Editing Series on Indie Jane

I write a monthly post on Indie Jane, a website that caters to writers and readers of Austen-related works. Over the past few months, I compiled tips and advice for hiring and working with freelance editors, and I’ve been meaning to link them here.

So here they are:

1. Introduction: Let’s Talk about Editing

The most critical part of the pre-publication process is editing. In reviews, readers can leave all sorts of opinions about your characters, plot, and style, but those facets of a book are subjective, open to interpretation. But reviews can also contain objective, provable feedback about typos and spelling and grammar errors. Poor editing stands out, but writers can take simple steps to prevent embarrassing typos by hiring professional editors. Click to read more.

2. Author/Editor Relations: Don’t Treat Your Editor Like a Supercuts

Editing is hard work, and it requires a great deal of time, focus, and concentration. An editor does not approach an editing job as if it is a pleasure read. This is meticulous work. As such, a book that may take the average person 8 hours to read for pleasure will take far, far longer for the editor to edit. And by far, far longer, I mean weeks, or in the case of nonfiction manuscripts with footnotes, I mean months (really awful, horrible months…but I digress). Click to read more.

3. Rates and Services: What to Expect from Your Editor

When your work comes back from the editor, you should be able to recognize it. That means, the editor should not send you back a rewritten or completely reorganized version of your own work. Every suggestion should be made in such a way that the author can either approve or disapprove of it. The author is ultimately responsible for every change made to the manuscript. Editors can only make suggestions. Click to read more.

My next post will be directed specifically to those of you who want to become freelance editors. Stay tuned to Indie Jane!