What is developmental editing? While editing is the process of making corrections or modifications /organization /to various text/ image /audio preparations and making it presentable, developmental editing is specifically about the complete and wholistic evaluation of the matter. The copyediting work is usually done by a professional technical or non technical editor. Some of the different print and non print media materials the developmental editor may work with will include,

• Promotional /sales material
• White papers
• Nonfiction books
• Journal article
• Magazine articles
• Business proposal /documents
• Software manuals
• Online matter

What are the different aspects in the material that a developmental editor will actually look into? Well, to start with, he will have to find out the basic objectives of the author in writing the book and see if the manuscript does actually meet the requirements. Will the intended audience accept it? If not, it is the development editor's job to make changes and organize the content logically and appropriately. Other aspects that have to be seen into include the tone of the text and also the level of detail. Finally, the manuscript must be checked for clarity and correct grammar / punctuation etc. Choosing the right heading is also very important in determining the success of the intended book / article /document.

Proofreading of all edited documents is done before it is sent for final approval and publishing. Proof reading by itself has become a fine art today and requires and one must have a very keen sense for identifying and correction of mistakes. If the mistakes are too many, the entire article may have to be rewritten and also require further research. For doing an effective developmental editing work, the editor must be able to understand the author well and should work closely with him.

Managed Outsource Solutions (MOS) is a US based company that offers highly professional editing and proof reading services besides other services like, web design, content development, copy editing, translation services, legal transcription, and search engine optimization services to its clients in the US, Canada the UK and Australia.

Labels: copy editing, developmental editing, Editing and proof reading, writing and translation