10 Editing Hacks
Easy steps to clean up and improve your manuscript
Last Updated
Sep 2025
Level
Beginner
Students
Course includes:
Who is this course for?
Any author who is ready to polish their manuscript before sending it to beta readers, agents or editors
Overview
This mini-course puts self-editing tasks into an easy-to-follow list format.
You can check off each item before submitting your manuscript to anyone from critique partners to agents and editors.
Most of the tasks are quick and use shortcuts in Word such as Find and Replace. Others are a bit more work-intensive, like culling extraneous adverbs or removing filter words and writing in deeper POV, but they will ultimately strengthen your story.
What You'll Learn
Use the Find and Replace features in Word to remove extra spaces and tabs, ensure chapters are numbered sequentially, and check for proper punctuation
Comb through your writing style and voice to improve readability and deepen point of view
Utilize (free!) tools like grammar checkers and narration for a final review
Course Content
About the instructor
Jessica Snyder
I'm an editor, mentor and author coach who specializes in romance fiction. My clients range from bestselling authors like Pippa Grant and Lucy Score to new authors who are writing their first book. I worked with Entangled Publishing for four years as an intern then editorial assistant, where I acquired authors such as Kelly Jamieson and Carol Pavliska (currently writing as Carly Bloom). I have been a freelance editor for indie authors since 2016. You can find me online at www.jessicasnyderedits.com or Facebook, where I share editing tips, silly memes and career advice. I have writing tips on TikTok @icaedits and post travel, food, dog and book photos on Instagram, also @icaedits.
Learn more about JessicaReviews
Extremely helpful course for me. Jess breaks it down into manageable pieces so it's not overwhelming.
I use this course every single time I go through self edits!
It’s easy, quick and a very user friendly course. Jess’s knowledge and expertise with these quick hacks has made all the difference in prepping my manuscript for my editors!
I re-watch this before revising every book - so clearly, simply, and engagingly explained, and incredibly effective. The "filter words" section has improved my writing no end - game changer!
This was a really good course. I knew some of the things Jessica taught, but not all, and I will definitely go back to it when I'm editing.
It doesn’t matter if you are writing your first book, or an established author, these are all very useful.
This course was very helpful!
Jessica provides an excellent course! Highly recommend!
Review This
About the instructor
Jessica Snyder
I'm an editor, mentor and author coach who specializes in romance fiction. My clients range from bestselling authors like Pippa Grant and Lucy Score to new authors who are writing their first book. I worked with Entangled Publishing for four years as an intern then editorial assistant, where I acquired authors such as Kelly Jamieson and Carol Pavliska (currently writing as Carly Bloom). I have been a freelance editor for indie authors since 2016. You can find me online at www.jessicasnyderedits.com or Facebook, where I share editing tips, silly memes and career advice. I have writing tips on TikTok @icaedits and post travel, food, dog and book photos on Instagram, also @icaedits.
Learn more about JessicaSimilar Courses
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Extremely helpful course for me. Jess breaks it down into manageable pieces so it’s not overwhelming.
I use this course every single time I go through self edits!
It’s easy, quick and a very user friendly course. Jess’s knowledge and expertise with these quick hacks has made all the difference in prepping my manuscript for my editors!
I re-watch this before revising every book – so clearly, simply, and engagingly explained, and incredibly effective. The “filter words” section has improved my writing no end – game changer!
This was a really good course. I knew some of the things Jessica taught, but not all, and I will definitely go back to it when I’m editing.
It doesn’t matter if you are writing your first book, or an established author, these are all very useful.
This course was very helpful!
Jessica provides an excellent course! Highly recommend!