Golden Gubbins: How to find an editor as an indie author and why bother?

After weeks, months, or perhaps years of working on your book; you will reach a moment when it feels done, or at least you’re getting close to it.

Perhaps you’ve even shared with a couple of beta readers[Article about this coming soon].

Now what? Well, a good next step is to look for an editor. An editor is basically a fairy of the English language that will take your tear and snot stained manuscript and turn it into something readable. Editors do a lot of things, but for our purposes we will focus on three roles they can fulfil.

Content Editor

Concerned with plot, they make it juicy. They will find plot holes, help with structure, character arcs, and even chapter order if you let them.

Copy Editor

A grammar brownie(like a fairy but more aggressive). They refine sentence structure, tone, and style; correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation; enhance word choice and narrative flow; and ensure consistency in character names, timelines, and terminology. In short they are the ones who will make things readable.

Proof reader

A person for whom caffeine barely even registers. The last bastion of defence before publication. Proof readers catch lingering errors in spelling, grammar, and punctuation; fix formatting issues; and ensure final consistency in layout, headers, and typographic elements before publication.

Do you need all three?

In short yes, but most editors will perform all roles or a combination thereof as long as you’re clear what is it you want from them.

Finding editors

Hopefully by now you’re convinced of the need to enter into a pact with these magical creatures. You can find editors in most places you’d think(Professional service boards, freelancing websites, etc…)

I personally used Reedsy to find an editor for my first novel. For editing services I paid 308 GBP(in 2018). My editor(Sarah 💟), provided me with:

Developmental Editing and Copy Editing*

After I had gone through a round of edits with her, my book went off to a second round of beta readers.

Finally, it was given to a proof-reader I hired on Fiverr who gave it a final once over before I edited it and published it.

I hope this brief summary helps you on your journey. I'll be soon writing another article on how to write a brief for an editor, and another one about artists(for book covers, marketing materials, etc...)

*: This is a quote from her first message to me, just for clarities sake.