Novel Editing Phases

There are several different types of "editing" that can be done on your novel. And it's up to you, the author, to make revisions once you get this feedback. A basic editing sequence might look like:

1. Finish your first draft. Easier said than done.
2. Self-edit. There's quite a lot that you can do yourself. Authors are always revising and tweaking.
3. Developmental edit (also called a "content edit"). This is a high-level focus on fiction elements like characters, plot, setting, and so on. You'll probably get an overall big-picture report on strengths and weaknesses, along with a marked-up copy of your novel with the major issues highlighted about all the scenes. There will be minimal focus on grammar, punctuation, word choice, or other sentence-level aspects. There'll be lots of "show don't tell" or "raise the stakes" type suggestions.
4. Copy edit. This is a lower-level edit that focuses on all sentences and words. It can be a sea of red. Expect thousands of small mark-ups.
5. Self-publishing: Typeset, proofread, format, release.

A more extensive (and more expensive) process for releasing a better novel might look like:

1. Finish your first draft.
2. Editorial evaluation. This is a kind of mini-development edit. It's like getting the overall report on characters and plot, without the scene-by-scene evaluation of structure.
3. Developmental edit. As above, but there can be multiple repeats of this phase. It's highly likely that you'll need major changes to the structure of your book, and it may need another developmental edit review before progressing. Also, sometimes you overshoot on your corrections, and the next edit report will tell you to dial it back a bit.
4. Sensitivity review (optional). This is a review with a focus on whether your work will offend anyone. For example, issues reviewed may include adult vocabulary, appropriateness of scenes, and use of stereotypes as characters. Editors may raise some of these issues as part of a developmental edit, so this phase is sometimes merged.
5. Fact check review (optional). Although editors will check various facts along the way, you can also get a specific fact-checking editorial review, especially if your book contains many complex details. Fact checking may involve historical accuracy or correctness of technical details (e.g. science, medicine, spycraft, CSI, anti-gravity, you name it).
6. Line edit. This is a sentence or paragraph-level edit, but with a slightly higher-level focus than a copy edit. For example, the editor may focus on dialogue tag choices, and make suggestions for adding beats. Some editors will combine line edit suggestions into a copy edit project.
7. Copy edit. A low-level focus on sentence-level grammar, word choice, and style, as above.
8. Typeset
9. Proofread. This is even more low-level than a copy edit, and focuses mainly on finding typos.