Is Editing Cheaper the Second Time Around?

Dear journal authors, both those who are native speakers of English and those who are non-native speakers of English:

Sometimes after I have edited an article for you and you have submitted it to a journal, the journal then requests that you revise it for science-related reasons rather than language-related reasons. And then you ask me to edit the revisions before you resubmit your article. Does that mean I am going to edit just the sections that you tell me you have revised?

No.

Why?

• Because it is my experience that authors always make minor revisions throughout a manuscript after I have edited it. I must reread the entire manuscript to make sure that the supposedly unchanged parts mesh with the officially revised parts.

• Because I must double-check that in revising your manuscript, you have addressed all of the points made by the journal's reviewers.

• Because often when authors revise their manuscript for resubmission to a journal, they plan to submit it to a different journal than their original target journal. Each journal has different preferences for how to handle reference citations, headings, tables, figure legends, and many other elements, so it is important that I check all parts of your revised manuscript to ensure that they follow the requirements of the journal that is your current submission target.

So no, it may not be hugely cheaper for me to edit your revised manuscript than it was for me to edit it the first time. Editing takes time; it does not go at all as quickly as reading for pleasure does.

Sincerely,
Your editor

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Medicine's Michelangelo: The Life & Art of Frank H. Netter, MD

Finally! Now I can tell everyone about a wonderful book I was honored to copyedit: Medicine's Michelangelo: The Life & Art of Frank H. Netter, MD. It will be in print in October.

If you've ever looked up medical illustrations so you could learn more about the human body, chances are good that many of the illustrations you saw were created by Frank Netter. His daughter Francine Mary Netter has done a spectacular job of pulling the reader into Frank Netter's life. I had always admired him just because of the beauty of his art, but now I admire him even more.

Here is another cool detail: Quinnipiac University Press is the book's publisher, and Quinnipiac University just recently opened the new Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine.

I am glad to have had the privilege of following in the editorial footsteps of my colleagues Patrick Inman, who served as the book's developmental editor and is talented at seeing the big picture, and Robin Miura, who, as the book's agent, played matchmaker between the author and Quinnipiac University Press and then recommended my services to the press. I know Patrick and Robin through the Copyediting-L e-mail list and through the private (members-only) e-mail list of the Editorial Freelancers Association. It's vital that freelance editorial workers have good connections.

Updated at 11:21 a.m., August 20, 2013: In a lovely coincidence, I've just now discovered a feature story (a PDF) about Netter that appeared in the January–February 2006 issue of Science Editor, the journal of the Council of Science Editors, just a few short months before I became a CSE member.

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