Fred Fanning's Blog - Posts Tagged "editing"
Why Use a Professional Editor?
I hear this question a lot. Over the years, I have changed my mind from not wanting a professional editor to not wanting to publish something without a professional editors review. My change came about from reading a lot of books and homework that were not professionally edited and seeing how many of them had mistakes in them.
I asked the authors of those books if they had paid an editor. Each one said no. Their reason was that they didn’t think they needed it. I then explained that the errors in their work made their book less professional. I have also read a lot of work submitted by college students who are not allowed to hire an editor, but achieve the same result. Their work had a lot of errors that took away from their grade. My point is we all make mistakes in writing.
To test my theory I sent some of my old work through an editor. She found a lot of mistakes. In some cases, I had read the work a half dozen times. What I didn’t realize was that I was reading the work as it was in my mind. That included mistakes. I was reading right past them.
Now I pay an editor for all of my prose. I am continuing to go through my old work until I get it all professionally edited. Why? Because I want to be proud of the work I do. I cannot in good conscious be proud of something that might contain errors. To answer the title question, I use a professional editor to make my work the best it can be.
I asked the authors of those books if they had paid an editor. Each one said no. Their reason was that they didn’t think they needed it. I then explained that the errors in their work made their book less professional. I have also read a lot of work submitted by college students who are not allowed to hire an editor, but achieve the same result. Their work had a lot of errors that took away from their grade. My point is we all make mistakes in writing.
To test my theory I sent some of my old work through an editor. She found a lot of mistakes. In some cases, I had read the work a half dozen times. What I didn’t realize was that I was reading the work as it was in my mind. That included mistakes. I was reading right past them.
Now I pay an editor for all of my prose. I am continuing to go through my old work until I get it all professionally edited. Why? Because I want to be proud of the work I do. I cannot in good conscious be proud of something that might contain errors. To answer the title question, I use a professional editor to make my work the best it can be.
Novel Update
I finished the author's editing of my novel Mysteries at Devil's Elbow. I sent it to the editor and she will have it back to me the third week of July. I also have three beta readers lined up to review. Hoping to publish it this winter.
Novel Update
I received my novel back from the editor. I will now take a couple of weeks to review and make the changes she suggested. This is a difficult process. In some cases, I will have to rewrite large sections of the novel.
Novel Update
Finished review the editor's comments and recommendations on the book Mystery at Devil's Elbow. Sent it back to her for the second review. Also contracted for book cover today.
Novel Update
I also sent the manuscript to a second editor to check for continuity. He returned comments and recommendations. I am working on them now. Hoping to finish next week.
Novel Update
Today I received the comments and recommendations from the second review of my novel "Mystery at Devil's Elbow." It will take me about one week to go through these and I hope to send the book to my beta readers for their review.
