Editor Check

What do you mean by 'offered her services'?

You've apparently already sent your manuscript to several beta-readers, editors and critters.

Do you want to add another one before getting feedback from the others?

Slow down and breathe.

Keithy said:

OK, I've I sent out my MS to some beta readers/editors/critiquers. I already know it has problems, but I also know I will struggle to work out how to fix them without suggestions.

So this beta/editor by the name of Catherine Milos has offered her services. Anyone know about her? I understand she's a published author.

I'm just in a whirl of confusion at the moment...

Click to expand...

From a quick Amazon search, she appears to have self-published three SFF novels. A couple of possible warning signs are that she calls them "best sellers," yet they have very low or no Amazon rankings and very few or no reviews. And, she appears to have given herself a review, which is generally considered a newbie fumble imo.

But to be fair, that is only a first impression. It's possible the books were published somewhere else previously and were best sellers on one list or another there. I'd be leery of the term "best seller" anyway though, as it often seems to mean precisely nothing. And of course none of this means she could or couldn't do a great job of giving your book a good going over that's worth the money to you.

You might want to check out the "look inside this book" feature and see what you think of her writing.

And you might want to compare her to your free readers, as they may have the same level of accomplishments.

Also, it depends on how much she is charging and what that means to you.

I agree with Bufty that it might be a good idea to wait and see what you get back from the ones you've already sent it to.

I'd just caution you to not be too impressed with someone being published etc. (especially when they are charging you). My best helper isn't even a writer. We're all readers, after all, and it's not rocket science.

One reason to pay imo is just that a thorough going-over, whatever term we're going to call it by, is very time-consuming. It's hard to find people who will put anywhere from a few solid hours to a few days into your book for nothing.

Good luck!

Keithy said:

OK, I've I sent out my MS to some beta readers/editors/critiquers. I already know it has problems, but I also know I will struggle to work out how to fix them without suggestions.

So this beta/editor by the name of Catherine Milos has offered her services. Anyone know about her? I understand she's a published author.

I'm just in a whirl of confusion at the moment...

Click to expand...

I'm not sure if you sent it to her as a beta and she offered to edit it for pay or what exactly you mean, but having self-published books, or having had books trade published, does not qualify a person to edit other people's work.

I just went and looked at her books; I looked inside one, and found it needs editing. There are errors on the first page -- not a ton, but certainly errors. I'd also say it needs editing in general.

Have you gotten feedback from betas? What editors have you sent it to?

Good points, Corny.

Also, Keithy, if by "offering her services," you don't mean she'd be charging you, then I'd definitely take it. I always take all the free help I can get, from anybody. You never know who might catch something you missed.

Remember, just like an agent, any one can hang up a shingle and call themselves an editor.

I am an editor - I edit technical documents for the US government as a part of my job at a contracted technical writer.

That does not mean I'm qualified to edit a SF novel. I could probably catch most of the grammatical errors and possibly make some well-meaning suggestions on clunky phraseology and point out where the story might be getting flabby and slowing down ... same as any good beta reader.

Keithy said:

OK, I've I sent out my MS to some beta readers/editors/critiquers. I already know it has problems, but I also know I will struggle to work out how to fix them without suggestions.

So this beta/editor by the name of Catherine Milos has offered her services. Anyone know about her? I understand she's a published author.

I'm just in a whirl of confusion at the moment...

Click to expand...

Seconding what everyone has said here. I definitely think you need to slow down—wait until you get feedback back from your beta readers. If you have any questions about their feedback, you can always ask for clarification.

Also, if you're thinking about hiring Catherine, maybe check out her work before committing. See if her work is inline with yours.

Maybe take a couple of days away from your book so that when you look at it again, your eyes will be a little fresher.

Any editor you're considering hiring should offer to return a free line edit on a thousand-word-or-so sample, so I'll assume that that's what you're waiting on now. As with anything, you should send a sample to several editors before you decide on one, even if the first one seems great.

If you feel confident enough to look at all the returned samples and decide which are the best, go for it; but the problem, which is inherent and unavoidable, is that you're essentially paying someone to tell you what you don't know. In other words, if you could confirm which edits are the best, you would be able to edit it yourself and wouldn't need an editor, right?

So you pay an editor for their experience/authority, which, again, is problematic, since, as others in this thread have pointed out, a) experience doesn't equal expertise, b) fiction is so subjective that it's hard to say which edits are "best" anyway, and c) these editors are, ultimately, trying to sell you something.

Where does this leave you? Pretty far up the river, frankly. But there is a sliver of hope: If you accept that fiction is ultimately written for people to enjoy, then you can look at your story after the edits, and if it is now more enjoyable to read, then there's at least one fixed criteria, which is better than none.

Keep reading, keep writing, keep making mistakes, and keep learning from those mistakes.

Cheers!

teardownthismall said:

Any editor you're considering hiring should offer to return a free line edit on a thousand-word-or-so sample, so I'll assume that that's what you're waiting on now. As with anything, you should send a sample to several editors before you decide on one, even if the first one seems great.

If you feel confident enough to look at all the returned samples and decide which are the best, go for it; but the problem, which is inherent and unavoidable, is that you're essentially paying someone to tell you what you don't know. In other words, if you could confirm which edits are the best, you would be able to edit it yourself and wouldn't need an editor, right?

So you pay an editor for their experience/authority, which, again, is problematic, since, as others in this thread have pointed out, a) experience doesn't equal expertise, b) fiction is so subjective that it's hard to say which edits are "best" anyway, and c) these editors are, ultimately, trying to sell you something.

Where does this leave you? Pretty far up the river, frankly. But there is a sliver of hope: If you accept that fiction is ultimately written for people to enjoy, then you can look at your story after the edits, and if it is now more enjoyable to read, then there's at least one fixed criteria, which is better than none.

Keep reading, keep writing, keep making mistakes, and keep learning from those mistakes.

Cheers!

Click to expand...

My bold.

It's true that experience doesn't equal expertise.

But it's also true that editors who have worked for trade publishers for several years and who have had a reasonable amount of success in their field are going to usually edit books well, whereas people with little or no experience of editing things are not.

To edit well you need a lot of talent, but you also need training, experience, and mentoring. People who set up shop as editors when they don't have that training or experience are not going to do well no matter how talented they are.