A New Editing Opportunity

I've had a rather amazing idea.

Here's how it came about. I have read several self-published books recently, and the standard varies widely. While a few are extremely good (Wool - wow!) many others are not. Most I've read are potentially good books but badly in need of editing. Simple typos, spelling mistakes, continuity errors, plot holes and poorly worded phrases crop up too often in indie books. These things spoil the reader's enjoyment of the book, make indie books seem unprofessional and sloppy, and lead to poor reviews and thus bad sales.

Yet common problems like these could easily be avoided if indie authors would engage a private editor before publishing.

I'm in the fortunate position of having been published traditionally as well as self-publishing my most recent book. My traditionally published books all passed through at least one edit (and usually more) by at least one editor (three, in one case) as part of the contract with the publishers. Having seen just how much red ink can appear all over a manuscript which the submissions editor called "relatively clean" I would never dream of publishing a book which hadn't passed through the hands of a professional editor. I like to think I'm a relatively competent author, but I have discovered that there are always errors you can't see, and there is always room for improvement. (Just look at my [unedited] blog posts for proof of that.)

So when it came to my self-published book not getting it edited was never an option. We (my co-author and I) were lucky enough to find an editor who agreed to work for a percentage of the royalties. (Possibly not her best decision since the book isn't exactly flying off the virtual shelves and there haven't yet been any royalties.)

It's all well and good my declaring that every author who intends to self-publish MUST engage the services of an editor, but despite the 70% royalties on ebooks many indie authors don't make much money and are therefore understandably reluctant to pay for editing out of their own pockets. If editing costs around £700 and the author doesn't expect to make more than £200 on their book it's not surprising they decide to skip the editing part. I'm sure most of them would really love to have this valuable help with their book, but the financial reality is that they can't afford it.

So here's my brilliant idea. I've started a Facebook Group called The Authors' Editing Co-Operative. The group is for authors who are happy to have their manuscripts edited by fellow-authors in return for doing the same favour for someone else in the group (or maybe for the person who looked at their manuscript, it doesn't really matter).

The thing is that we authors, while not highly trained and professional editors, do know what makes a good story, and generally we do have a good grasp of the English language and an extensive vocabulary. We are readers, and we know what makes a good book. We may not be as good as a fully qualified editor, but we're a lot better than nothing.

I'd like to think that there are authors out there who would happily spend a few hours reading and marking up someone else's manuscript in return for nothing more than the knowledge that they too will be afforded that service when their work-in-progress is completed. Either a "you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours" or a "pay it forward" basis.

How it would work is this: once your "final" draft is ready, you outline it on the Facebook page and explain what you are looking for:

"Looking for someone to edit my 50,000 word children's fantasy thriller."
"My 80,000 word romance novel needs a proofreader."

"I'm seeking three beta-readers for my sci-fi adventure book."
Other members of the group who are interested in the genre - maybe even writing in the genre - can then offer to edit/beta read/proofread the manuscript. The author selects one (assuming more than one person volunteers) and the two group members get in touch via Facebook messaging. From there it's up to them to reach agreement on what needs to be done, timescale, etc.

Once you have edited someone else's manuscript you can add this when you come to look for the same service for your novel. And I'm hoping that if you say so on the page, others will feel more obliged to help you.

"I edited By Dawn's First Light for Jane Brown. Now I'm looking for someone to edit my comedy novella."
In a nutshell what I'm suggesting is this: a free edit of your book in return for you offering a free edit of some else's book.

Sound good? I'm starting the ball rolling. I've agreed with Hellen Riebold to edit her YA novel, Race for Eden. In a couple of months I will be looking for someone to edit my collection of short stories, Random Ramblings.

If this sounds like something that could help you in your writing career, and you're prepared to help others, come on over and join us in the group. Invite your author friends too!

I'm sure you have lots of questions (about copyright, how to mark up a manuscript, etc), and I will answer them all eventually in future blog posts, but for now let's just see how it goes.

Let's see if we can't improve the image of indie together. (That's a link. Click it.)