How do I find and editor? How much do they cost? Hi everybody, I need help. I have an e-book up. I have sold almost 500 copies, and gotten mostly good reviews. However, a couple of bad ones have crept in due to typos, grammar, etc. Even one of my supporters mentions that the editing is poor quality. I put it through the word spell/grammar check, and the Amazon spell check, and have subsequently gone though it with a fine toothed comb looking for the mistakes. I am just not a very good nuts and bolts guy. Hell, it took me seven tries just to create an account on this forum correctly. How do I find an editor to help me with spelling, grammar, punctuation, typos, etc? I understand there are different types of editors, and I am really looking for a proof reader type. I am happy with the content- it seems from the positive reviews that people are really getting what I am trying to do with the book. Though I would take suggestions on board, I like that I was able to write it "my way" and do not care if it is ever commercially successful if it would mean massive re-writing. I just want to correct flagrant mistakes to make if a better experience for those who do read. Thanks Cachibatches
Depending on the level you want, you do realize that if you submit 250 pages, you could be paying around $850 for a proof reader, and that's actually cheap. Search online, or go to a local college English department and see if one of the professors or better yet, grad students need to earn a little extra money over the summer. It might be cheaper.
I know three proofreaders who might be able to use the cash - depends on how much you're willing to pay. Two of them are freelancers, one of them with a degree in English from Oxford. And the third is a historian, and he's essentially who I run to every time I have a grammar question - I call him a walking encyclopedia - and he's edited and proofread PhD thesis before and currently being paid by a Creative Writing MA student to do some editing/critique on her assignments. I could ask them. No idea how much they charge, but it won't be a lot, esp the historian because he doesn't consider himself to be professional and is currently jobless (though I can vouch for the quality of his editing, he's pretty damn good). Anyway, congrats on the positive reviews on your book! I think it's great that you take it seriously enough to wanna get an editor simply to improve your book. PM me if you want me to ask those proofreaders for you. Just click on my username, and a small menu will pop up. Click on "Private Message" and it will take you to a new page, where you can send me a message. Remember to put something in the subject line, otherwise the message won't send. Hope you don't mind me writing out an explanation - I figured if it took you 7 times just to get an account on this forum, there's a good chance you won't know what a PM is or how to send one lol.
I was walking through one of the nicer parts of town and noticed a sign on an outdoor bulletin board that was put up by a young woman who wanted to do editing. I contacted her and she is very good at what she does. She did one book for me and now is on her second project for me. I send her a check for a couple of hundred dollars once a month if she is putting in a lot of hours or a check for one hundred dollars monthly if she is doing my editing on a more casual basis. I count on her to catch everything including sentence structure, consistency and direction of plot so that I don't end up contradicting myself or calling a character by two different names plus numerous other things. I expect her to put in or take out sentences that need fixing. It is very important to me to produce a fine piece of writing and my editor is invaluable to me. My first editor I got by posting a request with an editor association and she included designing the book cover, layout and preparing the book to camera ready for the printers. I consider that I have been fortunate to find good editors. Finding a graduate student is sometimes a good idea but make sure that they have a really good command of the English language and are conscientious about perfection.
Two routes are open to you. The first route sees you pay for a proof-reader and editor. From this you lose your money, and there's no guarantees of the quality of the editing. The best editors are to be found in-house at publishers, and they'll do more than just sort out typos and grammatical errors. Where necessary they'll order re-writes and push you to your writing limits and then beyond. I'm fairly certain that a simple freelance proof-reader won't do this for you, and I'd steer clear for that reason more than any other. The point of an editor is to push you and make you think. Your other option is to slowly build your editing skills. It's a painstaking (and imperfect) process, but it'll make you think about your writing. If you think it sounds like hard work, then you're like every other writer. Editing's one of the least pleasurable parts of writing. It's slow and laboured. It needs you to do more than just think about whether you've gone through the grammatical errors with a fine tooth comb; it needs you to think about each sentence and what works on a line-by-line basis. Sometimes editing a draft takes longer than writing the draft itself, but that's a good thing. So my advice to you is start from here and do your own editing. Don't just think about the typos and grammatical errors (and if you're worried about those get a friend to look for them - they'll know what they're looking for, and more often than not their services are free), think about structure from the individual sentences to the story itself. Think about what works and what doesn't. You'll become a better writer for it.
Actually, there are plenty of freelance editors who will not only proof-read but give detailed feedback on a story, issues relating to rewrites, and so on. Some of them were once in-house editors with various publications. They aren't cheap, but you can certainly find high-quality freelance editors around. My personal strategy has been to build up a good group of beta readers, including one person who has had three books published traditionally, and then use their feedback to make my own edits, &c.
That's what I did -build up my editing skills. It helps a LOT, and causes me to get picky about things in a good way. Though if you are short on money and it seems that even regular readers are catching spelling or grammatical errors, i'd suggest giving a copy to a friend or family member if they would read the book. They can mark off any mistakes they find (i have a friend who is a beta reader and my parents help me with when i accidentally contradict myself) and then give you feedback on anything else they noticed that you may be able to change easily. It's free, and as i find it, very effective.
fyi Hi there- There are lots of freelance editors out there, but a lot of them are on sites that require a paid account to access their information. I'm having the same trouble trying to find writers to help. If you still need editing help, feel free to check out my website: wordsrefined.com Good luck!
