Editor search; checking references

Diggy · May 16, 2012

Hello people, I have a question for yall:

I'm currently looking for an editor for my 25K non-fiction manuscript. As part of due diligence, I reached out to an author who gave a testimonial. This was my email to her:

"... I'm currently looking for an editor for a specialized dating/relationship book for men. The editor for your book, Ms. Bonebright, has recently submitted a bid for editing services to my manuscript. If I could spare a few moments of your time to discuss her work on your book, I would greatly appreciate it.

Thank you..."
Her 1st response:

"Absolutely! Yes ____ did a great job. Her price is the lowest you can find for quality work. Make sure you let her know to do a CLEAN and thorough edit of your book. After her hard-edit, I had to go through and correct other some other things. No matter which editor you go with you should always do a thorough edit after they are complete.

I highly recommend ___ because of price in relation to the quality of work and how fast she works. Great and honest person!"

Being pretty new to this whole process, I was curious to know what "other things" consisted of. So I asked, just to know what I should look for post-edit. She replied:

"Just make sure you do a thorough read through. She does a great edit job, but may miss a few things here or there. That's all nothing big, I highly recommend her."

My question: should my "spider senses" be tingling a bit, or is this normal? The author never really defined what "other things" were. Should I press her to be more specific?

FabricatedParadise · May 16, 2012

IMO your senses should definitely be tingling.

For as long as I've been freelance editing, I always do a second pass to make sure I didn't miss anything. While it is possible to miss stuff, there's no reason you should be paying someone to edit a manuscript you then have to edit yourself.

With that said, you should also always do a read-through when you get your MS back post-edits. No one is perfect.

IceCreamEmpress · May 17, 2012

I would be mortified if one of my clients said that about my work. You really shouldn't have to tell an editor to be thorough.

BubbleCow · May 18, 2012

Great question... The problem is that some editors are unclear about the type of service they will be providing. You see, there are two types of edits, a copy edit and a structural edit.

Copy Edit: This is a bit like a proofread. The editor will read your book twice, in the process correcting grammar and spelling. They will also fact check and, if the editor is good, suggest minor changes that will make the sentences read better. They will use a defined style manual to ensure the changes are consistent.

Structural Edit: This will see the editor looking at the overall structure of your book. They will focus on things like plot structure (3/5 act etc.), dialogue, flow and readability. They will also assess your manuscript in relation to the readership and marketplace. A good editor will mark up errors they spot, but it is not a copy edit.

Now here's the problem. Good copy editors are not normally good structural editors and visa versa. They require two very different skill sets. At BubbleCow we employ both types of editors but never assign copy editing jobs to structural editors etc.

So my advice is to ask the editor to clearly define what they will be doing to your book. It is your money and editing is not cheap. You need to make sure you will be getting what you need from the editor.

Old Hack · May 18, 2012

Here is an excellent post about the intricacies of good copy editing, written by a senior editor at one of the major New York publishers.

Diggy · May 22, 2012

Thanks everyone for your advice and answers!

I finally settled on an editor late Friday/Saturday. She has the experience w/some of the big pub houses, and she agree to a price within my researched range.

Editor search; checking references

Diggy

FabricatedParadise

Can be bribed with circus peanuts

IceCreamEmpress

Hapless Virago

BubbleCow

Old Hack

Such a nasty woman

Diggy