...To hire an editor before submission

Welcome

Hi there, and welcome to AW, Vic. About editors, I don't know how well they know their business, but I've experienced that some of them have no clue about English. I'm from Belgium, but perhaps know a lot more about English, because I've studied its linguistics and have a master's in it. I also do editing, but can't do a big novel in one month. If you take your editing for serious, it will take some more. Good luck anyway!


Nickie

VIC said:

May this thread be a word of warning.

I finished a story. Rewrote at least 6 times, probably more. I felt I had brought the story to a level of polish i could not better. Knowing i was going to go the distance with this one I decided to hire someone to read, proof and do a light copy edit, that is before i sent it out.

I talked to a few people had them do samples and settled on one. She said she could do it in a month's time. big selling point. 3 months later she was not 2/3 through. i moved on. found someone else -- who agreed to read the whole story and edit the last third, which had yet to be treated. it is the new editor's opinion: I still see a whole lot of copy edit problems: punctuation errors and sentence errors...

Does anyone else hire an editor to treat their work before submitting?

What are your thoughts and opinions on this?

Why have a proper last third when the beginning has major issues? It's really the beginning that will initially matter most. I'm going to have the new guy show me what's wrong with chapter one and go from there.

Have a great weekend.

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Greetings and welcome to the watercooler

A must read thread is the newbie guide, which is in a sticky thread at the top of the Newbie Forum. Also check out Cathy_C's thread, which is also stickied at the top of the Newbie forum, Next on our tour, if you'll look to the left, you'll notice... to find out about the various buttons and icons, and also about rep points, how to PM (private message) members, custom avatars and a whole host of other useful stuff,

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And for fun, we have the terrific Newbie Question of the Day thread. Pop in and have a go at answering a few of the really easy questions (the link is in the sig line below). They are easy. Yep, they are. And so much fun.

I know you've gone down the editor route, and I can't tell you if that's a good way to go or not as I've not used one. But if you need some other feedback on your writing, you can post some in our Share Your Work forum (the password is vista). The critiques can be harsh sometimes ... but honest, so prepare yourself for that. Everyone means well, though. Their goal is to get you the best novel/story/article possible and to get it published. Also, it does help to bring them cookies . Everyone likes cookies, right? You could also critique some of the other members' work too. It is surprising how that can help with you own. Check out the how-to guide threads in Main Share Your Work sub-forum, then post your material in one of the genre sub-forums.

I always hire someone. I use Derek...


here is his information:

Derek E Ladd

Proof Edge
834 SW 15th Ave. # 38
Portland, OR 97205
Office: 503.295.4043
Cell: 503.473.1350
[email protected]


he's not that expensive

regdog said:

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!Hola! Where did you get that cool smiley? lol

I've gotten betas here and there, but instead of hiring an editor, wouldn't you be better suited to take a few english and grammar classes? I mean sure an editor can help you polish that one manuscript, but what about your next? You'll have to hire an editor all over again. Why not take the time to master English as part of your craft? I think you'll be much farther along if you do.

icerose said:

I've gotten betas here and there, but instead of hiring an editor, wouldn't you be better suited to take a few english and grammar classes? I mean sure an editor can help you polish that one manuscript, but what about your next? You'll have to hire an editor all over again. Why not take the time to master English as part of your craft? I think you'll be much farther along if you do.

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I agree with that, but I also think someone should have someone else read their work before submitting it. I never summit scripts before having someone else read them.

lache said:

I agree with that, but I also think someone should have someone else read their work before submitting it. I never summit scripts before having someone else read them.

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Agreed but I don't think it has to be an editor.

Then again, I'm cheap.

To hire an editor before submitting work is to be looking to be ripped off.

Scam artists abound in this area. You'll get a somewhat generic response along with one or two specific comments. If you've hired them for copyediting then they'll mark up your pages but won't do the deeper work needed. Better to put it out to the web for critique (the average opinion of a large number of people is close to correct).

I've worked as an editor and it would have been ever so easy to take in a lot of money but provide very little service. Editing only works on books that have some merit to them - making the good better. Some work is terrible and can't be improved.

Join a writers' group.

And welcome.

First, welcome to AW

As a few others have said, brush up on your grammar and spelling first, if that's what's needed.

Then post a small portion, such as the first 300 words, on the appropriate Share Your Work forum here at AW. Password is vista.

..

Hi, and welcome.

Welcome!

I used my wife and mother as editors. My wife does document review as part of her regular job; though she's not a professional editor. My mother graduated magna cum laude in language from a big-name Uni; so I've been thoroughly indoctrinated in spelling and grammar. Even then, I made over 100 mistakes that my wife caught in 3 days of reading the entire 340+ pages of my book. Yeah, she's that fast. It took me a month to get through all her edits - mostly due to frustration that I had to read the book again...

I think editing (or just proofreading) is a great thing to do. It bugs the heck out of me when I catch grammar or spelling errors when reading a story.

I'm new to the board, and am currently working to edit an 83,000 work fiction novel to make it the best that it can be.

I was considering finding a editor before submitting it to agents.

Maybe someone who has been published could give an idea of the process, it would help me understand why so many people appear to be against hiring an editor on your own....

Can anyone whose been published describe the process?

mjacpa said:

I'm new to the board, and am currently working to edit an 83,000 work fiction novel to make it the best that it can be.

I was considering finding a editor before submitting it to agents.

Maybe someone who has been published could give an idea of the process, it would help me understand why so many people appear to be against hiring an editor on your own....

Can anyone whose been published describe the process?

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I'm not published, but I've been here awhile and this question has come up a few times.

One of the main reasons I've seen is that a writer should learn how to edit their own work. Plus, there are preferable alternatives - beta readers, for one. I mean an editor fixing up your work is great, but what do you really learn? It's almost like getting someone else to do your university homework - it gets done, but you don't really benefit from having someone else do it. And as some have said it can be hit or miss, you definitely get what you pay for. The good editors are always expensive. In certain circumstances an editor could be a good idea (niche market, non-fic book, someone who doesn't intend to make writing a career), but in the long run it serves a writer better to learn how to edit and polish their own manuscripts to an acceptable level for publishers and agents, rather than paying an editor to do it.