A few years ago, I was stuck deep in the no-man’s-land of trying to get my first book traditionally published. I’d racked up a heartbreaking stack of rejections from literary agents when an editor from a small publisher expressed interest in the novel. Until then, no one had granted me the time of day, but an NYC editor now wanted to chat directly with me. Elated but nervous, I accepted his call.
At first, the editor showered me with praise. Then he revealed his “editorial vision.” My breath caught.
He told me that he would be interested in publishing the book only if I’d make sweeping changes. He wanted the mortality play — the foundational heart of my story — torn out. Worse, he wanted its murderous villain to be rewritten such that she was the hero all along.
I felt ill after the call. His vision for the novel could not have been more misaligned with my own.
Needless to say, I declined the editor’s offer.
Thanks to experiences like mine, working with an editor can sound scary. You might ask yourself why you’d pay a stranger to tell you what they don’t like about your writing. After all, you decided to sidestep traditional publishing for a multitude of reasons, and bringing your story to life the way you — and only you — want to do so is chief among them.
The good news is that an independent editor’s job isn’t to hold you back; instead, they’re here to help you cross the finish line. They’re your pit crew, not a rival racer. Good editors understand the vision that you are trying to convey. They elucidate ways for you to clarify and polish your story, not tear it down.
I asked our own editor, Derek, to share five green flags for which authors should look when hiring an editor.
1. A sample edit. Start by vetting only editors who’ll show you up-front what their process looks like. That way, you’ll know before you hire them whether you’ll work well together. Not everyone provides free samples, and that’s not necessarily a deal-breaker, but you shouldn’t pay for more than an hour or so of their time. Ideally, you’ll provide to them a 500-to-1,000-word passage from the middle of your text, as your first dozen or so pages may not represent the whole of your writing. After all, we tend to put our best feet forward.
2. Actionable feedback. An editor will opine as to where your story should expand or contract, which scenes might need to return to the drawing board (and why), and what your characters may need to resonate with your readers. Any editor whose commentary boils down to “I don’t like this” isn’t helping you hone your craft. Expect a good editor to explain not only their reasoning but to offer concrete suggestions for how you can improve your story.
3. Polishes your existing voice. Line- and copy-editing should be as surgical as possible. You wouldn’t bring a bulldozer into an operating room, right? A good editor may identify stylistic quirks that warrant review — such as overuse of certain phrases or awkward sentence structure — but they will prioritize your voice over theirs.
4. The good and the bad but never the ugly. Especially in the developmental stage, a good editor will highlight where your writing excels in addition to providing a scaffold upon which to improve. Their feedback should be constructive, not destructive, and if they believe that some foundational element of your novel somehow hinders it, they should explain how any suggested changes might better serve your goals as a storyteller.
5. A collaborative process. You needn’t agree with all of your editor’s recommendations, and it’d be unusual if you did. Generally, your relationship with any given editorial comment won’t last longer than you quietly accepting or rejecting it. However, if you have questions or want assistance with finding a middle ground between their take and yours, they should be willing to meet you there.
Of course, the beauty of self-publishing is that you have the final say as to every last word in your book. Hiring us or any of our contemporaries to be your second pair of eyes is a privilege that we take seriously, and we know that you could just as easily spend your hard-earned money on marketing, graphic design, or other necessities. We do our best to make it worth your while.
Oh, one more thing. Derek, Forgemaster of Editing, offers free sample edits so that you know what type of feedback you’ll receive before jumping in.
– Autumn & Derek
