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

By Helene Norris


As any good book writing coach will tell you, after writing a book the next hardest thing to do is find a good editor. It is never a matter of sending your manuscript to several different publishers and hoping one of them will contract you. The same is true for online services. You can self publish a book, but without an experienced editor it probably will not get a lot of 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 figuring out the kind of book editing services you will be needing. Many manuscripts will still need developmental editing. Simple copy editing will be going over the manuscript while trying to improve it. Most hard editing will be going through it using a careful eye seeking any mistakes or misspelled words that could make it appear awkward while 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.

Find out if they have actually written any books themselves. This goes a long way to showing not only that they can point out issues, but have the knowledge to fix them as well. You will be surprised how many write on the side 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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