Some Useful Hints From A Top Book Writing Coach About Finding A Good Editor

By Helene Norris


As most any book writing coach should tell you, after you finish writing a book the hardest thing to do next is find an editor. It is not always a matter of sending the manuscript to many different publishers and praying one will get in contact with you. Much the same is also true for on line services. You may self publish your book, but without using an experienced editor it is likely not get much attention.

In short an editor makes a manuscript better it already is. This is far beyond grammar and spelling checking it. They routinely fact check any possible citation referenced. They read through the heading and chapter layouts making sure they are accurate. Most importantly though, they give ideas. Having read several books they have several ideas which can make a manuscript a number best seller.

Begin by determining what type of editing services you really require. Most manuscripts will need some developmental type editing. Copy editing is carefully going through a manuscript and attempting to improve on it. Generally hard editing is reading through it with a close eye and looking for misspelled words and other simple mistakes that often make them awkward to read in print form.

Look over their credentials. This work of art you have created is something you will be be giving to somebody else, do not be so intimidated that you fail to ask difficult questions. Ensure they have the required knowledge of this occupation and understand the various genres you are writing. This experience and understanding may be the biggest difference between being successful and failing.

Many editors often brag about successes they have. There really is no shame in doing this. Go over their websites to see if they list their successful publications and history. Remember that it is more likely upwards of 80 percent of their titles are self-published. Always find out how many titles they list were sold to traditional publishing houses. Doing this now may save you time and money down the road.

Many good editors ask for a testimonial from the people they do work for. Just as you would check on anyone else you employed, take time to check up on them and always contact one or two to get some feedback. Search web-sites for reviews on them, and what people thought of the any books that have not been self published.

See if they have written any manuscripts themselves. This will go far to show that they can easily point out different problems and have the working knowledge to fix them too. You would be very surprised how many editors write as a side job under various pseudonyms.

This is an important decision that will carry over the life of your career. Finding your book writing coach or editor is a crucial decision. Being patient and taking the time to perform this correctly is vital. Possibly in a few years or more you too could share your new success stories with other new writers.




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