As most any book writing coach should tell you, after you finish writing a book the hardest thing to do next is find an editor. It is not always a matter of sending the manuscript to many different publishers and praying one will get in contact with you. Much the same is also true for on line services. You may self publish your book, but without using an experienced editor it is likely not get much attention.
In short an editor makes a manuscript better it already is. This is far beyond grammar and spelling checking it. They routinely fact check any possible citation referenced. They read through the heading and chapter layouts making sure they are accurate. Most importantly though, they give ideas. Having read several books they have several ideas which can make a manuscript a number best seller.
Begin by deciding what type of book editing services you really need. Most manuscripts will need developmental type editing. Copy editing is going through the manuscript and trying to improve on it. The hard editing is going through it with a fine eye looking for any misspelled words or other out of place mistakes that will make it seem awkward in print form.
Check out their credentials. This is your work of art you are going to be handing to someone, never be afraid to ask as many questions as you need to be comfortable. Make sure they have a sound knowledge of what they are doing and understand the genre you are trying to break into. This knowledge and experience can be the difference between success and failing.
Most editors like to brag of their success stories. There is no real shame in this and should be expected. Look at any website they have to see a list of their successful publications. Keep this in mind though, it is very likely that 80 percent of these books are self published. See how many of their titles were actually published by traditional clearing houses.
Many good editors ask for a testimonial from the people they do work for. Just as you would check on anyone else you employed, take time to check up on them and always contact one or two to get some feedback. Search web-sites for reviews on them, and what people thought of the any books that have not been self published.
Find out if they have actually written any books themselves. This goes a long way to showing not only that they can point out issues, but have the knowledge to fix them as well. You will be surprised how many write on the side under various pseudonyms.
This is an important decision that will carry over the life of your career. Finding your book writing coach or editor is a crucial decision. Being patient and taking the time to perform this correctly is vital. Possibly in a few years or more you too could share your new success stories with other new writers.
In short an editor makes a manuscript better it already is. This is far beyond grammar and spelling checking it. They routinely fact check any possible citation referenced. They read through the heading and chapter layouts making sure they are accurate. Most importantly though, they give ideas. Having read several books they have several ideas which can make a manuscript a number best seller.
Begin by deciding what type of book editing services you really need. Most manuscripts will need developmental type editing. Copy editing is going through the manuscript and trying to improve on it. The hard editing is going through it with a fine eye looking for any misspelled words or other out of place mistakes that will make it seem awkward in print form.
Check out their credentials. This is your work of art you are going to be handing to someone, never be afraid to ask as many questions as you need to be comfortable. Make sure they have a sound knowledge of what they are doing and understand the genre you are trying to break into. This knowledge and experience can be the difference between success and failing.
Most editors like to brag of their success stories. There is no real shame in this and should be expected. Look at any website they have to see a list of their successful publications. Keep this in mind though, it is very likely that 80 percent of these books are self published. See how many of their titles were actually published by traditional clearing houses.
Many good editors ask for a testimonial from the people they do work for. Just as you would check on anyone else you employed, take time to check up on them and always contact one or two to get some feedback. Search web-sites for reviews on them, and what people thought of the any books that have not been self published.
Find out if they have actually written any books themselves. This goes a long way to showing not only that they can point out issues, but have the knowledge to fix them as well. You will be surprised how many write on the side under various pseudonyms.
This is an important decision that will carry over the life of your career. Finding your book writing coach or editor is a crucial decision. Being patient and taking the time to perform this correctly is vital. Possibly in a few years or more you too could share your new success stories with other new writers.
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