Maybe It’s the Right Time to Hire a Book Editor…

So, you’ve written a manuscript for a compelling book and you’re certain that it’s going to be a big hit. No matter what genre it’s in or what audience you’re trying to target, before you send out your manuscript to publishing houses or attempt to publish it yourself, there’s an important part of the process that you don’t want to overlook: editing. 

Editing refers to the process of writing that cleans up the content. It involves making sure that the wording flows, the content makes sense, and the message is clear. It may entail restructuring the writing, deleting chunks of text that aren’t needed, or adding to the content to draw it out further. It’s a very special skillset that requires a great deal of knowledge and attention to detail. In other words, editing is a whole lot harder than it seems. It’s for that reason that so many authors hire professionals to edit their books for them. 

There’s no shortage of book editors out there, and while it might seem like finding and hiring an editor would be a pretty simple and straightforward task, it’s actually a lot more complicated than it appears. You want to make sure that you find someone who is the perfect fit to help develop your manuscript and really make it shine before you send it out to the proofreaders and then to its final stop: the publishing house. 

With all of that said, how do you go about finding a great book editor? Here are some tips that will help to guide you toward finding someone you can rely on to make your writing shine. 

Things to Consider When You’re Hiring a Book Editor

Before you hire a book editor, there are some important factors that you’re going to want to consider. These factors include the following: 

• What genre or type of writing is your book? First, consider what type of book you need to have edited. Is it historical fiction? Romance? Creative? Drama? Fantasy? A children’s book? You want to be certain that you hire an editor that has experience editing the specific type of book you have written. Someone who only has experience editing children’s books probably won’t be able to edit fantasy or historical fiction, for example. 
• What type of edits do you need? There are several different types of editing, such as copyediting, developmental, and proofreading. It’s a good idea to figure out what kind of edits you need before you hire an editor so that you can find someone who has the experience to fit your needs. 
• Share insights about your attachment level to your writing. If you’re sensitive to changes, you are definitely going to want to convey that to your editor so that they can get your insight before making any changes.
• Your budget. It’s also important to consider your budget before you start looking for an editor. By knowing how much you can afford to pay beforehand, you can clearly advertise that to prospective editors.  

Start Looking for Prospective Editors

Once you’ve taking the above-mentioned factors into consideration, you can start the process of looking for prospective book editors. Check job  boards, like Indeed.com or post listings on these sites. You can also ask publishing houses if they can make recommendations. Another great place to look is at a local college. You may be able to find a professor or a student who has excellent editing skills and who charges fair and affordable rates for the services that they provide. 

Summing It Up

With the above-mentioned tips, you should be able to find an editor for your book who you can rely on for your manuscript before you send it out to a publishing house.