Hiring a Professional Editor

A guest blog from Holly Lorincz –

Many of you know me as the newest agent at MacGregor Literary but I’m writing today from behind my Editor Desk. I was originally hired by the agency as an editing and publishing consultant, having run an editing service for years. Now that I’ve dealt with the publishing industry from a number of angles — from that of a reader, to a writing instructor, to an editor, to a novelist, to an agent — I believe I have some insight that may be helpful to writers at various stages in their career.

WHY YOU SHOULD HIRE A PROFESSIONAL EDITOR

I wish with all my heart I had taken my own advice and hired a professional to do a line edit on my first novel before I published. I’ve learned the hard way I can spot errors, typos, awkward sentences and developmental issues in anyone else’s text but my own. When I read back over my own novels, I know what I meant to say . . . and that’s what my mind sees. So, I’ve relied on my beta readers to help me catch errors. But the problem is, while amazing at feedback, they are not trained, tried-by-fire professionals, paid to dissect my every word and thought. I was cocky when I decided to independently publish without hiring someone else. I’m not saying the book was a mess but there were a handful of homonym errors any paid professional would have spotted in a second. Soooo, yeah. “His voice a horse whisper.” That’s embarrassing. Edit much?

Over the last two years, I have focused on editing novels. My best clients recognize their job is to tell a good story and my job is to help polish that story. There is no ego involved (or, at least, it’s hidden). They recognize that typing out 80,000 words in a short time will lead to typos and inconsistencies, none of which reflects on their writing skill. They know that acquisition editors are looking at dozens of proposals a day and are not very likely to want to work with a book riddled with errors (this is especially true if you are an unpublished author). They also are fully aware editors at publishing houses today do not have the time or resources to comb over and correct a manuscript like they did in the past, so hiring your own editor to do a pre-publication run at the manuscript is self-preservation.

For those of you that go the independent publishing route, the professional editor is a must. Nothing slows down sales more than a bunch of reviews bashing your grammar or typos.

HOW TO WORK WITH A PROFESSIONAL EDITOR

Decide if you need a developmental edit, a copy edit, or a proofreading (or a combination). For instance, it often makes the most sense to start with hiring a professional to do a developmental edit. Then, once you’ve taken their assessment notes and made plot or character or timeline revisions, you can decide if you still need to pay for a close reading (copy edit) or if you are ready to hire an editor for a simple proof (editing only for typos and grammar errors, not for content).

If you are looking for an editor on your own, make sure you talk to them before you sign up. At least chat through email. What is their availability? What is their experience? How long does an edit with your word length generally take? How do they provide feedback? How do they charge? Are there testimonials available from previous clients? Do they edit from a hard copy (old-school) or can you send a Word doc? Do they need to see a sample first? Most importantly, do they work mostly with fiction or non-fiction? Will they be comfortable or open-minded regarding your content?

Once you have settled on an editor, and you’re happy with the time frame of the review, be sure to communicate openly about what you think are problem areas. While a good editor will be reading the manuscript with all the basic novel concepts in mind anyway, it’s good to let him or her know you are particularly concerned with theme, or a minor character’s voice, or a certain subplot, or . . . whatever.

WHAT TO DO WITH YOUR PROFESSIONAL EDIT

Okay. You’ve just received your manuscript back, covered in red.

First off, you may totally disagree with the suggested revisions but you still need to pay for the review. Remember, you are hiring for a service — a service that by its very nature is meant to tear apart your baby. When you’ve been handed back your bloody baby, you cradle it and cry and pound your chest in private, but then you sign the check. Now, if the edit is shoddy or unprofessional, by all means go back to the editor and do what you need to do. But if you take issue over their opinion, then you need to take a step back and reconsider. Why did the editor say what they did? If this objective reader misread or found something needing repair, is it not then likely other readers will feel the same way? If so, consider the editor’s suggestions or come up with your own revisions. Assuming your bottom line is to actually sell the book, will the general public agree with your editor or with you?

Once you receive the review, it is totally appropriate to email or call if you do not understand a comment or revision. However, it is not appropriate to make suggested changes and then go back to the editor and expect them to re-assess portions of your manuscript, not unless you’ve contracted them for their time. It’s not that the editor is heartless or doesn’t care about your project but they do have other edits scheduled and need to move on.

A common response from authors is to want to explain their point of view or what they “meant” to the editor. This is totally not necessary. The editor’s job is done the minute they tell you a scene or a phrase didn’t make sense to them. The editor knows you will either see how it could be confusing and fix it or you will choose to ignore their suggestion. Either option is up to you — the editor has already moved on.

When you find a good editor, learn to appreciate their work, even if it’s emotionally hard to read their notes. The majority of us take our role as editor seriously, recognizing how vulnerable most writers are when it comes to having their work critiqued. That’s as it should be. I offer criticism from the point of view of someone who honestly just wants to help authors produce their best work, never to be condescending or argumentative. I believe this is how most professional editors operate, from an innate desire to teach, to be supportive, and to be part of a book’s journey to a bookshelf.

Good luck with your manuscripts!

Holly Lorincz is a literary agent with MacGregor Literary. She is also the owner of Lorincz Literary Services, a very successful editing and publishing consultation business. Among her many clients are New York Times bestselling thriller writer Vincent Zandri and award-winning romance author Gail Gaymer Martin.

For more information regarding Lorincz Literary Services, click here.