Finding the Right Editor for Your Book: Seven Simple Tips
How to find a good editor you can trust with your life's work
Are you almost finished editing your novel? Are you considering self-publishing?
If you answered yes to these questions, you should consider hiring an editor.
But how do you find a trustworthy editor that supports you and your book to it’s fullest? You might struggle in your search for the right editor for your manuscript.
A good editor will make you feel like your novel is worth it. They want to help you polish your story before publishing. They can be your biggest cheerleader.
However, a bad editor will make you feel like you never want to write another book and hate the entire publishing process.
So, let’s look at how to find a editor you can trust with your life’s work!
Stages of Editing
First, you should understand the stages of editing. These stages are in a specific order for a reason. You do not want to go out of order because this can mess up your manuscript and make it harder for the editor you hire.
Depending on where you are in this process, you will be looking for different services. To save money, it’s best to self-edit your own novels before looking for an editor.
However, if you know you struggle on one of these steps more than the other, you should get an editor with that service.
1) Developmental Editing:
This is the first stage. It deals with big picture things like characters, plot, setting, themes/messages, tropes, and anything that would impact the overall story.
Some services for developmental editing to look out for:
Manuscript Evaluations: A good first step if you are stuck, and can be a cheaper option. The editor reads over your manuscript and sends a letter or form describing large overall issues you can fix in your next draft.
Beta Reading: Beta readers can help you figure out certain issues you might already suspect are in your novel. Beta readers are not always professional editors, but they give you an idea of where to go with the story on your next draft.
Sensitivity/Authenticity reading: These editors help you check to see if your book is written inclusively. This is an important step if writing about minority groups or experiences that are not your own lived experience.
Developmental Editing Services: Editors who provide these services overall will advertise them and let you know how their developmental editing process works.
2) Line Editing:
This is the next step in the editing process.
Line edits check for clarity and conciseness in each sentence and paragraph. Editors will cut out sentences and phrases that are wordy, reorganize sentences, and reorder paragraphs as needed.
Make sure you’re okay with having an editor delete things, rewrite some sentences, reorganize paragraphs, add stronger verbs, and change syntax for clarity.
Most editors will have line editing as a service, but some might mix it in with copyediting, so always check what services they advertise. Double check that this matches what you need.
3) Copyediting:
This is towards the final stages of editing. Copyedits check for consistency with the entire manuscript, check for style issues with certain style guides, spelling, grammar.
Sometimes heavier copyediting can look more like line edits, since both stages of editing deal with sentence (rather than story) level editing.
Do not get copyediting confused for proofreading. They are different parts of the editing process.
4) Proofreading:
A final check on the manuscript for any typos, spelling, grammar, and formatting errors. This is the final stage of editing to make sure no errors remain in the manuscript before publishing.
Proofreading can take longer than you’d expect.
It’s not just a “quick” proofread because proofreaders are carefully combing through each word, letter, and space. They are checking for commas and periods and extra spaces. They are formatting your book to be consistent and ready to be published.
Different editors will provide all sorts of services, so it's important to know where you are in the stages of editing and what you need help with.
Finding an Editor
You should research carefully when looking for editors. There are websites like the Editors Freelance Association, ACES, or Editors Canada that have databases of freelance editors. These are trustworthy sites with top-tier editors.
The downside is that the editors in these groups may have higher rates because they are well-established and have enough credibility to be members in these groups.
For cheaper editors, use websites like Reedsy, LinkedIn, Upwork, and Fivver to search for editors. While you will find cheaper editors here, you want to research them carefully.
Sometimes editors on these websites can be scammers. Be careful who you send your information over to. Watch out for red flags for inexperienced, rude, or bad editors.
Things to Check for When Researching Editors
1) Are they active on social media? Many editors spend some time marketing their services through content creation such as videos, blogs, and posts.
If you find a name you're interested in, search them up on different social media sites to check how active they are. Someone who is looking for clients will be more active than those who might be busy at the moment.
You can also get a better idea of who the editor is from their social media content.
2) Do they have a website? Search or click on the editor's website. Most editors will have websites.
This can give you a better idea of what the editor's experience is, who they are, and what they edit.
3) Do they edit in your genre? Some editors are generalists and others are specialists. Check their past work or anything on their website or posts that might indicate they work in the genre you've written.
4) Can you connect with the editor on a human level? In your email convesations, DMs, or video calls do you feel like you can connect with them?
Editors are human too. You want to hire someone you feel like you can collaborate with and work well with.
Do they have similar interests? Maybe their favorite book is a book you loved too!
5) What services do they offer? This is an important part in selecting an editor. Can they help you in the stage of editing you're in?
To save money, you want to make sure they offer what you need before starting.
6) Do they have credentials or past experience? There's many kinds of classes, programs, certificates, and education an editor can have. Do they list any on their profile or background? You want to check if they have any sort of training to know what they're doing.
7) What is their process? What do they value? This might be harder to know, but sometimes you can figure out what their editing process is like based on reviews, their social media, or website.
Looking for an editor and read my posts? Search no further!
Check out my Otters Editing page to see what I offer and who I am.
Feel free to reach out to me by email or DMs here if you’d like to work with me.
Thanks for reading, and I hope this post helps all your aspiring indie authors out there. Keep working on those manuscripts. You will be published one day, I believe it!