10 Editing Mistakes First-Time Authors Make (That Could Cost You Readers)

Guest post by Renée Smith. You’ve typed the final word of your manuscript. After months, maybe years of writing, your story is finally done. But now comes the part that many first-time authors aren’t prepared for: getting it ready for readers.

Editing is where manuscripts are made or broken, and it’s also where most first-time authors unknowingly make mistakes that cost them readers, reviews, and credibility. The good news? Every single one of these mistakes is avoidable if you know what to look for.

Here are the ten most common editing mistakes first-time authors make, and what you can do instead.

Mistake #1: Editing Your Own Work Too Soon (or Not At All)

Finishing your draft and immediately diving into edits is one of the most common traps new authors fall into. When you’re too close to your work, your brain fills in gaps, corrects errors automatically, and sees what it intended to write rather than what’s actually on the page.

Recommendation: Put your manuscript aside for at least a few weeks before revisiting it. Taking a break from your writing will give you a fresh set of eyes over your work and will help you pick up on issues you may not have spotted before.

Mistake #2: Not Knowing Which Type of Editing You Actually Need

Developmental editing, Copyediting, Line editing, or Proofreading.  If those terms mean very little to you, you’re not alone, and you’re not behind. Most first-time authors have no idea that editing isn’t a single service but a multi-stage process, each addressing something different in your manuscript.

Recommendation: This confusion is one of the most common reasons new authors either skip editing entirely or invest in the wrong service at the wrong stage. Taking time to research each editing type before you begin will save you time, money, and frustration.

Mistake #3: Relying Solely on Grammar Tools

Grammarly, ProWritingAid, and similar tools have their place, but they are not editors. They catch spelling errors and flag passive voice, but they cannot tell you whether your plot holds together, whether your protagonist is compelling, or whether your opening chapter will make a reader want to turn the page.

Recommendation:   Think of grammar tools as a spell-check on steroids: useful, but nowhere near sufficient for preparing a manuscript for publication. There is a reason traditional publishers use editors to finalise authors’ manuscripts before publication.

Mistake #4: Ignoring Pacing and Story Structure

A story can have beautiful prose and vivid characters and still lose readers if the pacing is off. A slow middle, a rushed ending, or a weak opening chapter are among the most common structural problems in debut manuscripts and among the most damaging.

Recommendation: Readers who lose momentum put books down. Ensure you pay attention to your story’s pacing and structure, as the invisible architecture of your story deserves as much attention as your prose.

Mistake #5: Inconsistent Character Voice and Point of View

Accidentally slipping into another character’s perspective or writing your protagonist in a voice that shifts from chapter to chapter are mistakes that pull readers out of the story. Readers may not always be able to identify why something feels off, but they’ll feel it.

Recommendation: Make a list of the chapters and which character’s point of view is being used in each. Ensuring consistency in voice and point of view will build readers’ trust. Losing it, even subtly, can unravel an otherwise strong manuscript.

Mistake #6: Overwriting and Underwriting

Too much description in scenes can slow your story to a crawl. Too little description leaves readers emotionally disconnected. First-time authors can often lean strongly in one direction, either over-explaining every scene or leaving key emotional moments frustratingly thin.

Recommendation: Try to find the right balance based on your selected genre, your audience, and your authorial voice. The goal is for every scene to earn its place on the page, no more, no less.

Mistake #7: Skipping the Developmental Edit and Going Straight to Proofreading

Proofreading is the final stage of editing, but it’s not the only stage. It’s the final barrier against spelling, punctuation, and grammar mistakes, but it does nothing for plot holes, structural issues, or unclear character motivations. Proofreading a manuscript that hasn’t been developmentally edited or copyedited is like repainting a house with cracks. It looks better, but the underlying issues remain.

Recommendation: Ensure you edit your manuscript in the right order. Publishing a structurally flawed manuscript, however technically clean it may be, is a mistake that’s very difficult to recover from once your book is in readers’ hands.

Mistake #8: Dismissing Reader Experience in Favour of Personal Vision

Your story is personal, and that’s what makes it worth telling. But there’s an important distinction between protecting your authorial voice and ignoring feedback that signals genuine reader confusion.

Recommendation:   Listen to your audience. When an editor or beta reader flags something, it’s worth asking: Is this a deliberate creative choice, or is this something that will genuinely lose my reader? That distinction matters more than most first-time authors realise.

Mistake #9: Leaving Continuity Errors Unchecked

Your character’s eyes are brown in chapter two and green in chapter fourteen. A key event happens on a Tuesday in one scene and on a Thursday two chapters later. These are continuity errors, and they’re remarkably easy to miss when you’ve been living inside a manuscript for months.

Recommendation: Create a list of all the key aspects of the characters and events in the story and refer to it when revisiting information in later chapters. Readers do notice, and when they do, it breaks the spell and your credibility along with it.

Mistake #10: Rushing to Publish Before the Manuscript Is Ready

The pressure to publish, particularly in today’s fast-moving self-publishing landscape, is real. But publishing too soon is one of the most damaging decisions a first-time author can make. A one-star review citing poor editing follows your book long after you’ve learned from the mistake.

Recommendation:  Your first book sets the tone for your relationship with readers. Give it the time and attention it deserves before it reaches them. It will be worth it.

Final Thoughts

Every author makes mistakes on their first manuscript, but that’s just part of the process. What separates the authors who build a readership from those who struggle is often simply this: a willingness to slow down, seek feedback, and treat editing as an investment rather than an obstacle.

Your story deserves to be read. Make sure it’s ready.

Renée Smith is a fiction editor and proofreader based in Sydney, Australia, with a passion for helping indie authors transform their manuscripts into polished, publication-ready books and is a member of Australia’s Institute of Professional Editors. You can find more of her writing at her blog, Behind the Edit, or connect with her at her website.

Featured Photo by Cookie the Pom on Unsplash