– Many self-publishers need less specialization. I sought an editor — mostly a copy editor, but also this is the only person who could tell me if I ramble in a particular chapter. I couldn’t afford a full dev edit, but I think I’m typical in wanting an editor who will tell me what my friends wouldn’t, and maybe switch hats for small sections where it’s needed.
A place you can post your job and hire freelance editors. With nearly 60,000 editors on the site, however, it can be a daunting project to find the right editor. To narrow down the candidates, you could make a detailed project description with required skills, language competency, and portfolio requirements. This should help eliminate unqualified editors. You can also include a random requirement like “Respond with ‘Hey, Jedi!’” in to find those detail-oriented editors who actually read your entire post and follow directions.
Finding ebooklaunch by surfing the Internet was awesome!!! I used them to format my most recent book "Christian Caregiving: Practical Advice for a Happy Ending" and I am so glad I did. They are fast, efficient, and careful. I will use them again next time I am inspired to write another book. I will also be telling all my author friends about their great service. Five Star!
I want to thank the author of this article, the people responsible for this website, and the helpful comments I’ve read here, before discontinuing my watching of this thread. I have reached out to several developmental editors through emails and by posting my need for such an editor on the-efa.org. If anyone decides to go that route, the response has been tremendous. Be aware of their policy for posting jobs, though. They require aspiring authors to adhere to the ‘going rates’ shown here: http://the-efa.org/res/rates.php.
If however the editor is going to disassemble the book act by act, scene by scene, beat by beat, and show technically in story structure terms what needs to be changed, then the editor is spending far more time in analysis and constructing the demonstration of such to the client. Of course, this really depends on what service a client wants as well.
The price you’re going to pay an editor depends on a lot of different factors. You may just want an editor to proofread your book to catch minor errors and typos. Or you may want to work with an editor to help you overhaul your book. Getting familiar with the kind of editing options available will help you choose the right editor. Typical book editing services are:
I have streamlined business processes and maximized functionality using Office, with a focus on Excel. I have developed complex Excel Macros using Visual Basic for Applications to automate manual processes. I've developed Excel workbooks for a variety of clients across diverse industries. I’ve also integrated Excel with Word, Outlook, and PDFs, and I’ve developed automated PDF forms. I want to make...
Hey there! In my experience (as a freelance developmental fiction editor with friends in the same profession), developmental is actually the cheapest option–I think you may have made a decimal point error 🙂 The going rate in my corner of the edit-verse is around $0.008/word, not $0.08, which means a 70,000-word edit will be $560 or so. It’s possible this is different across genres, though! Just wanted to drop a note so any aspiring budget-minded fiction writers out there can take heart .
Not that I’m not looking forward to seeing the author’s work. I am. Seriously, I am! Book editing, despite the sticker shock first-time authors often get when they hear the estimate, is not a profession anyone enters in hopes of getting rich. I truly love helping a writer make his or her work the best it can be, and I’m always eager to get started. But I realize the task of writing takes time, usually more time than the author (even many an experienced author) expects.
– Many self-publishers need less specialization. I sought an editor — mostly a copy editor, but also this is the only person who could tell me if I ramble in a particular chapter. I couldn’t afford a full dev edit, but I think I’m typical in wanting an editor who will tell me what my friends wouldn’t, and maybe switch hats for small sections where it’s needed.
I'd suggest working through each change so you can learn for next time, rather than just clicking Accept All on the Track Changes version. This will take time, but it's well worth it. I usually accept 80-90% of my editor's changes and the manuscript is improved considerably by the experience. After the line edits are updated, I send the manuscript to a proofreader for the final check before publication.
I held the role of blogger and web content writer for a multimedia entertainment company before transitioning to freelance work. I have assisted many clients on projects ranging from product descriptions, to blog articles, to content editing. My areas of expertise are in science, fashion, travel, and yoga. I have also edited over 50 eBooks and can provide professional book descriptions.
I just published my fourth ebook novel recently and I've used Ebook Launch every time with very satisfactory results. They always promptly turn around the cover and manuscript formatting - and as an added bonus, they always promptly and happily answer even the stupidest questions I come up with. Adrian is very easy to work with and Dane has repeatedly come up with cover ideas when I was fairly sure that it couldn't be done.
Another online editing service is Scribendi, which has over 300 experienced and educated editors. They've been around a long time. With this service, you decide how fast you want the book edited and how extensive the edit should be, then they match you with an editor. You don't ever actually meet the editor, but rather work through their customer service team. Their prices depend on your requested turnaround time and word count. You can get a free quote here.
I do developmental editing mostly, so I charge a flat rate to read once and build an action plan, half before and half afterwards. Then we contract to work through the plan, where the bulk of the editing takes place and for this I charge 25% up front, 50% after the developmental edit, and 25% on completion of the final proof. I find that authors appreciate the spread payments and the transparency this brings.
No other word to describe this company besides UNMATCHED! I was having trouble finding someone to do my cover design for both my ebook and my paperback covers until I came across Dane and the team at Ebook Launch. I have not for a single second regretted hiring them for ALL of the work I needed done in order to self-publish my first book! My cover was (no lie) 20 times better than I was hoping for expecting! The team is helpful, knowledgeable, friendly, and professional. If you need ANYTHING done for your book, I could not recommend them more. Work with them and you will not be sorry. Guaranteed. Thanks for everything you guys!
In addition to the individual editors listed above, the Reedsy marketplace is full of vetted professional editors for every editing level and genre. They screen their editors and only allow the best of the best to be listed on their website. I'm a BIG fan of them because they have made the process easy for me to find the best book editors, book cover designers, and even writers to help me with my projects. Talk about awesome!
Next, I check their work history to see what kind of projects they have been working on. For example, if I’m hiring an editor and I see that 8 out of their last 10 projects had nothing to do with editing, I will probably pass because it means they either don’t enjoy editing work or they aren’t able to find enough of it on Upwork, which should not be a problem for a highly skilled editor.
EFA has an excellent reputation in the field, and their high annual membership fee keeps out the riff-raff and newbies merely flirting with the profession. For writers, EFA also has a very useful rates survey for the different kinds of editing, helpful for anyone shopping around: (the-efa.org/res/rates.php) For those keen to find a fully vetted editor, try Editcetera (editcetera.com). This group not only tests every applicant, they also supervise for a full year. Of course, their rates are higher. Another highly regarded editorial organization is Bay Area Editors Forum (editorsforum.org), with a searchable database of editors. I’m a member there.… Read more »
In fact, Pressfield writes, “Resistance is experienced as fear; the degree of fear equates to the strength of Resistance. Therefore the more fear we feel about a specific enterprise, the more certain we can be that that enterprise is important to us and to the growth of our soul. That’s why we feel so much Resistance. If it meant nothing to us, there’d be no Resistance.”
