Lesson 7: Editing And Reviews
Peer editing
Smaller groups often don't have any editors but rather institute peer editing. Once your book is finished (or once specific sections are finished) you give them to another writer in the group for critique. Again, the main purpose is to ensure correct spelling, correct grammar, and adherence to the group style. In some cases the writer editing your work will know nothing about its subject but in others the writer may indeed know the product quite well. In those cases, you'll most likely get comments on the content in addition to actual editing. This amounts to an extra reviewer and content-related comments should be treated as review feedback.
Peer editing is usually an informal process leaving you the option to integrate or ignore the results as you see fit. It's less like to catch small errors or minor deviations from the accepted style than a formal edit. Writers have varying experience with editing and sometimes the best writers are not the best editors. If you work in a group for a long time you'll get a feel for who the better editors are and, hopefully, be able to give them your books for editing.
