Self-Publishing: Every Stage a Publisher Would Have Paid For

The editorial stages, in the order the profession names them

Four operations exist and they are not interchangeable. The Editorial Freelancers Association separates them by what each touches. Developmental editing works on content, organization, and genre. A line edit operates at the sentence and the paragraph. A copyedit reaches spelling, grammar, usage, punctuation, cross-references, and the style sheet. Proofreading is confined to typographical and formatting errors, and the association places it among the last stages.¹

Editors Canada records the boundary at the end of the sequence, stating that proofreading is not a substitute for editing.² A self-publisher who buys only the last operation has bought the last operation. The order matters as much as the list, because a copyedit that precedes a structural revision is repeated work.

Where a press puts each stage, and what a late change costs

Princeton University Press lists seven stages: a manuscript and art check, copyediting, page proof review, indexing, cover design and book description, printing, and ebook production.³ The index is made during page proof review, and an author may compile it, hire an indexer, or ask the press to hire one.³ Ohio State University Press puts the same responsibility on the author, calling the index the author's job although making one is a specialized activity.⁴

Both presses also price late changes. Princeton asks that proof-stage changes be limited to typos and errors of fact, because even minor alterations are expensive. An author may incur a fee for exceeding a contractual alterations allowance.³ Ohio State limits edits to egregious errors and errors introduced by layout, and says authors can bear part of the cost if they make too many.⁴ A self-publisher has no allowance clause, and a late change arrives as a second typesetting pass.

Completeness is a stage, and presses put a gate on it

The University of Chicago Press states that anything an author plans to have in the book must be submitted before copyediting, including all art.⁵ Cornell University Press makes the author responsible for obtaining permission to use any copyrighted material, including the author's own previously published work. Cornell advises requesting permissions well before the final manuscript, because they can take months.⁶

Neither requirement is administrative. A chapter or an image arriving after copyediting changes cross-references, note numbering, and the index, none of which the author who supplied it can repair. Without a press, that gate becomes a date after which nothing is added.

The numbers, and what each one does not do

An ISBN is the first, an International Standard Book Number of thirteen digits since January 1, 2007, assigned to text-based monographic publications. Any book made publicly available, for sale or not, can be identified by one. Each product form should be identified separately, so a paperback, an EPUB, and a PDF are three.⁷ The International ISBN Agency states that the ISBN is an identifier and does not convey any form of legal or copyright protection.⁷

A Library of Congress control number is the second, issued before publication by the Preassigned Control Number program. Only United States authors and book publishers are eligible. The Library decides whether to catalog the book when the printed copy arrives, so the number promises no catalog entry.⁸

A copyright registration number is the third, and registration has its own timing. The Copyright Office states that the effective date is the day it receives an acceptable application, an acceptable deposit, and the fee together. Statutory damages and attorney's fees are available where infringement began after that date. A grace period of three months after publication preserves full remedies if registration is made before the period ends.⁹

The obligation nobody schedules

Mandatory deposit is separate from registration. The Copyright Office states that the owner of copyright, or of the exclusive right of publication, in a work published in the United States must generally deposit two complete copies of the best edition. The deadline is three months from publication. An owner of a work published as a literary monograph may submit one complete copy instead, unless the Office demands a second.¹⁰

The circular also describes what follows a demand. Failure to comply within three months of a demand may bring a fine of not more than $250 per work, plus the retail price of the work demanded. Willful or repeated failure may bring a fine of $2,500.¹⁰ Whether a particular book carries that obligation is a question for an author and their attorney, not an editor.

The style sheet also disappears when nobody schedules it, because nothing forces its existence. Editors Canada's 2024 standards ask an editor to develop a style sheet, or follow one provided, to track and consistently apply editorial style, including abbreviations and the treatment of numbers.¹¹ Without one, a second book starts from nothing.

We take a manuscript at whichever stage a client has reached, say which of the four operations a price covers, and return the style sheet. Where a manuscript needs an earlier stage than the one requested, we say so before starting. Everything a client sends is treated in confidence, including unpublished manuscripts, art, and correspondence.

Every other date in this sequence runs from the author's own readiness. The deposit deadline runs from publication instead. The deadline can pass while the book is selling, and no production schedule announces it.