Because I get asked many versions of the same question – “How do I hire an editor?” – I’ve written this series to take you through exactly what working with an editor entails.
What to expect, what you’ll need to do, and how to approach the whole thing.
You can read the first part here: How To Hire An Editor #1.
Today I want to take you through hiring an editor for what I call a ‘Spit & Polish’ edit.
A ‘Spit & Polish’ edit is useful to you when you’re pretty happy with what you’ve written, and you’ve been over it a few times yourself. Your writing is a completely different beast to what it was when you completed your first draft.
You’ve been working on your book for what feels like AGES. In fact, if you count it up, it’s actually been ages!
If you’re ready for this stage, you’ll have done at least three drafts, honing each one, improving it, reading it until you feel like you just never want to see it again.
You know that if you were to look at it one more time, you’d…. implode or something.
But! You know that you need an objective eye on it before you send it out into the world.
At this stage, an editor can do the following:
- Do a broad check for structural and flow issues, pointing out any glaring gaps that they see (Developmental edit). This would not be an in-depth look at structure at this stage of your manuscript though,
- Hone your language (Copy and language edit),
- Check over your spelling and grammar (Copy and language edit), and
- Proofread your manuscript (Proofing, surprisingly enough!)
What I’d expect from a manuscript at this stage:
- Coherent thoughts. No sentences that peter out or half-formed concepts that don’t go anywhere,
- That you’ve let some others read it too, and that any suggestions those readers have made have been incorporated into the manuscript if needed,
- It makes sense as an overall piece. It’s not bitsy or wandering and is more ‘tight’ than not. No loose elastic!
- It’s at least a 3rd draft, if not more.
A word of warning: if you hire an editor for a spit and polish, but you give in a substandard manuscript for editing, you aren’t doing yourself any favours.
If this happens to me, I always, always have a conversation with my client to indicate that the manuscript needs much more work than originally quoted. This isn’t to be a jerk and make money – it’s so that the book winds up being the very best it can be. I don’t want my name going out as editor of something that I know could have reached a far greater potential, and I expect that you don’t want that either!
So a Spit & Polish is really giving your manuscript to someone for an objective look-over, and a shine. Your concept, voice and structure should be strong to start with, and will only be enhanced by the work your editor does.
But what do you do with a book that’s romping around all over the place, and is defying any attempts at corralling it into a sense of order?
I’ll cover that in next week’s post, where I cover the Developmental Edit, and what’s involved.
But for now? Keep writing!
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