Before You Approach an Editor

Before you are ready to work with an editor, you must take the time to do all that you can to make your story a good one.

Have You Done Everything You Can?

To make sure you have a manuscript that is complete and edited to the best of your ability, consider the following diagram.

THE PROCESS

Write Your First Draft

Get your words onto the paper.

Edit That First Draft

Review what you’ve written and then work towards making it organized and complete.

Make it sound right. Consider punctuation. Look for a better description. Is the reader able to picture the scene just as you are imagining it? Try running parts of your story through Grammarly.

Alpha Readers

An alpha reader is your first reader; they read the work in process. It is the person you trust your first revised draft to. This person will give you feedback on the overall concept, theme, or story. These readers look for glaring plot holes or aspects that just aren’t sitting well with them.

Revise

Take those suggestions and incorporate them into your novel.

Beta Readers

Beta readers are brought in when the manuscript is close to being finished. You have done your self-edit and want another check before approaching an editor. Taking this step seriously could keep your editing costs down.

Revise

Consider the feedback the beta readers gave you and decide which you will work with and which you won’t. Take another read-through and work on any scenes that are bothering you. Fact check—sometimes when we write, we throw something in and plan to get back to it later. Make sure that even if you are writing fiction, the details need to be accurate or you may lose your reader.

Manuscript Review

You may want to approach a local writing group to see if they provide a manuscript review. I submitted mine to the Saskatchewan Writer’s Guild and for $75, they read my document and provided feedback on it.

Tip: When you receive feedback on your work, you don’t have to agree with everything that is said. Pick and choose what feels right to you.

Revise

Incorporate that feedback into your manuscript.

When You Reach the Now What?

When you don’t know what to do next, you are ready for an editor.

Editing

But what sort of editing do you need? How do you determine what stage your manuscript is at? This may be tricky for the writer to know, but a seasoned editor will ask some questions, take a look at your writing, and decide on what kind of editing will be required. Once they get into the document a little deeper, they may find it needs a little of this and a little of that, but if you have a contract, you will be protected from being charged more than you were expecting as you get further down the road.

Types of Editing

By educating yourself on the types of editing available, you will have a sense of what you think your project needs and ask for clarification if an editor suggests it needs more than you think.

There are a few types of editing that are available to writers. They are developmental editing, copyediting, and proofreading.

Developmental Editing

“Developmental editing takes a close look at the larger structures of your book: plot, characters, themes, and tone. A developmental editor ensures that these “big picture” elements are strong before you move onto the minutiae of each line.” reedsy.com

Copy Editing

“Copy Editing polishes your mechanics, sharpens your prose, and ensures consistency of style. This is the service you need if your story’s structure is solidly in place, but the text itself can be improved.” reedsy.com

Proofreading

“Proofreading is the final stage of the editing process: a thorough examination of your book that corrects minor errors in spelling, punctuation, and grammar. A proof-reader does not feed back on your structure or other major editorial issues, but rather guarantees that your text goes to print (so to speak) without a single typo.” reedsy.com

Be your own proof-reader or hire one. I did both. You may wish to run your book through Adobe Read Aloud to see if it flows well. At one point, I was afraid of glossing over the sentences and not reading them carefully enough. With Adobe Read Aloud it made errors stand out. If you save your Word document as a PDF and open it in Adobe Acrobat Reader, you can select View and Read Out Loud and it reads the document. Super useful for your last review of anything!

What Kind of Editing do You Need?

You may not have even started writing yet, and that’s just fine. But when you are nearing the end of your writing and self-editing process, you may wish to step back and consider what type of editing your manuscript needs. If you start with a developmental edit, your editing costs will be higher. Instead, you may wish to spend additional time on the story layout to ensure it is tight and then approach an editor for copyediting.

Do You Need an Editor?

In short, everyone needs another set of eyes on their writing. However, finding the right editor is highly dependent on your goals for your book. If your book is a memoir that you only want to produce for your family, then you may not wish to spend a lot of money on an editor. Finding one that will do a quick run-through of your story to look for obvious flow problems and grammatical errors may be enough. However, if you dream of having your book on the shelves of Chapters or Barnes & Noble, then you will likely want to spend a little bit more.

I have seen editors that advertise a flat price of $400. Others charge per word, so depending on the word count of your manuscript and the type of editing that needs to be done, it might cost $3000 or more. Some editors charge only $400 to edit a book... but will they give the time that your book needs?

Regardless of your goals, you must have another set of eyes on your document.

How to Find the Right Editor for You

Who you choose to work with is a personal decision. It is can be based on personality and gut feeling but should be considered carefully. The editing process is a long one. You want to make sure that you like the person you are working with and that they are credible, professional, and trustworthy.

There are many, many options when it comes to finding an editor. Here are some places to start your research:

-          You can do a Google search on the Top 10 Self-Publishing groups on Facebook, join them and ask your questions there

o   The Self-Publishing Support Group on Facebook is a group that was created by Melinda Martin, the interior designer for my book, and has roughly 21,000 members. It is a great resource for all things self-publishing. Simply search on ‘editor’ to see who is available or post a comment to ask for yourself

-          Reedsy – expensive but have a good reputation (https://reedsy.com/editing/book-editor)

-          Upwork – inexpensive, but sometimes charge on an hourly basis which I would not be comfortable with

However, if you want a trusted source without the research, I recommend my editor, Shayla Raquel; she was great to work with. You can find her at https://shaylaraquel.com.

Approaching an Editor

When approaching an editor, you should consider a few things. Will they be able to do the work required within your budget? Can they work within your timeline? Do they have experience editing in your genre? Ask about their process, request references, and confirm that they have a contract and that they provide an invoice where you pay half the cost upfront, and the other half when the majority of the work has been completed.

Make Contact

Once you have considered all this, have done some research and have found an editor you might like to work with, contact them, usually through an email they provide on their website.

Write your email carefully, after all, they will be looking to see what your writing skills are like from the get-go. Be professional and be polite, you want them to want to work with you. Convey that you are looking forward to their feedback and are dedicated to making the best book you can.

The editor might have some back and forth with you to ensure you are compatible. They will also want a good understanding of where your manuscript is at before providing a quote.

Sign a contract

Once you’ve had a chance to get to know one another and both agree to move forward, a professional editor will have a contract for you to sign. It will explain the work to be done and the cost. It is a good policy to pay half the cost upfront and the other half when the work is done.

The Process

While every editor might approach working with a writer in a slightly different way, this was my experience with Shayla.

I found Shayla through her book The 10 Commandments of Author Branding. This book highlighted all that an author needs to do beyond writing a book. I had written a book; I just wasn’t sure what to do next. She was my mentor for self-publishing for sure. I liked her straightforward, no-nonsense approach sprinkled with a lot of humour.

After scouring her amazing website, jam-packed with extremely helpful free content, and decided that I would like to work with her.

So, I took a deep breath and decided it was time to move forward.

I contacted Shayla through her website (https://shaylaraquel.com/contact) and completed a questionnaire found there. I wrote a note to let her know a little about myself and attached the Word document of my manuscript.

These were my answers to her questions . . .

·         I'm interested in: Book editing

·         Is this your first book? Yes

·         What's the word count of your book? 57983

·         What's the status of your book? Ready for editing

·         What is your genre? Thriller/Adventure

·         I want to. . . Self-publish my book

·         Message:

Hi Shayla, I read The 10 Commandments of Author Branding over my summer holidays this past August and it was really helpful in setting the stage for what I needed to do next. I have set up a website and although I have much to learn, it will be the place I begin to gather a following. I have attached my novel, Northern Escape. I am open to your thoughts on how it can be polished and am committed to making it a quality book I can be proud of.

·         How did you hear about Shayla? I purchased the Write Publish Profit 3.0 package and enjoyed reading The 10 Commandments of Author Branding.

·         Website www.cindyfolkauthor.com

·         Files: Northern Escape.docx

Shayla’s assistant contacted me right away. She confirmed that she had gotten my email and let me know that Shayla would get back to me in a couple of business days with an estimate.

Shortly after, Shayla contacted me directly and requested a 30-second elevator pitch about the plot. She also asked for other books that lined up with my genre, and whether I had had any feedback from beta readers, critique groups or editors.

This was my response.

Northern Escape is a thriller set in Algonquin Park in Ontario, Canada. A woman runs away from an abusive relationship and goes into hiding by joining a group that is headed to a fishing camp for the week. The group includes various types of artists and as they day trip to different locations to paint, write or take pictures, they come across two men who are looking for a friend who has gone missing. By following a series of clues he's left in geo-cache boxes, she tries to unravel the mystery of what he is up to while trying to figure out how she will avoid being found by her power-hungry and dangerous ex.

Other books that would line up with my genre would be the books in the Twilight Series. Although there are no vampires in my story, the setting and feel are similar.

I have had two people go through the story with a red pen, have had five others read it and provide feedback, and have submitted the manuscript to the Saskatchewan Writer's Guild for review and have tried to incorporate some of their suggestions into the book.

I hope this helps to give you a better feel for the novel and what the project might involve.

Cindy

From there, Shayla recommended copyediting and proofreading. She described her process; she would use Track Changes in Word to make notes and edits, she would be looking for “inconsistencies, confusing sentences, dialogue issues, plot holes, and characterization concerns”, and she would be using The Chicago Manual of Style.

Once she’d had a chance to go through the entire document, she would meet with me over Zoom to go over the edits.

From there, I would go through the document and address her comments.

She quoted the cost of the project at 4 ¢/word which included the copyediting, Zoom consult, a quick cleanup, and the final proofread of the typeset PDF.

She explained that she asks her authors to pay half upfront and half when it is time to begin formatting.

It was very comforting to have all this clearly explained and laid out in advance.

I don’t believe all editors are this organized.

She also provided her full bio, which I will share here with you in case you are interested in contacting her. https://shaylaraquel.com/about

Shayla also asked me to fill out a New Client Questionnaire.

It contained the following questions:

-          Name

-          Address

-          Phone Number

-          Have you worked with an editor before?

-          Are you brand new to the publishing world and need a little bit of hand-holding?

-          Do you know how to use Microsoft Word and Track Changes?

-          How do you feel about using a computer?

-          I do not edit books that are being published by self-assisted publishers or vanity publishers. Are you using one of these to publish your book?

-          Are you comfortable with the differences between developmental editing, content editing, copyediting, and proofreading?

As you can see, Shayla’s process is effective for getting to know potential clients before agreeing to work with them.

After this, she sent a formal contract and invoice.

The contract contained details in terms of when the down payment was due, when she would deliver the first draft, and how long I would have to work with those changes (with some flexibility depending on the number of changes required). Once the cleanup is complete and the interior formatting has been done, the proofread will take place, typically over one or two weeks.

Timeframe

This was my experience in terms of timeframe. Shayla is a busy lady, so I did have to wait a bit in the winter months, however, I felt that was well worth it for the quality work she provided.

September 2020

-          I contacted Shayla

October

-          She walked me through an onboarding process

-          Sent a contract

-          Sent an invoice

-          I paid half of the invoice

November

-          I received her copyedits

-          We had a consulting call to review her edits

-          I paid the second half of her invoice

December

-           I completed the copyedits

Jan/Feb 2021

-          A little back and forth to further enhance some parts

-          We worked together on the book blurb, tag line and publishing name*

March/April

-          Proofreading

May

-          Manuscript sent for interior formatting

Tip: During the winter months I worked on book two. There were things I wrote about in the sequel that made me want to go back and add to the first book. This helped tie the two books together and I was so glad I still had the opportunity to do this.

*Note: Shayla continued to work with me after the final payment, but there were no additional charges. The proofreading was part of the contract, but the book blurb, tag line and publishing name help was done out of the goodness of her heart and because, I think, she finds it fun.

Things to Consider:

-          Website

-          Testimonials

-          Reviews

Which Path Will You Choose?

Circle your decision.

A – Flat Rate

B – Price per word

Which editor will you approach?  ____________________________________