Editors and Writers discussion
Editing for free
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Deshna,You might tell us what experience or training you have with editing and what kind of editing it is you want to do. If you're not familiar with the different types of editing, you might look here:
http://www.editorsforum.org/what_do_s...
Many people get "editing" and "proofreading" mixed up. Developmental editing is very different than line-editing. You might consider starting as a beta reader (http://www.smallbluedog.com/what-is-a...).
What kinds of books do you like to read? What kinds of works do you want to edit? Literary fiction? Romance? Sci-fi? Middle grade novels? Poetry? Non-fiction?
Tell us more!
Ruth
A couple other suggestions--not that you asked!Join some critique group sites. These are good because generally you critique shorter works--a couple of chapters, a few thousand words. Your aim would be to begin your own list of editing tasks.
Then get five or six beta reads under your belt. This gives you experience reading full works--not as a reader but as an editor.
In the meantime, read everything you can on editing. Sign up for a course or two, if you can afford it.
Experience is valuable coin in the editing world.
Ellis,Excellent suggestions! The best book with which to start is Amy Einsohn's The Copyeditor's Handbook. It gives an overview of most aspects of becoming an editor.
Ruth
There are plenty of forums on GR where people post blurbs, synopses and query letters to agents. Commenting on these would give you good practice on word usage, picking out the salient points, deleting unnecessary phrases/sentences, and looking for what will have the most impact.It should be said if you can't do this, editing might be a step too far.
Thank you so much Ellis, Ruth and Roughseasinthemed for your suggestions. Thank you for giving links and suggesting books. I will consider your suggestions and will do my research and reading about editing first. Thank you again for giving your time. Have a great day!
Deshna,I hope your day goes well too!
Ruth
I am a voracious reader and I want to try my hands on editing. I'm looking forward to gain some experience. I would edit first few works for free. Thank you