Mission Accomplished - Editor Selected

For the past couple of weeks, I have been fielding editors for my novel. It was a lot more stressful than I thought it would be. Beyond price, there are so many other factors to consider as no two editors will make the same edits, or even notice the same things.

Hands down, the most helpful thing I found throughout this process was to have an editor provide a sample edit of my work. Not only was it great because it technically was free work (hurray), but it also pointed out errors that I was consistently making throughout the novel. However, probably the most helpful was that it provided a solid point of comparison between the editors, and showed me the differences in their editing. And trust me, there were a lot of differences.

I had one editor note that one particular section might not be needed and was slowing the pace of the book. In contrast, another editor wanted me to elaborate and provide more details in that same segment. If that wasn’t conflicting, others just stayed mum on that area entirely.

Some made comments noting parts they liked, and I mean, who doesn’t want to learn they made people laugh or people are they enjoyed their work. We are writers… that is kind of the point, isn’t it? Others didn’t really note sections they liked, but they wrote complimentary statements in their overall summary.

Another big difference I noticed, and this turned out to be a major deciding factor for me (one I hadn’t even considered before), was sense of humor. I had one editor pick at sentences I had written because they didn’t appreciate the humor, which is fair, I’m not everyone’s cup of tea. Of course, when I was reading this, the thought that initially entered my head was, “Well… you are going to hate the rest of the book then...” However, I also had other editors that pointed out the exact same passages and say they loved it the humor in it.

I think what we really need to keep in mind as writers is that people are different. They may enjoy or hate us, but this is the number one thing we need to keep in mind when choosing an editor. There is no point in getting your book editing by someone you don’t jive with. They need to be on the same page and at least get your humor and your voice. Otherwise, it is not going to be a fun journey. And it should be a fun journey… or at least there should be some happiness among all the tears…

So after much deliberation, I finally chose my editor. What did I consider? Well, these were the factors that played a big part for me.

1. Understood my humor

2. Seemed genuinely interested in the story

3. Wanted to help me grow as an author

4. Price

I had a pick of a few editors, and instead of choosing ones that corrected a few items and pointed out sections they loved, and others that could use work. I picked the editor that wrote a ton of comments. They weren’t mean comments by any means, but they showed me where I could make changes, and didn’t just change it for me. As much as it is nice to just click “ACCEPT ALL CHANGES,” I really do think I will be become a better writer by fixing and recognizing some of my errors. Besides that, by letting me choose how to fix the issue on my own, my story gets to retain my genuine author’s voice.

So, that was my experience so far. I will let you know how it goes along the process. I expect tears. A lot of tears. But I am sure that my book and I will be all the better for it in the end.

If you want to reply back your experience with editors and what qualities you were looking for, please let me know. I would like to hear about other writers’ journey to perfect their craft.

Till next time…

keep writing everyone