Layer by Layer: How to Edit Your Book • Reedsy

📚 Overview

Editing is where your writing really starts to take shape. In this one-day online conference, you’ll hear from some of the industry’s leading editors as they walk you through the editing process, step by step. From strengthening your plot and characters to refining your prose, you’ll learn to approach your revision in a way that’s structured, manageable, and — dare we say it? — fun.

Through presentations and Q&As with seasoned editors from Big 5 publishers, you will learn how to move from a rough first draft to a polished manuscript, one layer at a time. At the end of the day, you’ll leave with practical tools and a clearer plan for making your book shine.

🎓 What You’ll Learn

The different types of editing – and why each one matters

How to self-edit effectively before working with a professional

Practical advice for refining your writing in multiple stages

How to get the most out of working with an editor

Schedule

EVENT

11am - 11:45am EDT

What Every Author Should Know About the Editorial Process

Editor Abi Pollokoff will show you how the editorial process works in traditional publishing — breaking down steps like developmental editing, copyediting, and proofreading — and how authors looking to self-publish can replicate each important step. We’ll also discuss if and when to bring in a professional and how to get the most out of your collaboration. This fundamental session will set you up with the key information you need before you begin revising.

EVENT

12pm - 12:45pm EDT

Writing Your Second Draft

Once you’ve finished your first draft, it’s time to polish it. In this session, you’ll learn practical revision techniques that every author should have in their self-editing toolkit. Editor Cat Camacho will also share advice accumulated from over ten years in the industry on how to approach the revision process and keep the momentum going. With these tips in your back pocket, writing your second (and third and fourth!) draft will feel more than achievable.

EVENT

1:15pm - 2pm EDT

Revise Like an Editor: Live editing with Noah Charney

In this practical session, Noah Charney will demonstrate how to edit your manuscript in several stages, starting with the “big picture” stuff (your plot and character development), down to the paragraph and line level (where you’ll focus on grammar, voice, and word choice). He’ll illustrate each stage while giving live feedback on viewer-submitted passages. At the end of the session, you’ll have a framework for self-editing your manuscript from start to finish.

EVENT

2:15pm - 3pm EDT

Say More with Less: Cutting Filler Words and Sharpening Your Language

In this workshop with Jenna Love Schrader, we’ll dig into two of the biggest issues standing between a good draft and a great one: filler language that dilutes your writing, and vague word choices that muddy your message. If you find yourself reaching for the same phrases on autopilot, or can’t put your finger on why something feels off with a sentence, this session will help you spot the patterns. You’ll learn to recognize the filler words and phrases that sneak in, find the stronger word hiding behind the weak one, and walk away with practical tools to sharpen every sentence.

Speakers

Abi Pollokoff

Editor and Writer

Abi Pollokoff is an editor, writer, and book artist. Along with her freelance editing on Reedsy, she is a Senior Editor with Poetry NW Editions and works in publishing. Books she has edited have won or medaled for prizes including the IPPYs, the Foreword INDIES, and the NIEAs. Her debut poetry collection, night myths • • before the body, released in 2025 from Red Hen Press, and her work can be found in journals such as TriQuarterly, The Seventh Wave, and Radar. You can find her on Reedsy.

Cat Camacho

Editor

Cat Camacho has over ten years’ in-house editorial experience in the publishing industry. Beginning her career in 2013 as an editor at Accent Press, she moved to independent publisher Titan Books in 2015 where she specialised in publishing crime, fantasy and horror. She moved to HarperCollins’ HQ imprint in 2022, where she published in a variety of genres. In 2024 she became a freelance editor, providing editorial services to both publishers and individual clients.

Jenna Love Schrader

Editor

Jenna Love Schrader is an editor with over 15 years of experience at top publishers and companies, including Harper Collins. She specializes in fiction, wellness, and business/leadership genres and offers a wide range of editorial services on Reedsy. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree in speech communications and journalism from Lipscomb University.

Noah Charney

Reedsy Professor of Writing

Dr Noah Charney is the best-selling author of more than 30 of his own books, including a Pulitzer finalist. His latest book is The 12-Hour Author: Everything You Need to Know to Get Published and Become a Successful Writer (Bloomsbury). A professor of art history, he teaches online for the Smithsonian, the National Gallery (UK), and Yale. Noah has ghostwritten and edited books for Reedsy clients, and is Professor of Writing at Reedsy Learning.