Editing 101: The Importance of Fact Checking

Copy Editing is Not Enough

Oct 10, 2009

When a writer has finished a manuscript he then hands it over to an editor. He assumes the editor will take care of all problems. But that is not usually the case.

Line editors will check for grammar, punctuation and problems in format. Acquisition editors (the ones at publishing houses) may help shape the general direction of the piece. Developmental editors are hired by authors (and sometimes publishers) to bring the manuscripts into salable shape. But when it comes to checking facts, most editors skip that chore. An editor will not fact check the manuscript. That’s the job of the author. Or the job of someone he hires.

What Do Editors Really Do?

A good editor will clean up the writer's prose and check that a character named Helen doesn’t turn up as Louise forty pages later. However, it's a rare editor who will to investigate whether the price of eggs in 1956 was really 37 cents a dozen. So if that shows up in a memoir, the editor will assume it is correct. When it comes to travel guides, historical fiction and several other literary categories and genres—there may be a need to hire a fact checker. Travel books include hundreds of statistics about height and width, entry hours and prices besides hundreds of telephone numbers. Only a few travel publishers hire fact checkers to cover those areas. Most depend on the author to authenticate everything.

For the independent author or self-publisher it is important to have the book “quality-tested” by a number of expert readers. (This is in addition to hiring a copy editor to go over the prose for grammar, punctuation and other textual problems.) So at least one other person should peruse the manuscript with nothing else in mind than factual errors.

What Do Fact Checkers Do?

Fact-checkers should be conversant with the subject. Someone who lives in Boston is much more likely to know the drive time from the airport, when the first snowfall is likely to begin, or which towns on Cape Cod are most popular than someone who lives in Idaho. A doctor or an accountant will pick up errors that relate to their profession. A graduate student in medieval history might just be the person to check out a romantic novel set in the 14th century.

When it comes to historical novels readers sometimes discover characters who light their pipes with matches that weren’t invented until twenty years later. In biographies, dates can be bandied about. There should be an expert on hand who can question such things as:

A writer should always keep a number of standard reference works on hand such as biographical and geographical dictionaries, the World almanac, an encyclopedia and genre-specific books. Anyone who works with words should also have a good grammar guide on his shelf.

The Author Should Then Re-check Everything Himself

After the fact-checker and the line editor are finished with the manuscript, the author should then go over it one more time. In travel books, errors pop up through no fault of the author. A change in the area code while the book is going through the publishing process can throw off any number of telephone numbers. Restaurants close down; and attractions (and even airports) change their names with regularity. It is usual to put a disclaimer on the copyright page of the book, announcing that details may have changed since the book went to press. But if the author checks one more time, just before the book goes to the printer, he may be able to save one more error from appearing in published form.

Recommended Books and Websites:

The copyright of the article Editing 101: The Importance of Fact Checking in Editing is owned by Barbara Hudgins. Permission to republish Editing 101: The Importance of Fact Checking in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.