Finding the editor who is right for you is a delicate matter. First seek recommendations: ask other writers (they are the best judge). Check Acknowledgements of books you admire (good source for agents, too). Many of those are editors who are staff for the publisher – you are looking for a FREELANCE editor. There are also websites which provide editing services which will edit a chapter for free, so you can get a flavor of what they would do with your text. (Go ahead and compare them, too – the nature of English is that coming from both Germanic and Romantic roots, we have two vocabularies and two grammars – leading to the possibility of exquisite nuancing of ideas. You want a nuance that fits your intention and audience.) From what I’ve seen, these folks do not work on structure, only on languaging and grammar.
Please don’t interpret this remark as a racial slur: beware of India-based editors – Indian English is a distinct dialect, and I haven’t yet found any of these folks sufficiently conversant with nuances of contemporary American usage.)
Choosing an editor:
- Check their website for content and tone. Who are their references? What do those people say? Ask for phone numbers of references – did those writers use their editor the way you would?
- Some editors collaborate well, some need full control. You need an editor whose styles of working and communicating feel comfortable.
Chat with potential editors until you have a sense of how you will feel arm-wrestling with them over your precious content. (I haven’t met most of my clients, but I have very intimate phone relationships with almost all of them.) Ultimately, your content is yours, but you want someone who will explore opinions/prejudices with you. You want a sympatico editor – someone you enjoy talking with.
It is fair to ask for a sample edit – if you pay for it. Once I’ve been hired, I usually send my client the first marked up chapter to make sure I am taking their writing where they want it to go. The writing represents you, so make sure it satisfies your vision.
Editing is often a two-stage process: read-through for structure/character. Writer reworks it, then it’s edited to enrich the language. Clarify which or both will are included in the estimate. To be sure that the process is within your budget, find out what it will cost before you commit. That one editor charges $45/hour and another charges $150 tells you nothing about your final bill. I always spend an hour (no charge) to develop an estimate that is a firm maximum. I keep track of my hours and actually bill less if the project went faster than expected. If I have grossly underestimated because there were unforeseen problems (for example, conflicting information that requires internet research to clarify), I will attempt to renegotiate the maximum. If we can’t agree, I will turn over as much as I’ve done for no charge – or swallow the loss and complete the project (depending on my relationship with both the author and the content).
And don’t be slighted if an editor fires you. They may feel the communication is not working for them, which can have nothing to do with how/who you are. I’ve had to fire a couple of clients over the years when the communication fell into the same pothole repeatedly. We weren’t speaking the same language and I did not estimate the frustration-value of the project.
Most of all DELIGHT in the process. YOU are the employer, no matter how extensive the credentials of the editor. As with your doctors and attorneys: they can offer you opinions, but it’s your life or finances or intention at stake, so YOU make the final decisions.
Download PDF: How To Find An Appropriate Freelance Editor