Hiring an editor is a big commitment. So, you’re right to want to learn a lot before taking one on. We’re here to help. Here are some of the web’s most asked questions about working with an editor:
How Do You Get an Editor for Your Writing?
How do you find anything these days? A Google search! Whether you want someone who specializes in your genre, is part of an accreditation like the Editorial Freelancers Association, or is local to you, a quick search on Google can make a huge difference. Or you can try to connect through social media. Twitter is the number one place we first meet our clients because it’s the number one place on the internet that’s having the authorship conversation. Participating in community events can put you in touch with a lot of editorial professionals quickly.
The important thing to remember when you do find an editor is to make sure that they’re offering the type of service you’re wanting. Nothing against Fiverr or Reedsy, but many of their editors will offer a low price and quick turnaround without a ton of good substance. So, take the time to get to know your prospective editor before working with them. If they put out any content on their site or social media, this can be a great way to learn their editorial philosophy. And if you’re wanting to pay them for a service, they should be willing to exchange some pleasantries as well before asking for payment. You should feel good about what they can bring to your story.
What Does an Editor Actually Do?
What exactly you’ll receive from an editor will vary depending upon their workflow and the details of your book, but here are a few things many editors offer:
Developmental Editing — A comprehensive analysis of the big-picture considerations for your story. This includes an editorial letter with praise and suggestions for improvement on scene structure, character arcs, plot lines, genre conventions, and more. It is typically the first round of editing on a novel.
Line Editing — An analysis of your book on a line-by-line, paragraph-by-paragraph, and scene-by-scene level with suggested edits and comments made directly on your manuscript. You’ll want to be sure you’re happy with all of the big-picture aspects of your novel before you take this one on, or you might have to do it twice.
Proofreading — This is probably what you think of when you first think of editing. It’s a grammar and spelling adjustment throughout your manuscript to put on a final polish, which is typically done last in the editorial development of a novel.
Beta Reading — Once you’ve done some editing and think you might be ready to move on to professional help, it’s good to have a reader’s feedback first. And you can get that from some professional editors. It’s a great way to get a gut reaction from someone who knows the industry or to test out a prospective editor before diving in with a more expensive round of edits.
Book Coaching — Know you’re not ready for a full edit but still want some help fixing a few scenes, setting a routine, learning a specialized writing skill, breaking out of a rut, or brainstorming ideas on how to get out of an editorial corner? A book coaching session can help you target specific areas of concern and create accountability in what can be a lonely experience if you don’t have a writing partner or group.
How Much Does It Cost to Hire an Editor?
The cost of hiring an editor will vary depending upon the depth of their services and the editor’s level of experience, but here are some normal ranges for their pricing:
Developmental Editing $0.02 - $0.08 per word
Line Editing $0.01 - $0.05 per word
Proofreading $0.005 - $0.03 per word
Professional Beta Reading $50 - $250 total
Book Coaching $25 - $250 per session
The price of developing a novel can quickly add up, but editors often have suggestions on good ways to help cut costs. Talk with an editor about their services. After they get a chance to review your work, they’ll be well qualified to give you a course of action to improve your chances landing an agent or attracting readers for those hoping to self-publish.
Why Are Editors So Expensive?
The primary reason editors cost as much as they do is because of the amount of time it takes to edit a project. Copyeditors at major publishing houses are expected to cover approximately 1000 words per hour between a close read, making suggestions, and any research they may need to do on specialized terms or spellings. So, if you’re paying $0.02 per word, that’s approximately $20 per hour. But that doesn’t account for the time they spend corresponding, initially meeting, ensuring personalized attention on your work, and following up on payment.
Editing is also a specialized skill that often includes an advanced degree and always requires continued education. Editors must spend their time reviewing updated language guidelines and constantly reading to keep up with industry trends. Their fees reflect this. So, you’re more likely to get immediately useful advice from a higher-paid editor with more industry knowledge.
How Much Do Editors Change Your Work?
The amount of your story that an editor changes will largely depend upon the needs of your genre, level of requested editing, and your personal writing style. This is especially true if you’re working with a traditional publisher. But if you’re working with an indie editor, the good news is that for detail-oriented changes like line edits and proofreading industry standards are to use tracked changes on a word document. This means that if you disagree with a change an editor has made to your work, you can simply reject the change in the document to reflect it.
For bigger-picture edits, you’ll receive a list of requested changes with suggestions on how to handle them. Because these edits require more in-depth consideration, you’ll have a say in how they get implemented. If you disagree with an indie editor, there are often ways to compromise. Traditional publishers do not like to see disagreement, but an independent author can and should when their authorial voice is in the mix. It’s what makes your story yours after all!
When Should I Hire an Editor?
There are editorial services that are useful at every stage of the writing journey. So, when you hire one largely depends upon which parts you would like help with and which you would like to handle yourself:
When you’re just getting started, working with a book coach can help you establish a reading routine, help you when you’re stuck, be a point of accountability, or teach you new skills. They can also be helpful when you’re not yet ready to show someone your entire story but want help with a particular part of it.
Once you’ve finished your first draft, a great first step can be getting a beta reader’s reaction. You’re going to need to make edits to your story, but having another perspective can help fill your authorial gaps.
When you’ve gotten as far editing as you can by yourself, many authors go for a developmental edit. This is a big-picture edit looking at plot lines, character arcs, scene structure, genre conventions, and more. So, getting this one done first can help you from fixing smaller changes over and over again.
If you’re happy with your overall story structure, the next round of edits a publishing house suggests is a line edit. This takes a look at your story on a line-by-line, paragraph-by-paragraph, and scene-by-scene level to fix things like grammar, syntax, clarity, fact checking, continuity, and more.
When you’re feeling ready to publish, the final step in the editing process is a last spelling and grammar check often called proofreading.
Is Paying an Editor Really Worth It?
Whether an editor is worth it largely depends upon your own publishing and editorial knowledge. The publishing world is an industry that’s kept intentionally opaque by gatekeepers who profit from the ambiguity. Navigating these giants can be difficult to impossible on your own. But an editor can act like a guide for you as you develop your novel to prepare it for publication. A good editor will make your book something readers can enjoy without being bogged down. A great editor can give you the tools to help you attract an agent or an audience and turn it into a bestseller.
These are the questions many authors are asking before they feel ready to hire an independent editor for their novel. Were there any that we missed? Let us know on our Twitter, @ChargotEditions, and we’ll answer it there!
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