Moreover, the casual distinction between a (developmental) “editor” and a “copyeditor” can be a bit simplistic, particularly in a self-publication or even vanity-publishing context. A self-published author may barely have the budget to hire one editor, so that editor needs to be able and willing to blur the lines between developmental editing and copyediting. The editor must also be accustomed to working with authors of a variety of strengths and weaknesses, including many whose work would not, in fact, have been accepted by a commercial publishing house in its current form. I have come to take great satisfaction in taking a new or newish author by the hand and helping them find ways of making their work the best it can be. Of necessity, this must include line-by-line correction of grammar and style (often a surprisingly great amount of such correction), but can rarely be limited to that.
As a freelance editor, I would like to express my strong disagreement with the idea that a freelance editor must work as an employee of a publisher for three years to be any good. In my field, spirituality, many publishers have gone to having most editorial tasks beyond acquisitions performed by freelancers, so the in-house positions being held out here as a prerequisite for freelancing simply don’t exist; many editors must cut our teeth as freelancers. It also occurs to me that self-published authors usually bristle at the idea that they are not “real” authors unless their work is accepted by a commercial publishing house. Is it fair to apply this standard to the people they propose to employ as editors?
Just launched my new novel "Who is Waldo Wiggins?" this past weekend and the response has been great. Ebook Launch did all the cover art (front and back) for the paperback and ebook, and they knocked it out of the park. The first thing people mention is the cover art and the great job that was done on it. Personally, I couldn't be happier. The end result was beyond my expectations.
So because of this and because I don’t live in NYC or LA, I decided I may have better luck writing a book, which I have been doing for several months now and enjoy; however, I know it needs work and I can’t go back to the 5th grade and pay better attention to the simple “put your period here and comma there” lessons so I was hoping to learn as I go with reading, writing and seeing my finished product after hiring an editor.
