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When I wrote a review I got marked down because I used well edited instead of well-edited. In the guidlines it is written well edited, so is well edited correct or incorrect and why?

Depends on the overall sentence structure.

Compound adverbs should be hyphenated if they are followed by the noun. So it would be:

This is a well-edited book.

Or:

This book is well edited.

This is what I put. "This book was exceptionally well edited"
Is this right?

AntoineOMEGA wrote: ↑11 Jul 2019, 15:28 This is what I put. "This book was exceptionally well edited"
Is this right?

I believe you are correct. Note that if you choose to request a recheck though, you, as the reviewer are required to provide evidence as to "why" you are correct and the editor was incorrect. You can't just say, "You're wrong." Find a reputable website with the grammar rule & submit that with the recheck request.

I'll try to explain with the help of an example.
The book was well edited.
It was a well-edited book.
See the difference? In the second sentence it is a compound adjective. That is why there is a hyphen present.

This was so helpful! I love being part of these forums. I had no idea how to tell when to hyphenate the adjectives, and now I know it's when they're followed by the noun! Thank you for this post.

I also got marked down for my use of "well-edited" instead of "well edited". I didn't fully understand why from my editor scorecard but now I understand. This thread was so helpful!

Aditi Sapate wrote: ↑07 Aug 2019, 03:13 I'll try to explain with the help of an example.
The book was well edited.
It was a well-edited book.
See the difference? In the second sentence it is a compound adjective. That is why there is a hyphen present.

This is such a great and helpful example! Thanks for sharing!

I think you should use grammar checkers to edit your work. These problems will be easily cured

A Y reviews wrote: ↑18 Oct 2020, 14:24 I think you should use grammar checkers to edit your work. These problems will be easily cured

I used scribens online grammar checker and it did not find anything wrong in my sentence, "I give this book 4 out of 4 stars as it has been well-written and exceptionally well edited."
I would've been marked down had I not found this extremely well-explained thread!

Aditi Sapate wrote: ↑07 Aug 2019, 03:13 I'll try to explain with the help of an example.
The book was well edited.
It was a well-edited book.
See the difference? In the second sentence it is a compound adjective. That is why there is a hyphen present.

This has helped me alot. Thank you.

The thread has been helpful. The two words are quite confusing, at times, but now I know better.

I wish I would've come across this debate sooner; it would've saved me from falling onto the wrong side of it.

MirageP wrote: ↑27 Jun 2021, 05:47

A Y reviews wrote: ↑18 Oct 2020, 14:24 I think you should use grammar checkers to edit your work. These problems will be easily cured

I used scribens online grammar checker and it did not find anything wrong in my sentence, "I give this book 4 out of 4 stars as it has been well-written and exceptionally well edited."
I would've been marked down had I not found this extremely well-explained thread!

"Well-written" is without doubt incorrect because it does not precede any noun being modified. Exceptionally well edited is correct.

A rule of thumb is that compound modifiers should be hyphenated if they precede the noun being modified, for example:
1. A bullet-riddled car
2. An out-of-hand situation.
However, if the first word in the modifying phrase is an -ly adjective, a hyphen should not be used.
Incorrect: A brightly-lit room.
Correct: A brightly lit room.

Also, hyphens must be used where they are necessary for the clarity of the whole sentence.
A case in point is where you mean "sign a document again". You will say "The manager wants to re-sign from yesterday's work" and not "The manager wants to resign from yesterday's work" since the second has a different meaning.

I hope this will help, but I will update more rules soon.