Are you putting the finishing touches on your first book? The excitement of wrapping things up and finding a publisher is building. Before sending your manuscript to agents and publishing houses, consider hiring a book editor.
Why do you need a book editor? Well, there are several reasons why it’s a good idea. This post unpacks everything you need to know about book editing services and why it’s a good idea to hire one to review your work. Are you ready? Let’s dive in!
Why Do I Need a Book Editor
Let’s start with why it’s a good idea to budget for editing services. Here are the top reasons you need a book editor to work on your finished manuscript, and why self-editing just isn’t enough.
Bias
Authors spend hundreds or thousands of hours creating their manuscripts. When you finish the final paragraph, you’re relieved it’s over and excited about the prospect of being published. The reality is that your manuscript could do with a fresh set of eyes. As authors, we tend to be biased in the quality of our work.
After all, we put significant time and effort into the production phase. Did it ever occur to your that it’s not as good as you think? Even if you’ve produced a literary masterpiece, having someone else review the manuscript can only benefit the finished product. A book editor will give you an unbiased review of your work and insight into where to make changes.
Mistakes
You probably missed several hundred mistakes in your work, from spelling, grammar, and punctuation to sentence structure flow and writing voice. Hiring a book editor gives you access to a professional that points out these mistakes.
Get Published
You’re doing yourself a disservice if you hand over an unedited copy of your work to a publisher. As mentioned, the mistakes in your work will stand out like a sore thumb to a publisher. Getting halfway through the first chapter and finding dozens of errors will frustrate their reading experience.
They’ll likely toss your manuscript on a pile of other work they never intend to review, and you’ll never hear from them. Giving the publisher an edited copy of your work increases the chances the publisher will finish reading your manuscript.
The Types of Book Editing Services
Book editing services cover four primary tasks when reviewing your manuscript. When you get your book back from your editors, it looks very different from how you sent it in. You’ll see crossed-out sentences, spelling, grammar, structure changes, and comments offering suggestions to change specific details in the story.
The editors are not there to tear down your work. The editing team works with your vision, giving you valuable, constructive criticism on how to improve it. After making the changes, your book has a much better chance of being published.
Proofreaders
The proofreader scans your work at the surface level, looking for spelling, grammar, punctuation, and formatting mistakes. They correct your work using specialized tools to ensure they remove these errors from your manuscript. The proofreader doesn’t have any creative input on your work.
Copy Editors
The copy editor is a more advanced version of a proofreader. They’ll look for grammar, syntax, punctuation, and clarity errors and rework sentences for better structure and flow in your work.
Developmental Editors
The developmental editor gives you creative insight into the big picture of your manuscript. They suggest altering the plot, structure, and characters in your work. They analyze the organization and flow of ideas throughout the story.
Content Editors
The content editor analyzes the readability of the manuscript. They check the content for paragraph tenses, flow, and voice, improving the readability of your work.
What Do Editing Services Cost?
Editing services vary, depending on the quality of the service and the amount of work the editing team must do to correct your work. For instance, if you’re only interested in a proofreading service, you will pay a lot less for the job than hiring a complete editing team to rework your manuscript.
The editing costs can range from $0.05 to $0.18 per word for copyediting. You can expect to pay $0.03 to $0.07 for developmental services and $.01 to $0.02 for a proofreader. You’ll have to decide which service meets your budget requirements.
Different firms charge different prices. If you’re hiring a reputable, established firm to complete your editing, you’ll pay much more than hiring a freelancer on a gig work site like Upwork, freelancer, or Fiverr, but more on that in a minute.
Where Do I Find Book Editors?
You have several options if you’re looking for book editors in New York. Here are the three primary options when selecting your editing service. Each of them has its pros and cons.
Freelancing Sites
Websites like Fiverr and Upwork are popular choices for low-cost editing services. Log onto these platforms, and you’ll find thousands of low-cost editors begging to edit your book. You get rock-bottom prices, but you must understand that you get the quality you pay for with freelancers.
Chances are the editor will miss mistakes, structure and flow problems, and developmental suggestions. In many cases, editors on these sites don’t even speak English as their native language.
Professional Services
Professional services are your best option for choosing an editing partner for your book. These firms cost more than freelancers, but the quality is far superior to anything you’ll find on a freelancing site. Professional editing services utilize teams to give you a fast turnaround time.
There are hundreds of professional editing services online. Check their track record and customer reviews before committing to a specific partner. Evaluate the results and your budget and choose the best option to suit your needs.
Publishing Houses Vs. Self-Publishing
If you’re already contracted to a publishing house, the publisher will usually have an in-house editing team to review and edit your manuscript. However, this option is only available to published authors; chances are you still need to get on this level.
The bottom line? Professional editing is worth the money if you want to get published.