Suggestions for finding a good editor?

You could try the yellow pages on Kboards: http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,123703.0.html

Focus on the testimonials and the body of work they've built up. If the editor lists books they've worked on you could read a couple and see what you think of the work.

PrincessFiona said:

How did you go about selecting an editor for your text?

Kris

Click to expand...

http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=246884

Only work with editors who have edited your kind of work before. Not just fiction, but specific: Your genre, for your market. Check references/credentials. Academic writing and fiction are two very, very different entities.

PrincessFiona said:

I did look on that website and noticed very few options for someone writing a memoir. The editor that has already read my text didn't do a great job because she was looking at it as if it were an academic text instead of a memoir.

Do you recommend letting family/friends read it for one source of 'editing' or feedback?

Kris

Click to expand...

There's no harm in letting them beta read, as long as you have separate betas/editors. Just bear in mind that they might not find much to change because they don't want to hurt your feelings. Or they might go the other way and be quite harsh, which might not be great for your relationship.

There's a subforum here for finding betas and critique partners. I've used it before and had good results.

PrincessFiona said:

I did look on that website and noticed very few options for someone writing a memoir. The editor that has already read my text didn't do a great job because she was looking at it as if it were an academic text instead of a memoir.

Click to expand...

That's why it's important to find editors who work in your specific genre.

Do you recommend letting family/friends read it for one source of 'editing' or feedback?

Kris

Click to expand...

If they also happen to be editors who are experienced in the genre in which you write, then yes, it might be worthwhile.

If not, why would their advice be any better than the advice of the academic you paid to edit your work?

PrincessFiona said:

I guess I would consider them my intended audience. At some level it's most important that the reader enjoys the writing.

But I totally see your point!

Click to expand...

If readers were editors, trade publishers wouldn't bother spending money on editing.

You can learn from beta readers and helpful critiquers; but you won't get the same results as you'd get from a good editor.

I am a little shy about spending more money on an editor after realizing how little that it helped me. :/ I'm going to have to sit with this one while I decide. Thanks for the comments.

Click to expand...

Spending money on an editor didn't help you because you paid the wrong editor. It doesn't mean that editing is of little help.

Spending money on a good editor who works in the genre in which you write will be a completely different thing.

Publishing a book which has not been well edited is a really bad idea.

I edit, but not memoir. I generally do romance/erotica and some humor, but I'll dig through my contacts to see if I know anyone good who does memoir.

References are key. Samples are key. Asking for a sample chapter isn't out of line, and keeps you from spending money on someone doing something that's not right. (Although I did once forget to ask a client for a style guide and goofed on punctuation preferences. Oops!)

You can find self-published books in your genre that seem well-edited and see if the editor is listed in the front matter - if not, you can contact the author and ask who did the editing. Most self-published authors seem pretty happy to share that sort of information.

Otherwise, it's pretty hard to get a sense of whether someone's going to do good work for you - credentials are great, but it's like reading a resume without having a job interview - you only get the basics, not the overall feel.