Whew!
Even though my manuscript draft likely needs substantial developmental edits, it felt great to ship it out today.
About two weeks ago I got a strong impulse to find an editor. A couple of friends had volunteered to read the draft, but I realized after I had a few friends read the introduction the first time, that I really needed to have someone with experience to help me edit. I got great feedback, but it was not detailed enough to make decisions on the overall book.
About 15 years ago I finished the draft of my master’s thesis. It was only 40 pages, and it nearly killed me to write! I sometimes tell the story that it cost me my first marriage, my home and my job. But that’s probably an exaggeration. Just my marriage and my home then… 😉
This time around the book will likely be 110-130 pages. All in all, it’s a short book. But still, the number of decisions it takes to complete a project like this felt overwhelming to me. So I decided I would hire someone to professionally edit given that I am self publishing this time. Even if it costs me something, I want to spare my reader too much wandering from the main point.
I write kinda compulsively, so you can understand how an editor might need to figure out all the crap I need to cut!
So I posted a little ad on LinkedIn on September 10th for a freelance editor and in 2 hours I had 8 applications! Only two of the prospects actually read the posting carefully enough to see that I asked them to email me if they were interested. She reached out to ask about the budget and I told her I have no idea what I’m doing. But her quote (per word per round of editing) sounded very reasonable!
We decided on a small test project (an article for LinkedIn on the Shapes We Ask of Our Bodies) and I sent her $50 via Venmo for some accountability on that project. She gave me a wonderful edit and quick turnaround on that one. I was so happy, I Venmo’d about half of what I expected the next edit to cost me just to give myself the accountability to get it done by a week later.
So now my self-imposed deadline has been met. I expect I will also work with her on a second edit for line and copy editing and possibly a third for the proofread as well.
My relief is palpable. Nobody has read the entire thing, but I am confident that with her compassionate surgery on this project, it will turn out so much better.
Question to you: If you write books, do you work with an editor? Why or why not? And how did you find them?
Cheers,
Cristy
P.S. If you want to work with someone for an article or book edit, check out Kay Grey’s website. It may have been her amazing shot of her bookshelves that sold me… anyone that reads that much and has already improved my work is a great find. I just hope she doesn’t find the book-length project to be too scattered. I want to be worthy of the editor’s time!
mexi minnesotana 
Congratulations! That’s a huge feat! I love that you hired an editor. It’s the sign of a true learner. I have a friend who self-published and she had many friends read it before publication. I’m one of those people who finds all the misspelled words and grammar mistakes in everything I read, so when I read her published book, I was aghast at the number of mistakes in it. She was too. She ended up re-publishing it (and throwing away the first batch…and lots of money). A professional editor will be sooo valuable. Can’t wait to read it!
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I’ve never worked with an independent editor, but I do have trusted friends who have read and commented on my manuscripts.
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Whoa, are all those your notebooks? That’s crazy awesome! When it comes to your question, I myself have written five manuscripts, and have never had an editor except for the first one, where I was assigned one by the publisher. Anyway, thanks for this post!
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Thanks, Stuart! This is actually my pile of journals from about 3 decades… Wow, 5 manuscripts! That’s incredible. I’m hoping this process gets easier over time, though having the help of an editor feels like such a relief to me. Take care!
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