If you are reading this blog post, you must have completed the book-writing process. Congratulations. Book Editing is considered an easier task by many writers because it takes less time and less effort. Although it’s easier, its significance cannot be undermined.
Editing can make or break the strength and appeal of your book. If you do it correctly and employ the right editing resources, your book’s ROI can multiply. On the other hand, a poorly edited book can harm future sale opportunities of not only the book in question but also other books you will publish under your name.
As a book writer, you must take up the role of being the first editor of your book. You may edit your draft from time to time during the writing process. This occasional editing should not stop you from re-visiting your draft as a whole once you have finished writing it. Hiring a professional editor should always come as an advanced step in the book editing process.
Once you are done with self-editing, you should always seek an independent pair of eyeballs to improve your manuscript. Note that hiring these services can be costly. They can set you back by multiple thousands of dollars. So, you must ensure that this money is well-spent. Here are some questions you must ask while hiring professional book editing services.
Assess Your Draft
This first section will mention the questions you must ask yourself to determine the type of book editing services you will require for your manuscript.
Is It Your First Book?
You might think that you have experience in writing and you know all grammar and language rules, but let me tell you – book writing is different from other types of writing. It’s a big project and demands similar care and effort. If it’s your first book, you must get comprehensive book editing services that include copy, line, and developmental editing.
What Is Your Language Proficiency?
Most writers are rightfully confident about their writing quality. Once they have completed self-editing, there aren’t many inconsistencies or language barriers left behind to worry them or their readers. Such writers only need developmental editing so their expert editors can keep an eye on plot development, character arc, logical continuity, and overall tone and presentation of the manuscript.
What’s Your Budget?
While not hiring a professional editor can harm book sales, not publishing your book because you can’t afford a high-quality writer will deprive you of all the potential book royalties and recognition you could earn from publishing it. So, if you have a limited budget, you should hire more affordable book editing services to remain afloat.
How Much Work is Needed?
In the end, you need to look at your book to determine the intensity of work needed in it. Check if you can get all the facts right. How about the internal consistency of the plot? You will also need the nature of the project. For example, fiction books will require different types of background work than non-fiction books.
When Will You Publish Your Book?
Lastly, you will have to check your deadline. Many editors don’t work on short deadlines. Some tackle these deadlines but charge a higher rate.
Assess the Potential Editor
Once you have analyzed your work and determined the type of book editing services you need, the next step is to select from a pool of relevant editors. Here are some questions that you must ask the potential editors to help you assess their capabilities and relevance to your project.
What is Their Book Editing Experience?
You will want to know if they work freelance or if they have ever rendered their services to publishing companies. You will also want to see their portfolio of projects. Check if their edited books made some money for the writer or gathered traction for them. If you get their clients, reach out to them and ask for recommendations or reviews of the services.
What Type of Editor They Are?
You must understand that you can do well without copy editing and line editing if you have a strong grip on the language, but you can in no way tackle the developmental editing of your book without help from an impartial, professional developmental editor. Most editors offer a comprehensive package that includes all these layers of editing starting from developmental editing and including copy and line editing. Still, you must check with them to determine if they are specialized in developmental editing or not.
What is Their Genre?
This question should hold significance to you if you are writing a book in a highly specialized non-fiction genre. You will want to know if the editor is knowledgeable in the said genre or if he has worked on a similar project in the past.
What Is Their Policy for Sample Edits?
Sample edits are your chance to assess the quality of the editor’s services before you pay a dime or at a low cost. Ask them if they can offer editing services for a smaller portion at the same or reduced cost so you know what to expect from the editing process.
What Will Their Service Cost?
Once you have ascertained the quality of these services, you will discuss the cost of the project with shortlisted editors. Editors use varying methods to charge for their services. Some charge per word basis. Others go with per per-hour rate. Still, others will opt for per per-project basis and want to see your manuscript before deciding on a rate.
Wrapping Up
Book editing has a profound impact on the quality of your book, so you must take pains to do it right. Book writers are the first editors of their books. If they are proficient in the language they use, the need for line editing will diminish. In any case, the need for developmental editing remains and cannot be overlooked. This blog post gives you all the questions you need to ask while hiring book editing services to maximize your return on investment.
