The levels of editing are upside down

“Levels of editing ” has become a widely used tool since the appearance of the first booklet on the concept in 1976. Levels of editing schemes have been widely praised and adopted in a variety of organizations, yet from the way most “levels of edit” systems are structured, content (the author´s main concern) is seldom addressed in any way until the second or third level of editing is invoked. I argue that the primary beneficiary of most systems as they are structured is the editor, and that the author´s interests are far too often ignored. Given that the author is our client, the author´s major concerns should be addressed even at the lowest level of edit, nor only when there is time and money for more extensive levels of editorial work