The case for becoming an editor

[Rasp]

Okay first and foremost let me say I love being a writer and working on my own projects. The editing process is not my bag at all. I'm not arguing against the importance of editing its a critical aspect of your work being so much as passable, because while your average read won't know good editing from a cows ass they will absolutely know bad editing and its always your fault.

That said I still don't wanna to do it so in the past I've hired and -STILL- hire talented freelance editors to help me with my work. Finding good editors is a long and difficult process but let me tell you what I look for in an editor so you may avoid bad experiences.

1. A good editor will get under your skin. They will make you angry, this is understandable but make sure you use that anger constructively. Arguments will happen but make sure they are brief and focused specifically at the target at hand. If you feel the topic start to drift pull back and cool your head.

2. A good editor will be extremely verbose about why something doesn't work most of the time. Its one thing to point out a problem its another to describe why a problem exists and help you break down how to fix it. If they cant communicate the problem on occasion that's perfectly understandable... some things are just difficult to put into words, be patient and talk through it with them.

3. A good editor can take it as good as they dish it out. Any editor who cant handle push-back from the writer is going to cause you headaches. The hardest editing sessions are the ones where you're verbally throwing each others ideas against the wall but that's okay. Sure its exhausting but its a part of what they're well paid for.... you are paying them pretty well right? because you should.

4. A good editor is responsive and if they're getting paid they should be reasonably quick to get back to you. Now editing does take a long time and IRL shit is perfectly understandable but if they deep 6 for a few weeks at a time without getting back to you...and they don't have an excellent excuse why they didn't you're well within reason to be pissed off. You're not wrong to demand the base levels of professionalism when you're paying someone well for their services. Like if they drop off for a multi-weeklong holiday without telling you ahead of time.

Now we finally get around to the title of the post. Why should you become an Editor?

1. Good editors are hard to find and if you can find another aspiring writer to swap edits with you might not have to pay anything at all so long as you're willing to make a good faith effort to edit their work as well.

2. It helps to get out of your headspace and into someone else's you can really get into the nuts and bolts of what they're doing and you might find a cool trick to use for your own work. Just be comfortable with the idea people are likely to adapt your writing tricks as well and if you're not into that.... well then you should probably forget about publishing anything ever. Don't worry about people stealing your ideas either, its very unlikely to happen in a way that steals away from what you're doing.

3. If you're good enough it can be a good steam of spare income if you can find the right sponsor (people like me.)

I dunno I think that's about it. This is mostly me venting about how rare it is to find a good editor even a paid one, and the bad experiences I've had. A lot of these are just baseline 'dealing with independent workers online' tips I know but they demand repeating because I'm not the type to demand deadlines if someone has other obligations but I've had times where paid artists and editors have really abused my flexibility and its very upsetting. I do try to be as patient and understanding as I can possibly be but this is why more often than not the half up front - half on delivery should be fairly standard at least at first. If an editor is reliable I don't mind paying up front... if they have proven they aren't I'm going to be insisting on payment on delivery only or moving on to someone else.

I'm more than willing to give people the benefit of the doubt if they need a bit more time for pretty much any excuse no matter how obviously its a lie or not I'm usually willing to give it to them provided things don't start dragging beyond a reasonable pace but I've known some people who just let things slide for months on end with no progress and no compelling excuses.

I'm thinking about starting to look for some editing jobs when they pop up for all the reasons I mentioned even if they aren't paid roles. I think I could just... use the change of scenery? sure lets go with that.

[joannekwan]

If I may, I'd also like to add: Do research into the editor!

See how many books they've worked on that actually get put on the marketplace or publishing platform. Read the work they've worked on if you're able! If you can spot mistakes and the work just isn't pleasant to read overall, that's a sign to run lol.

Don't be afraid to ask for a sample edit! Some editors offer to do a sample edit of a set amount of words from your work for free or a small price. This way you can appraise the quality of work they do and if you gel with their style.

As for rates, from my research looking into various professional freelancers, about 2 cents per word is the ballpark rate for line edits. So if you see someone offering less, definitely look into them more; they could just be starting out and still do good work or they could be not-that-great. Of course, a person could be overcharging as well, but it just goes back to the research you ought to do in the first place.

---

I've personally thought of offering editing services as well for prose, but I don't know if I'm good enough yet. Like I believe I have a good grasp of things to look out for: dangling participles, sentence structure, the differences between 'into' and 'in to', all the tenses of lay and lie, when to use 'nor', and other things I've researched when writing my own work. I also know I can definitely help with developmental editing since I enjoy analyzing stories and films.

Perhaps once I've actually gone through the process of working with an editor of my own, I would have a better gauge.

[Croik]

Not to sound like an advert but I found an editor for my current novel series on Reedsy, she's an absolute peach and an industry professional.

Reedsy: Find the perfect editor, designer or marketer | Reedsy

[darkone4587]

I often act an my friends editor for his comic (that he hasn't posted yet). I often think of maybe helping others as an editor but I honestly find it really difficult to connect to others (both Online and IRL).

[33rdCenturyCaveman]

Mebbe it finally time for me to share unauthorized fan edit of major webnovel:

The Abridged Worm :: Arc 1: Gestation 1.01 | Tapas

And for comparison:

Gestation 1.1

Me love editing. Me think me pretty good. But me always struggled to find good and steady work.

[33rdCenturyCaveman]

It struggle probably for confluence of reasons. Philippines am not known for being English-speaking country, even though it am fourth-largest. Am always underbid by Indians (what up with that?). And latest generation of creatives largely self-taught and ignorant of industry best practices. Attitude where it okay to have painful editing experience am increasingly rare.

Even among editors still in business, you see problems. Like, why charge by word? Material to be edited vary in quality, even within same text. Wordcount not proper measure of difficulty. It like if babysitter charge per pound of babyweight. Charging by hour am more fair, like lawyer do, but editor not have advantage in client relationship.

Joanne also say, quite innocently, that it okay to ask editor for free work (and not simply prior sample). Many many implicit assumptions here: it not insult to editor to ask for free work, editor find it worthwhile to do free work for random stranger, and editors am constantly looking for work, so it okay to skip lunch break to do unpaid sample job.

It more accurate than not to say that editors am Morlocks of literary world. We do all necessary dirty jobs. We chronically underappreciated. Passing visitors not know we exist. And occasionally we get to eat beautiful creative person alive.

[joannekwan]

Yes, I've seen editors charge by the hour too. But I suppose word count is a fair base simply to see how long a piece is since page number can vary greatly depending on page size and font. And by word count, it's easier for an author to estimate how much they can expect to pay an editor for their service, particularly if the manuscript is complete. Like, I have no idea how many hours a professional editor would take to review my work. And yeah, obviously a piece riddled with mistakes would take more hours.

Of course one can just send a friendly e-mail to an editor and ask for a free sample edit, or a quote for how much they think your project will cost. But why waste the effort if you know the editor is charging 3 cents a word and your manuscript is long enough to break a set budget? It would make sense to put your energy into looking for 2 cent editors. That's why they post an average rate.

[33rdCenturyCaveman]

3-cent editor may be much better than 2-cent editor. It hard to say because rate scheme am mainly for convenience of client. A more-fair approach would be, pay for one-hour edit and use distance covered to get estimate on rest of manuscript.

Writing am art form with greatest number of moving parts. And editor am fellow writer with skills equal to or greater than one's own. We not simply dentists of the written word.

[yansusu]

Tbh, the how much to charge problem is very easily solved: Do the sample edit first (maybe for a flat fee). That tells the author if they like the editing style and also tells the editor how much work the manuscript would be. Then you can agree on a rate per word that lets the author know if it's in the budget while it also guarantees that the editor isn't underpaid for a very miserable-looking manuscript.
I've seen that kind of system implemented over here several times and I think it's rather fair for both sides.

[joannekwan]

Ohoo! I might just use this tactic when shopping around for editors. Thanks for sharing!

[33rdCenturyCaveman]

It may not be enough to shop for editors tho. If writer am not able to edit own work then it likely they am still biased when judging edits of own work. This common. Better way to determine quality would be to have several beta-readers judge work of multiple editors.

Yes, it more expensive, but we am trying to match traditional publishing infrastructure, which deliver level of polish that self-publishing am not known for.

[yansusu]

I find this kinda funny considering that I've noticed the works published by the big names in my country drop in quality from year to year to the point where I'll find typos every few pages while casually reading. Not to speak of smaller publishers. Their 'editors' (and I know this for a fact) are students that get a flat 200$ to edit a whole novel, have never actually learned how to edit, and do their job late, badly, and sometimes not at all. On the other hand, self publishers have started to professionalize their work since several years ago. Some of them having a whole team of people on board since the get-go of every novel.

So I personally think that this distinction between traditional publishing and self publishing is outdated. It doesn't matter how you publish. It depends solely on the attitude of the people that are working on the project. If the author can't be bothered, it's just as bad as if a publisher can't be bothered.

[33rdCenturyCaveman]

True. Old way am on the out because it increasingly unworkable as business.

It still useful to point out what "old school" was doing right in its prime.