Of all the questions that come up around editorial services, this is one of the most common — and the confusion is understandable, because both involve someone reading your work carefully and marking it up. But editing and proofreading are fundamentally different activities, happening at different stages, for different purposes.

A ghost writer is a professional writer hired to produce content on behalf of someone else, in that person's voice and under that person's name. The ghost writer's contribution is typically confidential — they receive payment for their work but no public credit.

An advance reader copy — commonly known as an ARC, and sometimes called a review copy or galley — is an early, pre-publication version of a book distributed to reviewers, booksellers, librarians, journalists, and influential readers before the official release date.

A book proposal is a formal document submitted to a literary agent or publisher that makes the case for a non-fiction book before it is written. Unlike fiction, where authors are typically expected to complete the manuscript before submitting, most traditional non-fiction is acquired on the basis of a proposal alone .

A commissioning editor — sometimes called an acquisitions editor, particularly in academic and American publishing contexts — is the person at a publishing house responsible for identifying, acquiring, and developing new titles.

A literary agent is a professional who represents authors and their work to publishers. They are the primary gateway into traditional publishing for most fiction and non-fiction authors — the majority of major publishers do not accept unsolicited submissions directly from authors, which means securing agent representation is the essential first step toward a traditional publishing deal.

Peer review is the process by which a piece of scholarly work — a research paper, a journal article, a conference submission — is evaluated by other experts in the same field before it is accepted for publication.

A structural edit focuses on the overall architecture of a manuscript or document. It examines how the work is organised, whether the pacing serves the reader, whether the argument or narrative logic holds, and whether the whole hangs together as it should.

Show don't tell is the principle that vivid, specific, concrete detail — scene, action, sensory experience, behaviour — is more powerful and more engaging than direct statement of fact or emotion.

One way to get started on your book is by using a historical legend and basing your story line on that. When basing a book on a historical legend you will want to think about how closely you stick to the legend and how much you infuse your own story within the base legend.

Learn classic and modern fantasy book structures to improve your writing and help with editing your books.