
Behind every great text is a superb editor who can offer suggestions that make a book more accessible to its intended audience. However, hiring one can be tricky. Here are some helpful tips to keep in mind when trying to choose an editor for your book.
#1: Know what kind of editing you need
One thing writers might fail to recognize is that there are different areas of editing an editor may specialize in. The two most recognized are copyediting and developmental editing. Copyediting refers to the practice of checking a piece for grammatical errors, punctuation issues, and capitalization problems. Essentially, anything your word processor might not have picked up. This style of editing requires a careful eye for things that might commonly be overlooked. Developmental editing is when someone analyzes a manuscript’s content and provides substantive feedback regarding fact-checking, clarity, and ensures everything makes sense. Both types of edits are incredibly valuable and understanding these phrases is critical when choosing an editor.
#2: Establish your price point
Hiring someone within your budget for manuscript editing is easier than ever. Writers can instantly compare pricing between professional service providers or freelance platforms such as Upwork and Fiverr. With quality comes a cost, however.
Most often, an editor will charge you “by the hour.” The average amount of pages read (and edited) per hour is 3-10, so if you’re hoping to get your lengthy novel polished, prepare to have your checkbook ready.
For writers who decide to use a site like Fiverr to find their editor, be sure to also check star reviews and credentials to ensure you’re getting the best quality manuscript editing possible. You will most likely see a correlation between lower cost and lower ratings. However, to play it safe, you should let the professional editors at eBooks2go review your manuscript.
#3: Never, never, never have a close friend or family member serve as your editor
This tip might be a no-brainer to most people, but it’s paramount that your editor is free of any biases that would prevent them from giving you the entire truth regarding your writing (this is especially important with developmental editing). It ’s good to bounce ideas off friends and families and share some of your work with them, but to cut the cost of an editor in favor of having your best friend reading the entirety of text can be detrimental towards the overall quality of your work. They may not want to hurt your feelings, feel that criticism could affect your friendship, or perhaps might be personally connected to the subject matter of the piece. It’s always better to find an unbiased and trained third-party to edit your work.
Do you have a manuscript that is ready to be published? eBooks2Go provides extensive book editing services at reasonable rates. To learn more about the services we offer, visit https://www.ebooks2go.net/book-editing-services. We can’t wait to work with you!