An editor works on writer’s text to produce the best possible version of it. All editing ultimately involves refining a writer’s prose, making sure the work achieves its aims and ensuring the audience can understand the text.

There are generally three types of editing jobs: developmental editing, copy editing and proofreading. A developmental editor looks at the overall aim of a book and makes suggestions about the narrative in broad terms to help achieve the author’s goal. A copy editor, sometimes also called a line editor, evaluates the text on a line by line basis to check for expression and other inconsistencies including spelling and grammar mistakes. A proofreader is involved at the last stage of the editing process before the text is released for publication or as a final draft. They must find any remaining typographical errors and small mistakes that the previous editing efforts have missed.