Choosing An Editor

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You've finally finished your book and now you need to get it edited. Here are some things to consider when choosing the editor: Price-How much can you afford? Will the editor take payments? Are they willing to negotiate the price? I had someone recently tell me they were told editing cost $3,000. I said I would laugh in an editor's face if they quoted me that price. What is their editing style? Some simply correct errors and make sure the continuity of the story is right. They catch errors in spelling, grammar, punctuation, etc. Others will go farther by adding to the story and there have been cases where they have rewritten entire chapters. The latter type of editor is exactly what you don't want. Making suggestions on what to change in the writing is one thing but going as far as rewriting it is quite another. How does the process work? In my experience editors will ask for sample pages and do an edit on them for you to see how they would edit the manuscript. If you are not satisfied with it you can go on to the next editor. Remember, you're the client and you don't have to settle until you're satisfied with the results. Can you work well together? I had an editor that wanted to totally strip the adjectives out of some of my best writing. In the end my writing voice would have been stripped away. Make it clear what you will and will not accept in the editing process. It's your book.