How to Find the Right Book Editor

Whether you are working as a researcher, businessperson, or book author, you are likely to need a book editor at some point in your personal or professional life.

It’s worthwhile to note, therefore, that book proofreading services UK, along with editing and proofreading services, are available to make the process of preparing a book for publication much easier and significantly less time-consuming. 

Before you send your manuscript to the editor (or proofreader, depending on what stage in the writing process you are at), it’s important to use Grammarly to perform an initial spelling, grammar, and punctuation check. This will allow you to:

·         Optimise the editor’s first impression of you and your manuscript

·         Reduce the cost of the editing service

·         Gain the interest of editors with greater experience

Similarly, before sending your manuscript to an editor, it is worthwhile to decide on – and tell the editor when you contact them – what kind of editing you are interested in. There are many types of editing available, where the type you need will usually depend on what stage of the writing process you are at. For example:

·         Developmental editing: Performed to plan the structure and contents of a book

·         Evaluation editing: Performed to assess whether a written manuscript stuck, to the initial plan

·         Line editing: Performed to improve the writing line by line

·         Proofreading: Proofreaders are used to perform a final check on key aspects of the document

Once you’ve used Grammarly to perform an initial check on your work, and also decided on the type of editing you need, you should conduct a search for experienced and interested book editors. You can make your search much easier by working with a trusted editing company, or you can collaborate with an experienced freelancer.

When evaluating which editing company or freelancer you will work with, you can consider the following:

·         Customer reviews

·         Years of experience

·         Samples of work

·         Subject-matter expertise

·         Experienced editor

When you find an editor or editing company you are satisfied with, the next critical step for finding the best book editor is to ask for a price on the service and their availability. It is worth knowing that for most editing and proofreading services, they are charged per word rather than per hour.

After you’ve received price information, you can ask for free samples (approx. 250 words) from two or three of your top choices, after which you can compare their results and make a final decision.

Altogether, it’s worth remembering that editing is not only a science but also an art. Finding the right book editor for you is not straightforward and you may need to put some work into it, but it can be very rewarding and have a good impact on your book and its publication.