A reputable freelance editor can give you a valuable check before you publish your book. To get the best out of your editing process, you need to prepare well. You need to know what you want the potential editor to accomplish. It’s also a good idea to decide on the proper time you want to receive feedback.
In most cases, some writers prefer to get feedback after they have self-edited their work. In this way, the freelance book editors in the UK can simply focus on the issues you can’t see rather than spending lots of time pointing out things that you already know are problems. This can provide you with a more focused and helpful edit. This page discusses what you can expect from a freelance book editor.
A freelance book editor
The freelance editing field can be a bit confusing to understand considering that there are many freelance editors with a variety of approaches and backgrounds. Before you let the book writing process get worse, you need to seek feedback so that you can confirm that you are on the right track.
And, before you find a freelance editor, you should prepare your materials. While you can be a client and editors will want to assist with messy formatting, it is still necessary to approach the writing process professionally. For example, if your materials are considered to be industry standard format, it can allow the potential editor to concentrate on your project without spending a lot of time handling your poor formatting options.
The main reason why book editing seems to be confusing is because you can find various types of editors on the market. For example, a book editor at traditional publishing companies are some of them. When you deal with a traditional publishing company, they can assign you a book editor. The editor can manage your book during the publishing process and includes editing your book.
There is also a freelance book editor who is a person who can work with you on the manuscript to prepare for self-publishing or traditional publishing. Therefore, the editor can improve the content and structure of your book. A freelance book editor’s credential can vary significantly, but most of them may be past publishing experts.
Another type of an editor is called a copy editor. These can correct grammatical errors and can spot inconsistencies and typos. You need to hire a copy editor before you decide to publish your book.
It’s worth mentioning that there are differences between copy editing and developmental editing., though some developmental editors can choose to also do copy editing, especially if you request them to. The focus of a developmental editor is to assist you to make significant changes in your manuscript. It’s not a good idea to have an editor fix all the commas in your manuscript when there is going to be a heavier edit. This can lead to new typos once you revise it.
Also, if you decide to use traditional publishing, then there is no need to have someone to copy edit the book. Even if you want to self-publish your book, copy editing needs to be the final stage once the manuscript is finalized.
Different types of developmental edits
You can find various ways you can choose to work with a freelance book editor. This includes general coaching, brainstorming, and comprehensive book editing. In most cases, book edits have two broad categories, but the terminology can vary greatly in the book publishing industry.
One of the categories is called manuscript critique. A book editor can read your manuscript and write an editorial letter to express their opinions on areas of improvement. This involves a high level edit and can be useful if you desire to check your book. This can sometimes also include writing margin notes in the manuscript by providing more targeted feedback.
Then there is comprehensive edit which can include margin notes and line edits. Therefore, you can get feedback on both a micro and macro level. This can be necessary if you intend to have a thorough edit or improve your craft. A comprehensive edit usually takes a lot more time to complete, so it may cost you more money than a critique.
As mentioned earlier, an editorial letter refers to a letter that synthesizes the high level of feedback. These letters are usually categorized into groups to deal with the largest areas of concern, such as voice, perspective, or plot line.
Margin notes are simply highlighted sections that have targeted feedback in the manuscript. They can be helpful as they can easily show some of the areas in the editorial letter.
Finally, there are line edits which are suggested edits on sentences and paragraphs designed to improve pacing and prose. A developmental editor can assist you with typos while line edits are there to handle more things, such as suggesting rephrases, clearing clutter from the verbs, and many more.
But before you decide to hire a freelance book editor, you need to check the credentials of an editor and vet them properly. There are many editors on the market who have worked with reputable publishing companies and have years of experience. If you want to pursue traditional publishing, you need to focus on a freelance book editor who has publishing experience. Some of them can be expensive, but there is a good chance that they can improve your manuscript before publishing it.
Like many things in your life, you can usually get the quality of a product or service depending on what you pay for. And depending on how long your manuscript is, you should expect a great full manuscript edit to cost you more cash.
But if you don’t want to spend money on a good editor, then you should consider self-editing your manuscript, though it cannot guarantee that your book will stand out on the market after publishing. This is why you need to strike a balance between the cost of an editor and their experience level so that you can find an editor you are comfortable with.
