The opening to my novel is much stronger because of his advice, and I learned a great deal about storytelling through the process. The bad…when I agreed with his suggestions, he was fine. When I did not, he became upset. As in, he yelled at me over the phone and said a few hurtful things about my character — and me — when I said I wouldn't change an aspect of my character's personality.
I was not expecting an editor to take things so personally in terms of what changes I did or did not agree to. And while I know aspects of my novel are better after working with him, there are some things that I'm even more confused about than before. Because of the way he handled some things, I'm not sure I fully trust all his advice. But maybe that's a good thing — it requires me to think long and hard about every single aspect of my novel.
Each character, every scene, even every line. And that's a very good thing to do. Would I work with a freelance developmental editor again? Probably, but I would find someone who really understood my writing and the vision I have for my character.
Someone who would hopefully not take things so personally. You should be open to the advice — and I made many, many changes to both plot and character.
But, you should also know when something just feels wrong — and be willing to stay the course and not make a change if you think it goes against your story or your character s. And in case anyone is curious — the one aspect of my character the editor didn't like was that he flirts with a woman other than his girlfriend.
My character is a bit of a womanizer. He doesn't realize how much he cares for his regular gal until later in the book. So, he does flirt with another woman in the first part of the novel. Once he realizes how he feels about his gal, he stops the flirting.
And that's all it is — flirting. The editor said that was horrible, just not acceptable, made my character despisable, etc. Seemingly a minor thing, but clearly something he felt strongly about. And so did I, so the flirting stayed in place because I feel is shows how he matures from the start of the novel to the end…how his feelings change, and that is a crucial part of the story.
So, again — find someone who gets you, be open to their advice, but also be true to your story and your characters. Make those changes you feel will improve your book, but don't make changes simply because someone tells you to. There should be a reason for making any revision or change — and I feel that reason is that it makes your book better.
I would do the same again. Both spend less time working with my actual words, than helping me identify the common mistakes I make in my writing ie: passive voice, not trusting my reader….
With my writing partner, I also get to critique her manuscript—which is often just as helpful to me as getting critiqued. I made changes, cut 35, words and wound up with a mess. A good friend, who is a superb writer, read it and basically told me I needed to start all over. Afterward, I contacted Barbara and asked her if she thought it was worthwhile to hire her to edit the heavily revised manuscript.
She said no. If there wasn't much to change, it would be a complete waste of money for me. If there were still extensive changes, I had spent a lot of money and I was right back where I started. I would probably take her novel workshop on the next one and go through my critique group again. I hope Beth will have time to read it. I learned a lot from both experiences and I think I've grown a lot. I just fear many writers hire editors to do the work for them and, unless they are prepared to do that every time with the same editor, they have done themselves and the agent a disservice.
I really think a writer needs to learn on their own, get language and knowledge that fits who they are as a person and writer. I've worked with a number of writers through My Book Therapy but we only do the first 10K words.
Our goal is to help them see the strengths and weaknesses, work through the overall story question and concept, then send them off on their own. I had some help when I started out, but I did a lot of it on my own. I'm very thankful for that experience. So while it is a fact that I can't do the kind of editing on my own work I can do for others, editing for others does indeed strengthen my revision muscles for my own work too.
Editing is the flip side of writing—whether for your own work or others'! You still need to own your book and trust your instincts first and foremost — it's your book! The publisher I sat down with gave me notes but I want to make sure everything is polished before I send the work in. I will ask them for notes on the first few chapters, not to make actual changes. I want to review all changes before made. Very helpful and reassuring post. Having a professional look at your first few chapters is yet another way to learn both the craft and the art of writing.
Use it as a tutorial. I think of it as putting another tool in my tool belt. What I build is now up to me. Thanks to her advice it's out on 4 partials. She works exactly like you mention Rachelle — she reads through, makes her comments, shows you where your strengths and weakeness lie, suggests resources to improve and leaves it all in the hands of the writer.
The words in my novel are my words — not an editors. You can learn so much by having a pair of eyes look over your writing that KNOW what they are talking about! It was the best investment I ever made. If you really believe in what you are writing, money is secondary. I know this is hard to swallow and believe me, it was a lot of money for me. I believe it was money very well spent. I had the material and my editor helped me get my material in the form an agent wants to see. I got an agent with my first query.
If you believe in what you are writing, then you will not hesitate in doing what it takes to get your work out there in polished form. Maybe you could give us YOUR experience in being edited—what you gained, what you enjoyed or didn't, etc. What did you learn? I have a PhD in English, teach English at the university level and have for some time , have two published books, and read craft books avidly. I also participate in a critique group. The services of a freelance editor a good one, properly researched were invaluable in teaching me yet more craft!
I've thought about hiring an editor myself for various reasons, but I'm not ready for that yet. As far as whether or not it's a good idea…that's difficult to say. As you said in the post, sometimes a good or overzealous editor can overtake the writer's voice, and then the writer can't deliver the same results again. In the long run it might make you a better writer to get feedback on what people didn't like, rather than technical feedback on writing skills.
The word 'editor,' as some have pointed out, means many things, but from reading the comments I get the feeling that more than one author here is confusing freelance editors with freelance copy editors, especially when it comes to how much they charge. The former deals with a manuscript's big picture; the latter fixes its nuts and bolts issues. I've seen some happy stories in blogland from people who have paid for this service. But you've brought up some great points about the risks of becoming too dependant on outside help, of losing your voice, or possibly, disguising the fact that you have no business writing a book in the first place.
I have great critique group with one aspiring author, one published author, a former agent, and a recent contest winner.
They all have different ways of critiquing but they never "fix" anything for me unless it's a spelling or puncuation error. And I learn something from each submitted chapter, use that knowledge, and edit the next chapter before turning it in. It wasn't as expensive as some people have quoted and I received tons of very useful feedback. I told myself it was like taking a writing course with my own personal instructor.
I had the fear that my writing was just horrible unless she looked at it first. I had to remind myself it was a learning experience and that I had to move on! But I'm so glad I hired her because I learned a lot. I was talking about this over the weekend when I presented to a writers group in Lexington. For example, if we were talking about a book edit, I would ask for the first pages of your work and payment for it.
We do this as a test to protect us both. You get to see what I do after the first 20 pages and see if my edits are to your liking. If not, you opt out of more. BUT — it goes both ways. I also have to feel a connection to the work, so I have an option to get out after 20 pages, if I wish. My writing improved so much. She is also a published author.
She had so much street cred, it hurt. He ended up not charging me anything because he said he was happy to see a student take instruction and implement it well…best learning experience ever. I'm in the process of using what I learned from her to edit the rest of the manuscript before I turn her loose on that.
Because I simply don't have the time to be a part of a large critique group, it's nice to pay someone else to be a second set of eyes. Also, I'm paying her to be brutally honest with the condition of my writing.
Sometimes you can't get that brutal honesty from those close to you or from critique partners. Clearly it's a big topic. Check out a similar post by Jane Friedman at the WriterUnboxed blog a few days ago:. As others have mentioned, it's important to understand why something needs to be changed and to internalize that knowledge going forward. That way a critique group becomes not a crutch but a school. Perhaps the best freelancer editors are not the ones who do the work for you — but who know what are the right questions to ask of you.
That's a true spiritual gift — sharp eyes that can cut away to the essence, eyes that know the anatomy of a soul and what words deaden and what words revive. Editors like these are the rarest of finds — and if you can find one… yes, their work is beyond any price. Good things to think about here. It's an unnecessary financial burden money flows TO the writer! Finding a good group or partner can take a while, but when you do, it's worth it. Between my critique group and my own reading and thinking about craft, I feel as though I have all the help I need.
Unfortunately, I didn't do my homework before I hired her. She had only ever edited two novels — the rest of her work was with nonfiction. She did some great work on my grammar, but the more conferences I've attended and the more books I've read, I now realize that she didn't have much to say about craft.
However, I'd do more research if I ever hired another editor. I've learned from participating in several critique groups that no one, no matter how experienced, is going to catch everything. One crit group member is an English major. She zeroes in on the nitty gritty details of punctuation and usage. Another member looks at the big picture, while a third focuses on deep POV issues.
I could never get all that by picking just one person. My first readers are my teen daughters and their friends, for whom I lead a teen critique group. Bottom line: I want to learn the craft of writing myself. I'll need an editor someday, but right now it would feel like hiring Rembrandt to touch up my paint-by-number. She detailed her thoughts and suggestions which enabled me to formulate my own plan of action of how to best cut the fat from my novel. I would gladly work with her again.
A critique does not entail a full edit and is much less expensive. Still, I found this service of value. I purchased a first few page critique by the Editorial Department and was astounded by the knowledge and insight returned.
I showed the critique to my wife who's been a newspaper editor for nearly 30 years. Her response was, "Oh, this guy's good. In my case I'm leaning toward a more developmental editor. Someone who can see the big picture rather than every typo or error in grammar not that I don't need that too. Even if the editing seems like a good idea, here are some times to skip the expense and go it solo. Some of the most common include:. Perhaps you hire a friend who edits for free a sure sign of a novice , someone from a budget work-for-hire site or an unvetted freelancer.
These folks, while usually well-meaning, often bring your work down conceptually, and may even do so even technically. In situations like these, rely on yourself and save the money. A few months ago, I got a pitch accepted on a big blog. A big-big-big blog, in my very specific niche.
I was thrilled and nervous all at the same time, determined to make the best possible impression. So I paid an editor to look over the 3,word post and polish it to a high sheen. She did an amazing job, I was happy with the results and the price was very reasonable. The more so when compared to how much the post would pay and the enormous exposure it would have brought me. I lost money. Plus, if the piece does get accepted by another publication, that editor is likely to want changes.
The exception to this is a book manuscript. If it gets picked up, it will assuredly be edited, probably beyond current recognition.
Nevertheless, making a good impression is critical in this situation and may warrant the expense. Right when you finish drafting a novel or pounding out a 2,word piece is not the time to send it off to an editor. Mistakes will happen. Errors are in major, traditionally published books. Formatting, which is done after an editor has done their job, can lead to unintended errors being introduced into the text.
I think you want to make sure your editor is thorough and competent, even that means his or her rates are a bit higher than you would prefer. However, there are some ways you could keep costs down a bit in the situation you describe. I cannot speak for all editors, of course, but I know I and many of us would be open to editing just part of your book at first, say, a particular chapter or two that you sense needs a lot of work. That is often enough to show you mechanical errors that you tend to make repeatedly.
You can then go through the entire manuscript yourself looking for as many of the same kind of errors as possible. You will sharpen your basic writing skills in the process, and it will pay off in all future projects. This relatively affordable step can help you get your manuscript in much better shape before you have the whole book edited, so the editor may be able to spend less time on it, and therefore charge less, or at least concentrate on other issues that might otherwise have been buried under grammatical errors.
Regarding your last question, I know of no editor who gives a money-back guarantee for occasional errors that happen to slip through or for a different opinion by a later editor. But by having a shorter portion edited first, you will get a decent feel for whether someone is the right editor for you, and will be able to be confident in his or her work on your entire book. Asking for an edit of just one chapter is an excellent way to maximize your return on a small investment.
Thank you. I completely understand the response about guaranteeing the work. But the errors stuck out like a sore thumb so I was curious if that is normal or not. I have been writing in Word for my novel. Now I will!
Thanks for that comment as well. Or Mom vs mom. I would love to do that when I finish before I do a complete rewrite myself. I think that would help save so much time.
Is it hard to find someone for this? Also, if the editor really winds up liking the book, will they sometimes try to help you get your foot in the door somewhere? Every author must decide what is important to him or her in an editor, but in these days of electronic communication, honestly I do not think it is important to seek a local editor unless your book is specifically related to something of local interest.
Even in that case, you may benefit from the perspective of someone who does not have all the local knowledge it can be easy to presume, so that you can prepare your book for a wider audience. It can take some time to find the right editor, so you may want to start asking around even before you have a text that is ready to send. Then contact them by whatever method they request often a contact form on their site. Freelance editors normally do not double as literary agents.
Not only is it not our area of expertise, but it can actually lead to ethical quandaries. It would also be possible for editors to give the impression that they are guaranteeing publication of a project, when that is something no one but a publisher can do. Many professional organizations forbid their members to combine these two roles, to avoid a possible conflict of interest.
Again, I wish you all the best with your book, and hope you will find an editor who is a good fit. Thank you, Blake. I am past the point of undercooked. I tinker and add. This fear has held me back for years, despite my three years experience as a freelance writer for a local magazine. Great article, Blake. Two other points come to mind: 1 Budgeting for an editor is important. Sometimes, the earlier you can get an editor involved is better. It may even be a little cheaper to spend a little now on an editor rather than later.
New authors like to skip developmental editing the big picture for some reason. It went through major changes during developmental editing. Developmental editing is one of my favorite parts.
I love to hear the stories that authors wish to tell. I will do my best before I submit my work for editing to the Editor. There are things I know which the Editor may be ignorant of because I am also a Researcher.. I found myself struggling with my manuscript and had my first 10, words assessed. Best thing i ever did. From that i got myself a mentor , an editor and a friend.
I have learnt so much from it. I have edited my work over and over and it is now with her to be edited professionally. I love hearing success stories like yours Amanda.
It can be daunting to submit your work to an editor, but the good ones only have your success in mind. Thanks for the insightful article. I have an idea for a free ebook that I think after I write I will self edit and then give to my grandmother for feedback.
At that point because of this article I will consider a professional editor. Thanks again for your advice. Thanks for the comment, Jesse. Thanks so much for this — the questions to ask yourself are especially helpful. Thank you for sharing, Sandra! In one of the Facebook writers groups I belong to, a new author asked if anyone thought it was truly important to hire an editor before publishing.
Gratefully, other members quickly interceded before I could reply. Keep fighting the good fight. I believe an author should put in the hard work first to make their manuscript as good as possible. Thank you, Kristina.
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