One of DreamPunk Press’s favorite small conventions to attend is FantaSci at the Chesapeake Public Library in Chesapeake, Virginia. This year’s FantaSci was held yesterday, July 27, and I was stoked to present about what to expect from someone editing your work.
This is (basically) a written version of that presentation:
As Dreamer-in-Chief, one of the things that I am responsible for is making sure that the books we publish have been edited, either by me or another editor. Though I have almost 30 years of editing experience, I am not the best option for every project.
There are 3 different types of editing: developmental, line or copy, and proofreading. Formatting is not a type of editing; don’t expect your proofreader to format your project. (I’ll make another post about formatting).
A development edit would be the first type of edit you should have done on a project once you have a completed fiction manuscript that you are happy with.
A developmental editor should be familiar with the genre of your manuscript, especially to review and help you with the expected beats of the story for your particular genre. A developmental editor reads your work and considers pacing (fast, slow, combo of fast and slow), your plot (does it make sense, will the reader be able to follow it), setting (have you described it enough, too much, do you characters fit if they are supposed to), characterization (are your characters believable, likeable), and genre beats (does your manuscript fit the expected plot beats for your genre).
If you are going a traditional route to publishing, your agent should provide this type of edit. Having a critique group to help you smooth out big issues is a good idea before submitting to an agent.
If you are going a self-published or hybrid publisher route, and a developmental editor is out of your budget, beta readers are a good resource. To get the most benefit from having beta readers, you should aim for have six read and provide feedback. Having several sets of feedback will let you compare and contrast the suggestions or issues brought up. If only one reader thinks A is an issue and the other five are okay with it, it may be an issue specific to that reader and not to your manuscript. Workshops and critique groups are great ways to find beta readers, as well as Facebook author groups (though be careful using Facebook) as it may be harder to develop a relationship with them. There may be expectations of reciprocation of reading their work, so make sure you understand the parameters since you won’t be paying them.
A line (or copy) editor looks at the specific words. This is where clarity, spelling, grammar and syntax, point of view, and voice are examined, and “line edits” are provided back to the author. When manuscripts were submitted in double-spaced hard copy, these edits would be written in red ink between the lines. In the digital era, with manuscripts being submitted in an editable format, editors can use a track changes function (or similar) so the author can see the original text and the suggested changes from the editor. While an editor is not likely to mention experience editing first-person manuscripts on a resume, you can ask about it. Just as writing in first-person POV has specific challenges, so does editing the first-person POV.
A proofreader is only reviewing to check spelling, syntax, and grammar. They may also check that style choices are consistent (i.e., toward vs. towards) and capitalization, but that should be accomplished at the copy edit.
Proofreading is a very specific skill, and requires the proofreader to remove themselves a bit from the story and only focus on the words. Not all editors and good at proofreading, and you may want your edit and proofreader to be different people.
Formatting is not a part of editing. An editor will expect a certain level of formatting be done, though there is no formal format required to submit for an edit. An editor should tell you if there is any expectation for format of a manuscript beyond the program it should be in.
When submitting to an agent or to a publisher that accepts unagented manuscripts, there is an expectation for format (usually 12-point Times New Roman, double-spaced). The agency or publisher should specify this. If they simply state proper format, check out this web site: Proper Manuscript Format for Fiction Writers | William Shunn. This is probably what they are citing.
As an author, you need to develop a relationship with your editor. If you write more than one genre, you may want more that one editor; not every editor is comfortable editing every genre and for every age group. This is not a friendship relationship, though, but a business relationship, after all, you will be paying them. Remember, the editor is on your side; they work for you. But, they are also trying to help you make your project better
You need to trust your editor. Not just that they aren’t going to run off with your great story idea, but that they are going to give you the edits you want and need. There is nothing wrong with asking (and paying for) a 10-page sample edit from several editors to help you make your decision. While you want them to fix the items that need correcting, you don’t want to feel like they are taking over your project and that you no longer own it.
Since reader expectations are different for different genres (and reader age groups), you should select an editor that is comfortable editing and has experience editing the genre you are working in. A reputable editor should be able to list title they edited and authors they worked with. You should feel comfortable asking for references from these authors, and getting contact information for a follow-up. If an editor is reluctant to give you this information, it may be a red flag.
Where should you look for an editor?
Reedsy is an online tool to search for editors, proofreaders, formatters, etc. It also has a free online tool to format your book if you want to go the do-it-yourself route. The platform touts that some of the editors in its list have edited for big names. I’m not sure you need a big-name editor.
Another place that you can search a listing of editors looking for work is ACES: The Society for Editing (I am a member). While Reedsy’s list will be specifically slanted toward editors of fiction manuscripts, the ACES list will also include editors that are looking to work on theses and dissertations, instruction and technical manuals, textbooks, etc.
The Editorial Freelancers Association is similar to ACES in that their listing is not specifically geared toward those looking only to edit manuscripts for publishing.
ACES and EFA are also editing focused, so you won’t find a formatter or audio narrator.
The editors you will find in the listings at Reedsy, ACES, and EFA are going to expect standard editing pay rates (Editorial Rates - Editorial Freelancers Association (the-efa.org). These may be higher than you expect.
You can also find editors on LinkIn; just cultivate connections in the writing and editing community. In my experience, these editors have asked for the highest pay rates, and I think this is in part because they are geared toward a business manuscript that is meant to help a business or professional individual’s credentials, and there will also be research involved (i.e., more than just a regular developmental edit).
There are also Facebook groups geared toward editors. Once such group is called Editors Association of Earth (I am a member). There are others. There are also groups geared toward authors of specific genres, and you can join one of them and ask for an editor recommendation.
If you are a member of the Independent Book Publishers Association, you have access to discounts for editing service companies. I have not used this service/discount, and am an active member of this association for the publishing information they provide.
Need to do it cheaply? There are tools available to help you, but they may not give you the same results as a good editor.
The newest version of Word has a comprehensive editing function (I don’t like it – personal opinion), and it might be a good tool to use for a copy edit if you are submitting to an agent as they still expect to do some editing.
My preference for assistance with copy editing is PerfectIt. I do get a discount for its purchase with my membership to ACES. Grammarly is a similar tool that may work for you, and there are others.
Autocrit is an editor with a beta AI that offers critique of your writing; it uses AI to compare your writing with a genre or a specific author in their list that you choose.
Formatting is also something that you may want to try on your own and there are several tools available. I use Word to format, and have created my own set of styles to help me format consistently.
Reedsy has a free online tool that will format your book; it has a limited choice of styles. It outputs your project as a pdf, so you can’t make adjustments if you don’t like all the elements of th style you choose.
Atticus is a downloadable program with a reasonable cost. Similar to Reedsy, you have a choice of format styles to choose from; however, you can make adjustments to these basic styles and save them as your own templates. It also outputs your formatted manuscript in pdf, or you can choose to output as an ePub.
Jutoh is a more complex application for formatting that is reasonable priced, but it is not easy to use and does not offer a user-friendly help function. The developers don’t offer help, either. It does have a wide array of output choices, including ePub and mobipocket.
These are not the only tools available. Velum is an option for formatting if you have a Mac computer, and I know authors who use it and love it. Adobe’s Creative suite, Microsoft Publisher, and Affinity Publish are also options, although, I think these are best for magazines or children’s books (and covers).
How you decide to publish will determine how you decide to approach editing (and formatting), but there are tons of resources out there for you.