editors and where to find them

[J.]

Hi all,
For a long time I've used a friend as my main editor and she's been very good and even better for me, she's never charged me. Now she's moving on to other things and when I get far enough along on my next novel I'm going to need to find a new editor. My question is what is the going (reasonable) rate for an editor and where can I get some recommendations regarding who is actually good at it? Any help is appreciated. Or perhaps there is a discussion already somewhere within GR that someone could suggest.
Thanks

[Christina]

Hi J. We don't allow for posting of services, so while people can offer advice on price, I'll ask that any recommendations be made via PM. Thanks.

[J.]

Okay. No recommendations.

[Roughseasinthemed]

Here are some general comments:

The going, ie industry standard rate, is around thirty bucks an hour (or in sterling £30). That invariably translates into thousands.

Tbh, for a skilled professional, it's not unreasonable, but it's also not affordable for most indies, hence, as you've realised, you need to look around to find good and a fair price. Depending on the state of your MS, I would suggest looking at $5/600 for someone decent.

Don't pay everything up front. Half up front and half on completion is fair.

Do ask for a sample ie first chapter, or 1/2000 words or so.

Make sure you know what you are getting, either ask what they provide or specify what you want, ie comments on style, structure, overall plot, grammar, punctuation, spelling, fact-checking, and does it include final proofreading? Ask how many times your editor will read your work. Once? Twice? Or more?

How much experience does your editor have? ie years in the industry, plus any relevant qualifications.

Are they using a style guide?

You can ask for references, but they can easily be fudged, if someone else has written something publicly that's a better guide.

There are other forums on GR where editors advertise so maybe check those out, some include glowing reviews. Hope this helps. Any follow-up queries, feel free to pm me.

[Amie]

Here was my recipe on editors.

I ended up using 3 editors on my project. (Excessive, I know.)

One was a friend and freelance editor/travel writer. I am happy to say that she was inspired to write fiction after working on my project with me, chapter-by-chapter as I was writing it. She landed an AMAZING agency in the UK for her debut mystery AND just got picked up by the same folks who represent Keira Knightly and the author of Downton Abby. (Am I jealous??? Maybe a tad. But hey...now I don't feel so bad about not paying her, LOL.)

My second editor I paid dearly, roughly $3,000 over the course of a year. Very professional and kept me in check.

My final editor was also a friend who had only ever worked on nonfiction pieces for Christian publishing houses. She was at first afraid of my story, LOL, but ended up loving it as a reader. I think she loves it as much as me. She stepped in and offered to tighten it beyond the first paid editors finished product when a very good agency wanted it trimmed by another 1/4. She said, "I'll do this because I love the story...and you. However, you will pay me a heck of a lot of $$$$$ for the sequel!"

So keep open-minded. You never know what opportunities there might be out there. :)

[Ken]

J. wrote: "Hi all,
For a long time I've used a friend as my main editor and she's been very good and even better for me, she's never charged me. Now she's moving on to other things and when I get far enough a..."

Rates are going to vary a lot, depending on what type of editing you need: developmental/structural, line editing, copyediting, or proofreading. For general ideas of rates, check out the Editorial Freelancers Association; they have some guidelines posted on their website.

The main thing is to have clear expectations of what you need, and to find an editor that's a good fit for your genre and style.

[J.]

Roughseasinthemed wrote: "Here are some general comments:

The going, ie industry standard rate, is around thirty bucks an hour (or in sterling £30). That invariably translates into thousands.

Tbh, for a skilled profession..."

Thanks for the info. All good things to keep in mind. I need to find those GR sections for editors.

[J.]

Ken, Amie,
Thanks for the input. I have wondered if really I might need more than one editor based on what I need done so being clear about what I want will be important. And I'm going to check out the Editorial Freelancers Association.