This Is Why Good Editors Take Time to Edit Your Work

Last Updated on May 6, 2025 by Candice Landau

I still recall the time an old boss asked why it was taking so long to do editing work. Though he read voraciously on the topic of “digital marketing,” he, himself, had no formal training in editing or writing. He wanted to ship fast but also wanted A+ work.

Today, after more than a decade of experience in the content marketing industry as well as with a number of more realistic bosses, I know these two things are only possible together if a team has both bandwidth and budget at their disposal. Otherwise it’s a choice: You ship C+ work and get it out the door, or you wait to perfect it and get it out the door much later.

An organization needs to be very clear about which of these two they want. And if they want both, they need to invest in resources.

For print magazines, A+ work is usually preferred. After all, you can’t go back and edit your mistakes once they’re physically printed and mailed.

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For digital content it’s usually preferred to ship fast. That said, it does depend on the industry. If, for example, you work in the legal and compliance space, or in the medical space, you really do want to make sure you get it right from the start.

Ultimately, I wish more people understood how long it took to edit well. Even if you’re not a writer or editor yourself, make sure you understand the process. The writers and editors at your company will appreciate you for it, and, if you’re someone who manages editors, you’ll earn some kudos for knowing what you’re talking about.

Finally, if you’re a writer submitting to an editor, I hope this article will give you insight into how much time an editor spends on you. Do them a favor and don’t be boring. Don’t use AI to write (come on people, it’s lazy and unoriginal) and do take time to understand they’re not just criticizing you, they’re trying to make your writing better, more comprehensible to the audience you want to speak to.

Here’s what the editing process (typically) entails:

Step 1: Begin with a well-thought-out assignment

Whether you’re assigning the story, or accepting the pitch, there’s not much difference between the two. You need to ensure the story assignment/pitch is clear—it has a unique angle not previously covered, usually—and that it adheres to the publication’s tone of voice and style guidelines. You may even need to explain these to the author, or refer them to the appropriate URL/document. You might also need to assign specific sources, including providing contact information. These things all take time.

Step 2: Read the submitted assignment—do not edit it!

This one’s sometimes tough for people to hear. The untrained editor will often want to start line-editing the second they start reading. This is a mistake. A good editor will read the piece through at least once, ideally twice. This will allow them to get a sense of the story’s structure and developmental arc before touching pen to paper or finger to keyboard.

The editor that begins editing immediately often has to circle back and correct their own edits as the writer answers questions they had at the start as the piece progresses.

I like to think of this first read through as the “developmental read” – get a feel for the big picture of the article so you can tease out themes, arcs, etc. later.

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Step 3: Conduct the actual editing

This includes detailed line editing, editing for grammar and punctuation, and editing to style guide and in line with house standards. A good editor will sometimes have to pull out a physical style guide—like the AP Style Guide—to check on something.

It’s also worth noting here that a good editor will not change an author’s writing style. Early-career editors have a tendency to do this, rephrasing sentences so that they sound better to the editor’s ear, rather than as a result of grammar or sentence structure errors. In my opinion, if someone needs that much editing, they’re probably not ready to write for you.

Fact checking often happens at this stage too and depending on the article and industry, this may be very in-depth. Every now and then a source will need to be emailed or called to ensure it is accurate. Skip this step at your own risk but know that a good editor will do this.

In some industries, or if a sensitive topic is being dealt with, a “sensitivity reader” or “cultural reviewer” may also be involved to ensure content doesn’t unintentionally cause harm or perpetuate stereotypes. Unfortunately, most organizations don’t have processes for this.

Step 4: Return the edited assignment to the author for reworking

At this point in time, the editor will send the story back to the author. The author will either explain the changes that need to be made via email, or hop on a phone call or web call with the writer to talk about bigger-picture edits. This can be more tactful when articles need significant reworking. Many of mine have (especially if written quickly) so if you’re the author, don’t feel bad. This is a good sign. The editor is taking time with you and thinks you have something worth teasing out.

Step 5: Receive the author-edited assignment and conduct a final round of edits

Hopefully there’s only one more round of edits to go but this is not always the case. If the author had to significantly rework the article, you might not have completed some of the other processes—like fact checking—or have to do them again. Either way, you’ll need to basically repeat step three before sending it back one more time, or moving forward to the next phase—publishing.

Step 6: Conduct any legal or compliance reviews (if required)

Again, few companies or publishing outlets have processes for this. But, depending on the industry, a final legal or compliance review may be required to vet claims or verify adherence to regulations and policies. Ideally, this person would have been involved from the start, or at least have given the green light for the assignment being given in the first place.

Step 7: Refine for publishing

If you publish in both the print and digital space, you may need to add an extra step to the process. Even if you don’t, ideally you’d hand the assignment off to someone who can adapt it for digital publishing and who has experience with SEO, heading optimization, subtitle creation, summary writing, and so on.

Many companies require the person doing both the editing and commissioning to also do the SEO optimization or online publishing. Again, it’s just another thing the poor modern editor has to deal with. This step also takes a lot of time, especially if keyword optimization needs to be taken into account.

If you work in print, there’s another step. You’ll need to also copyfit the content. Basically this involves ensuring that once the copy is added to the design, it fits neatly within the design. This almost never happens out the gate. In fact, most assignments need copyfitting and final checks to ensure that no errors have been added during transfer of text from text links to design.

Trust your training

At the end of the day, editing is a full time job, especially if you want to do it well. Requiring your content marketers or editors to edit, write, manage KPIs and come up with compelling content marketing strategies —and do it all perfectly too—is frankly deeply unrealistic.

While that old boss and I parted ways, I’m grateful to have since learned how much actually goes into good editing. It turns out I wasn’t wrong after all, just young and nervous about standing my ground.