An insider’s tips on finding the right edit(or) for your novel
The mid-range options, and the questions to ask yourself before you invest
Today I'm continuing with my answer to a reader’s question about how to get your novel edited without wasting time and money (and sanity).
First let’s take a step back, and discuss what I mean by editing here, as I realise there’s often confusion about what an editor in my position does. In this case I mean structural or development editing — not copyediting or proofreading, which are much cheaper and easier to find; they are also fairly technical and thus easier to monitor and regulate. Hopefully this piece will help you navigate the Wild West of editing services and find someone you can trust, who will help you get your novel on its way to publication.
Structural or development editing looks at the major storytelling devices: narrative arc, plot, pacing, characterisation, scene structure, narrative POV, and how they all operate together. It may also contain some elements of stylistic feedback and look at the premise or concept itself.
The standard is to receive a written report covering all these elements. You may also receive your manuscript with comments on it illustrating the editor’s feedback. (It won’t be a line edit, which goes into each sentence of your novel honing the style. That’s generally the next step.) The point of such an edit is normally to get you on the route to submission — either to agents, or to publishers. But bear in mind that one round won’t be enough, and at least one subsequent read will be needed. This could be by the same editor, and should take less time, or you could ask someone else with fewer qualifications to feed back to you. In my opinion, most debuts take at least five rounds of edits before they’re ready for submission to agents. But as I said in my previous article, these do not necessarily have to be paid for.
The following options don’t replace the stages I mentioned in my previous article on the topic. The below are supplements, though they will undoubtedly give you a greater chance of finding an agent/publisher, if you pick wisely. It’s important to acknowledge that the chance remains statistically small: doing this step is not a guarantee of success.
Mid-range options: these all essentially involve paying one or two professionals to read and feed back on your book. Cost between £700 to £4000 depending on who they are, their experience, what level of detail you want them to go into, and the length and complexity of your book.
The upside of paying for an edit is you will hopefully get someone who is experienced at giving feedback — and crucially, the market context, i.e. what agents and publishing houses are looking for, who your competition is etc.
Where do you find these people? This is the tricky part, and it requires you to be part search engine operator and part industry detective. I’ve listed the three main routes below, roughly in order of price, low to high:
Specialist self-employed freelancers — the most opaque route. These are one-person businesses, much like your local plumber who gets all their work via word-of-mouth. The most successful are ex-corporate people like me who’ve set up their own businesses but know enough from the inside to be able to truly help you. I don’t want to give preferential treatment to anyone here, (though I am intending to set up a directory at some point), but most of them have websites or have their own businesses alongside being listed on one of the below-mentioned platforms. Much like the amazing local plumber, there’s often a waiting list, and you need to know the right people to find them.
Tips:
If you are part of any online writing communities, ask them for recommendations.
Linkedin is good for finding people who’ve had a corporate career. Search ‘freelance editor’ alongside the name of a publishing house you know, and you’ll find those who’ve had the kind of experience you’re looking for.
Look for a CV that includes at least three years working in editorial, at a publishing house that you can look up, with a list of published authors.
If you’re still not sure, look up the books they’ve worked on and see if they have reviews in recognisable publications e.g. national broadsheet or magazine culture pages. Another way of checking their credentials is to look at the books they say they’ve worked on and see if they’re name-checked by the author in the acknowledgments.
Do due diligence — once you’ve whittled down your options, ask them some questions. You are absolutely able to ask people for more detail on their CV, and to see a sample of their work. I always do a call with people for free, prior to contracting with them, to give us both the chance to ask questions and suss each other out.
Specialist editing platforms. Much like Airbnb, these platforms seek to connect someone who provides a service with someone who wants it, and take a cut from the provider. I have decided not to recommend any platforms by name here, instead trying to help you navigate them, but if you search ‘find editor for my book’ you’ll see them. Don’t look at generalist freelancer sites — you want a platform specific to book publishing.
Tips:
As with option 1, I suggest choosing people who have at some point been employed by one of the big publishers, and analysing their CV in the same way.
As with all platforms, those who satisfy the algorithms best will turn up at the top, but that doesn’t mean they’re the best for you. Just be aware of this fact as you search and consult my list of questions below.
Publishing agencies — sometimes called ‘publishing consultants,’ sometimes simply billing themselves as publishers, these places essentially do any part of the publishing process for a price — including editing. The editors they employ are more like temporary staff, working from project to project. Again, they’re easily searchable online and mostly employ ex-corporate people.
Writing school or course. These have proliferated in recent years, and have become in many ways a stand-in for an agent, or perhaps a pre-agent agent. While they are best known for their writing courses, many offer shorter courses, manuscript reports, or mentoring options. If you want to get a finished novel really finished, i.e. submittable, this is the closest to some form of guarantee one can get. The biggest names stand as a mark of quality. Note: this is very specific to the UK.
Tips:
Again, a basic google search will bring up the main ones. As there is little competition in this area, and I want to help you avoid getting conned by some of the pretenders, I have decided to list them here: Faber Academy, Curtis Brown Creative, The Novelry. Each is aimed towards a slightly different market.
Look for a list of published alumni. Even better, look to see how many books those alumni had published after the first book.
Look at which tutors are on your specific course of interest. One brilliant tutor is often what it takes to lift a course from good to excellent.
If you’re looking at a course rather than a manuscript report or one-to-one mentoring, look at exactly what you will learn. Each course is very different.
How to choose between these options? Ask yourself these questions:
What stage are you at with the novel? Have you just finished a first draft, or have you redrafted many times? Do you need to know if the concept works before moving onto more in-depth narrative work? Are you happy with your story but you don’t know what genre it is or how you’d pitch it? Do you need general writing lessons, or do you want something more specific to your book?
If you had to write down one thing you most want from the service you commission, what would it be? Is it confidence? Industry perspective? A writing community? Contacts? Genre-specific advice?
What learning style suits you? Think back to times you’ve learnt well / achieved goals. Was it self-motivated, or did it require someone supporting or pushing you? Does it help you to be able to learn with others, or do you prefer solo work? When will you be able to fit in the work you’ll need to do?
What are you most scared of? This is always worth asking yourself, and it may be the opposite of your answer to the above. If what you’re scared of is lots of people reading your work and feeding back, then I want to challenge you to consider a course with others. If you’re most scared of a ‘proper’ industry person reading your book, then I challenge you to go for one-to-one mentoring. Often what we most need is what we’re most scared of.
Whatever you choose, know that it may be difficult, challenging your view of your novel and even yourself. Know that if it does, you are on your way to being an author!
NB. I live in fear of people taking my word as gospel! If you know of other great alternatives, I would love you to post them below as a resource for other writers.
