Are You Ready to Hire a Book Editor?

Have you reached a point with your manuscript where you’ve finished writing and are ready to hire an editor before querying an agent or submitting it to a publisher?

If you think your story is as ready as it will ever be and are ready to take the next step in getting your book published, there are various levels of editing for you to consider. The following information should give you a clear overview on editing.

Perhaps you have begun querying agents or sending your unsolicited manuscript to a number of different publishing houses before your manuscript was professionally edited and have gotten zero responses.

There is a very good possibility that the reason you have been getting no response or rejection letters is that your story needs to be edited. After consulting with commissioning editors and agents, there is no question that professionally edited manuscripts have a much better chance of getting picked up.

We understand that as an author you have poured your heart and soul into your story over many months or even years and you know it better than anyone else ever could. As editors, we don’t want to take anything away from your story but help you identify any potential weaknesses in it that may be the reason for the aforementioned radio silence and to make it better.

Trust us, we are here to offer guidance and helpful suggestions, not to draw red lines through your work and to tell you it should never see the light of day!

If you want commissioning editors and literary agents as well as readers (should you decide to go down the self-publishing route) to take you seriously as an author, you need to be getting your work into the hands of a professional editor before you do anything. We don’t recommend giving your manuscript to family and friends to critique. As much as you love them, they are not trained to understand the intricacies of editing even though they may have gotten a good grade in English in school or read a lot.

Our job as editors is not just to correct any mistakes or typos you may have overlooked after you’ve undertaken your revisions or self-editing but to look at the story at a micro as well as macro level and make the prose sparkle and shine.

Our work is as much getting inside your characters heads and making them the best possible protagonist or antagonist they can be as well as looking at your style, use of literary device, themes, tone, flow, pacing and many more elements that need attention to take it from being okay to being amazing!

So, if you are ready to hire an editor and you’re unsure whether you need copy editing, developmental or structural editing, line editing or a manuscript assessment, then the following information should guide you through the levels of editing that may be required.

Often writers will tell us that they have edited their own work and think it is good to go but a fresh pair or eyes and professional editorial input is still advised. If you are not going to take your work seriously and give it the treatment it deserves, then you can’t expect anyone else to.

Manuscript Evaluations

This should be your first port of call if you are unsure whether you require copy editing or developmental editing. We recommend the express evaluation if you’ve just finished your manuscript and want an editor to take a look over it and offer feedback on what needs to be done with it. The editor will read the first 25 pages of your manuscript and provide a written report detailing the core strengths and weaknesses of the story along with tips on how to improve your story and recommend further editing if required.

Hire an editor for a manuscript evaluation

Manuscript Assessments

If you have completed your final draft and require your manuscript to be assessed, our editors can offer you practical assistance to help unlock your book’s potential by uncovering any areas in the manuscript which may need development. The assessment will identify key strengths and weaknesses in your manuscript and offer valuable feedback on plot, characterisation, and the overall flow of the manuscript to ensure its consistency with a detailed report of recommendations to improve your chances of landing and agent or getting a book deal.

Hire an editor for a manuscript assessment

Developmental Editing

Developmental editing is the most involved stage of the editing process. A developmental editor is usually the first port of call for an author even if they self edit their own work. A developmental editor will work closely with the author to establish an author’s goals and expectations for their project.

Copy Editing

A copy editor will look at the mechanics of your writing and undertake the necessary improvements such as correcting grammar, spelling, and punctuation issues to ensure accuracy and consistency. Copy editors are tasked with making sure the writing submitted to them adheres to the conventions of the English language, and insist on proper word usage as well as suggesting alternatives to any awkward phrases or lazy writing found within the manuscript.

Why You Need a Professional Copy Editor

Line Editing

As the term line editing suggests, a line editor goes through a manuscript line by line in a very methodical and meticulous way. A line editor may have to read a manuscript several times and go through a number of different passes to ensure that it has been edited to a high standard. Line editing is the stage of editing which hones in on the more creative aspects of a manuscript such as the author’s writing style, tone and usage at the sentence and paragraph level.

Proofreading

Once the manuscript has been edited, a proof of the manuscript is sent to the proofreader. The job of the proofreader is to spot any typographical and grammatical errors or anything else which may have been missed by the copy editor. The proofreader can also focus on formatting issues and design and layout of the book. A proofreader is usually the last opportunity for any final changes that need to be made to the manuscript before it is printed or published as an e-book.

Beta Reading

A beta reader will offer a careful analysis of your manuscript by a team of highly experienced beta readers. After we beta read your manuscript we will provide you with valuable feedback in the form of a written report that will concentrate on flow, characterisation, dialogue, potential plot holes and any other areas in your story which may not work from an actual reader’s perspective. This should be the last stage of the process before you submit to a publisher, self-publish, or query an agent.

Hire a beta reader

Here’s what our authors had to say…

Request a Quote Below