Who does a professional editor hire to edit her book?
For the next 18 days, we’ll be taking a little detour from the traditional marketing posts you’ve come to know and love on the Marcie Brock blog as I lead by example and follow my own writing prompts for the Author Blog Challenge. There’s still time to register. Join today and qualify for drawings for daily giveaways for every day that you post.
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Day 11 writing prompt:
Describe your editing process. Who edited your book? What was your relationship with your editor like? What could each of you have done to improve it? What might you do differently in the future?
This one is by far the easiest – and the most challenging – of all the questions to answer. As a professional
editor, my ego almost got in the way when it came to having my own book edited. It wasn’t that I didn’t think it needed editing (actually, it needed less editing than proofreading); it was more a matter of who would be good enough to work on my book?
I didn’t know all that many people in the Phoenix area at the time, so I asked around and was referred to Vickie Mullins of Mullins Creative. Their business has morphed more into graphic design, branding, marketing, and book consulting these days – but at the time, editing and proofing were a core component of what they did. And they did a kickass job!
The funny thing is, even if you read the introduction my book with its full disclaimer to that some of the questions might make you squirm, it’s not until you actually read the some of the questions that you understand exactly why or how squirmy things might get. However, Vickie and I had a great conversation about the fact that the book could be a great title for Christian women’s groups, as it would give them an outlet to talk about all the stuff “proper ladies” never discuss. Would have been the furthest thing from my target audience, but I still think she might be right about that.
I read one comment from an Author Blog Challenge participant about fearing that an editor would mangle and twist her words so much so that her writing might become unrecognizable as her own. Here’s the thing I (a) always reassure my clients, (b) expect from any editor I hire to do contract work for me, and (c) expect from any editor I hire: an editor’s most essential job is to make the author’s words sound like them, only better. As editors, our goal – first and foremost – is to preserve the author’s voice. I know there are a LOT of editors out there who don’t do that. They bring their own spin, lens, and opinions into their editing – and it’s problematic, to be sure. I would say perhaps a third of my business comes from authors who’ve been disappointed by the first editor they hired.
My best suggestion is to get some references first. Then have a conversation to understand exactly what you can expect from your editor. Be clear about how much rewriting you are comfortable with. Do you want them to use the revision marks function in MS Word? While it might seem like a difficult conversation to have up front, it’s the best way to be sure you will get exactly what you want and expect from your editor.
Be aware that good editing is going to cost you some money, but it will be one of the best investments you can make in your book business.
I wrote an e-book about this that I send to prospective clients. You’re welcome to download your own copy of The First-Time Author’s Guide to Hiring the Right Editor for YOU to learn more about my perspective on what I believe is the second most important component to any published book – after completing the manuscript itself.
Happy editing!
Laura
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We welcome and encourage your thoughtful, courteous comments below.
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In honor of our 1-year anniversary (May 2, 2012), we’re hosting the Author Blog Challenge! It starts June 2 and is open to published authors, authors-in-progress, and would-be authors. Come check us out and register today!
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Marcie Brock, Book Marketing Maven 
What a wonderful freebie!! Thank you, Laura. I knew I needed fresh eyes on my manuscript and traded that service with another author. If I ever have the funds to hire an editor, look out! I’ll be hunting you down. WRITE ON!
Thanks, Jo. Gladto hear you were able to trade for it. Nevertheless, I always think a professional is worth the money (and I’m not just saying that b/c it’s my business)!
I’ve just hired my first ever editor. Should get the first two chapters back in a week. Scared and excited
So far Susan has ben great. I have a very good feeling, but I suppose time will tell
I’m kind of counting she makes my writing better, and me better whilst she’s at it 🙂
Matthew (Turndog Millionaire)
Congrats, Matt! Yes – you should definitely hope she’s making your writing better. I love that you think she may be making YOU better, too! Wishing you every success!
Thanks, Marcie
Before I publish the second edition of my Joan of Arc biography, I will hire the one individual I know who fits all the criteria your article covers. He’s expensive, but I’ll find a way. When it comes to the finished product, it should reflect the author’s high standards. Good writing can be ruined by inadequate editing.
After the editing of my book had been completed and the first edition sent to a layout designer, the use of InDesign to pour the text into a different font created innumerable errors. Apparently InDesign’s glitches do not alter the fact that most layout designers use that program. Punctuation was dropped, indents and italicized words disappeared into the text body, quotation marks appeared out of nowhere, and quotation marks that belonged in the text were dropped. Words were altered, sometimes repeated, and mis-spelled words showed up that were not mis-spelled in the MS. Yikes! I resisted hiring an editor to start all over again, due to the expenses I had incurred: hiring a cover designer, forming a small publishing company, hiring the layout designer, and finding an excellent printer who would not charge a gazillion dollars to include thirty-seven full color images.
The second edition will also have a different cover and perhaps, contain a few replacement photographs of historic sites in France Another benefit of the publishing revolution is this. If you aren’t totally happy with your book’s first edition, why not publish a second?
You make a very valuable point, Marcia! If you don’t like the way it turned out the first time, you always have the option to re-release it. And that goes for books that were traditionally published, too – once the rights return to you!
The InDesign issues sound like the problems of a novice typesetter who paid little attention to the detials of your text. Yes – in order to stylize properly, you must strip out ALL formatting to put the book into InDesign. Which is why you have a fully and properly stylized hard copy to match against when you go back in for the detailed formatting (italics, bold, etc.) It is also why page deisgn can run from $5/page and up.