunately, there’s a straightforward formula you can use to keep you from writing filler content: focus on writing with simplicity.

Now, this doesn’t mean using the “lowest common denominator” approach to language. Instead, it means using an economy of words so that each one has a clear purpose.

The best-written nonfiction books are also the most highlighted by readers. They’re chock-full of meaning and valuable information with no “filler” language.

These are books that tend to linger for a long time on people’s bedside tables for quick reference. To enter your book into this exclusive club, make sure that every word and sentence that you use has a reason for being there.

Tip 8: Use Conversational Language

Part of creating a strong connection with your readers is the choice of language that you use when communicating with them.

You now understand that your message has to always be clear, devoid of “flowery” language or unnecessary words that act as speed bumps to your reader’s comprehension.

But it must also be delivered in a conversational way. If your writing is too formal or too academic it might not resonate with readers, even if it conveys your message adequately.

When people read your book, they’re trying to process your information and they don’t appreciate also having to interpret your language.

Although writing is a completely different skill than talking, when people read a nonfiction book their minds interpret the book as a conversation with the author.

The lack of simple and direct language creates a disconnect in people’s minds that may hinder how they process information. For this reason, you need to write your book in a conversational tone.

You want your book’s message to be absorbed by your readers with as little “mental translation” as possible. The use of conversational language will create the most direct pathway to their comprehension.

Tip 9: Take the Time to Learn the Rules of Grammar

Before you sit down to write, take the time to learn the basic rules of grammar. There’s nothing more distracting than writing language that’s awkward to read and then having to stop frequently to fix it.

You want to set the conditions so that you can write from a stream of consciousness – that’s how inspiration works best – so it’ll really pay dividends to make the basic rules of grammar second nature to you so that you can write with more freedom.

These rules aren’t that difficult to master. In fact, you’ll likely be familiar with many of them already.

Now, there are lots of free resources on the Internet you can use to expand on this knowledge. Here’s a popular one to get you started:

https://www.grammarbook.com/english_rules.asp

Tip 10: Don’t be Afraid to Slash and Burn

Finally, nonfiction writing is like shooting a film; you want to have a lot of scenes to choose from when you get into the editing room.

Always write from a stream of consciousness to create a direct pathway from your brain down to the page. Don’t censor your writing when it wants to freely come out.

If your raw (unedited) original text is twice the word count you were planning for your book, you’re doing great!

A lot of that content will likely not make it to the final product, but you don’t know yet which part will get there and which part will end up on the cutting-room floor.

In the end, the more material you have to work with the better your book will be. For example, you may write an entire section in your first chapter that ends up not working out in chapter one but fits chapter seven like a glove.

If you limit the amount of content that you produce at the source, then you’ll be forced to constantly write new content to make up for this deficit, which over time will feel like the yardstick is constantly moving.

But if you have a lot of material to work with, you’ll have the creative freedom to trim it and shape it down to the perfect size. This “slash and burn” approach is conducive to a much better end-product.

What to Do After the Editing is Completed?

Once your self-editing and rewrite phase is completed, it’s time to hire a professional nonfiction editor to do the final polish. Your personal editing isn’t sufficient to go to print with because as the author you’re just too close to the text.

You need a fresh pair of eyes, especially one that’s fully trained in the rules of grammar and style that are applicable to nonfiction, in order to turn your book into a product that can effectively compete in the marketplace.

Publishing a nonfiction book has a lot of upside for authors, but only if it’s professionally edited.

In fact, even the most experienced and celebrated nonfiction authors have an editor behind them. They know that, not unlike you, they’re too close to their text to be an objective arbiter.

What Are the Best Channels to Self-Publish Nonfiction?

By far the most powerful distribution channel for self-published nonfiction is Amazon. Their global reach and low barriers to entry will allow your book to be available to a worldwide audience for a minimal distribution cost.

Not only that, they’ve set up a global network of on-demand printing facilities that can print your book in near-real time after an order is received and then ship it domestically to the buyer.

This technology is offered free of charge to all self-publishers and affords them global reach for not only eBooks but also printed books, which is a game-changer in the industry.

The second most powerful distribution channel is IngramSpark, which is the perfect complement for Amazon. This company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Ingram, the largest book distributor to brick-and-mortar bookstores and libraries in the world.

If you self-publish your nonfiction book concurrently on both platforms, you’ll gain the best of both worlds – distribution through the largest online bookstore on Earth as well as worldwide distribution to physical bookstores and libraries.

Incidentally, IngramSpark also operates a global network of on-demand printing facilities that can print to order and ship books to customers for low domestic prices.

How About Book Promotion?

Although you might not be thinking about book promotion at this early stage, it’s a good idea to give it at least some thought now because the most effective book promotion strategies require a long lead time to come to fruition.

Without getting into the details here, I recommend that you read my companion article “Learn How to Market a Nonfiction Book to Get Solid Results” to begin formulating your thoughts now so that you aren’t faced with an unpleasant surprise later on when you’re unable to turn back the clock.

Next Steps

Once your professional editing pass is complete, it’s time to look for professional book designers to create the inside layout as well as your book cover.

For the same reason you need an expert editor you need expert designers, because your book will have to compete head-to-head with traditionally published nonfiction books in your niche.

Back in the day, brick-and-mortar bookstore buyers decided what books would make it onto the shelf and what books wouldn’t, and self-published books hardly ever managed to make it through this gate-keeping filter.

Today, the shelf has moved online, it’s virtually unlimited in size, and the gatekeeper has become a software algorithm. The great news for you is that you can become as proficient as traditional publishers in getting favorable treatment by this electronic gatekeeper – the rules are exactly the same for every publisher who’s savvy enough to learn them.

But this means that if you play your game right and you end up displayed side by side with more established books on an Amazon search, you’ll have to look as good as they do. Since they all use professionals book designers, you’ll have to hire one as well in order to compete.

The upside is that even though your publishing expenses will increase as a result, the return on your investment will be much higher as more and more book buyers compare you favorably with your competitors.

I wish you the best on your publishing journey!

If you enjoyed this article and are in the process of writing a nonfiction book, be sure to check out my free nonfiction success guide, drawn from years of experience editing books for bestselling authors (including a New York Times bestseller) and ghostwriting for CEOs and politicians. Simply click here to get instant access.

Ben

Leave me a comment below if you have any questions or a specific need that I can help you address – I operate an author services firm that specializes in helping entrepreneurs, professionals and business owners who want to publish books as a calling card for prospects, to establish their status as an expert or to just to generate additional leads for their businesses.

Here are some related posts I highly recommend:

How to Write a Compelling Book in 12 Steps: A Must-Read Guide for Nonfiction Authors

How Long Does it Take to Write a Book to Help Grow Your Business?

The 10 Must-Have Writing Skills for Nonfiction Authors

The 7 Key Rules for Writers of Outstanding Nonfiction Books

Learn 10 Powerful Writing Habits to Fast Track Your Nonfiction Book

How to Come Up With Great Book Ideas For Business Owners

Bennett R. Coles is an award-winning author of six books published through Harper Collins (New York) and Titan Publishing Group (London). He is also the publisher at Promontory Press, editor for multiple bestselling authors (including a NY Times bestseller), ghostwriter for CEOs and politicians and the founder of Cascadia Author Services, a boutique full-service firm that specializes in premium author services specifically designed for busy professionals. Our end-to-end services include writer coaching, ghostwriting, editing, proofing, cover design, book layout, eBook production, marketing, printing and distribution.