© 2007 by Janice Phelps Williams All rights reserved.
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Your manuscript is finished. Now it is time to locate an editor who would be a good match for your project, and who can take your book to the next step, publication.
As with any profession, editors specialize in the work they undertake, not only by genre but also by type of editing. It may not be easy to find someone with experience in your subject area, but experience in any related area should be sufficient.
Once you have a list of editors with experience in your subject, you will want to ask for at least two references and a list of books they have worked on.
Then, you will ask if the editor offers a sample edit. You can email them the table of contents and first chapter of your book and ask them to edit it in MS Word with the changes visible. Some editors offer a sample edit at no charge. It is not unreasonable, however, to be asked to pay for a sample edit. You want the editor to give careful time and attention to this initial effort.
When you send your manuscript, or a portion of it, to the editor for a sample edit, be sure to include information on the market for your book. Also, a synopsis of the entire book is helpful and your goals (mission statement) for writing and publishing this book. If you have decided whether to self publish or seek a publisher, let the editor know that as well. All of these issues impact the way an editor will look at, and edit, your manuscript.
Proofreading versus Editing:
When I work with clients on producing their book, editing is what takes place before the manuscript is designed as a book. In other words, when the manuscript is in MS Word, it is edited.
Editing can be:
Once the manuscript is imported into design software for page design (such as QuarkXpress; Pagemaker; or InDesign), the author is not going to be able to manipulate or change the text. Only the designer will be able to. Therefore, 98% of editing must take place when the book is in a word processing program (MS Word or WordPerfect).
Once the book is in a design program and being created at the 6 x 9 inch size, the graphic designer will implement any text changes the author or editor requests. This can add quite a bit to costs (as designers typically charge more per hour than editors), so, it cannot be stressed enough that the manuscript must be edited before the book is designed.
Proofreading takes place after the book is designed and is the final step before the book is printed. Unlike editing, which looks only at the text, proofreading also looks at the design, page numbers, headers/footers, illustrations/photographs and captions, and overall consistency of the book. A proofreader is much more visual and detail oriented than an editor—though they may be the same person, a different hat is worn for this phase.
How to Know If an Editor is a Good Fit for Your Book Project:
Consider the following checklist:
□ How many books has the editor worked on, as the person solely responsible for the editing of the project? (I am emphasizing books because working on magazine articles, journals, and other written communication is not the same as working on a book project. You will want someone experienced in books.)
□ Have you been provided with references and a list of past clients?
□ Were these books consumer health titles? If not, how many were?
□ The more extensive an editor’s involvement is in a project (for instance, from manuscript phase all the way to finished book stage), the better the quality of editing will be, because she* will have a start-to-finish approach to the project. Editors who take projects through to finished book stage can tell when they are editing a manuscript in MS Word how that manuscript might look and read when it is designed into a book. This is an intangible asset that can help your project immensely.
□ Does the editor have a college degree? (Sometimes it is easy to overlook the obvious.)
□ Have you obtained a sample edit from this person? If so, compare the original and edited pages side-by-side (which you can do in MS Word using the “tools” feature). Do you think the edited version is more reader-friendly? If you obtain a sample edit from more than one editor (this is not uncommon), you might want to show the samples to a few others whose opinion you trust and see which version they think reads best.
□ Did the editor mark primarily grammatical, spelling, and punctuation errors or did she also suggest substantive changes, such as improving a sentence here or there; clarifying a concept; noting what might be confusing to a reader?
□ Have you spoken with the editor over the phone? Is she a good listener? Does she seem to grasp what you are trying to accomplish with this book?
□ Are the fees comparable to any other quotes for editing you have gotten? If you are at all unsure whether to commit to this editor, is she willing to do several chapters as a test before you commit to send the entire manuscript?
□ What timeline are you being given for completion of the editing? Note: Some editors take between one to three months to edit a book, with two months being quite common. But there are editors who take a year, or more, to edit a project. You’ll want to know, beforehand, what the expected schedule will be.
□ Privacy agreement. It is not unusual for an author to ask an editor, and any assistants in the editor’s office, to sign a non-disclosure statement protecting the privacy of the author and his manuscript/project.
□
Is the editor using an assistant or
subcontracting out the work? There are many editorial services and book
shepherds online today who actually farm work out to subcontractors. I believe
it is important for the primary editor (the one who does at least one round of
editing and takes responsibility for the quality of the editing) to have a
one-on-one relationship with the author. You cannot get this by uploading your
manuscript to a faceless, nameless “editing service.”
As far as an assistant; an editorial assistant can be an asset to your project. For instance, one editor might be
particularly strong in content editing and the “big picture.” But, an assistant
editor might also have complementary skills in the subject matter (for instance
cancer, or diabetes, or working with children, or issues related to medical
practices outside the
□ Rights. If you are having your manuscript substantially edited, you may want the editor to communicate to you, in writing, that upon final payment for editorial services all rights to the written text of your manuscript, and any writing or editorial work done by the editor, transfers completely to you.
For questions regarding rights, please contact Larry Zerner, Esq. at www.zernerlaw.com and tell him I referred you to him for advice on publishing rights.
Editing a book requires several skill sets:
Editing a book is a process and sometimes, depending on the amount of editing needed, the subject matter, and the length of the book, it can take more than one pass-through to edit a book. In other words, if the editor is initially looking at substantive changes and concentrating on improving sentence structure, the book as a whole, etc., then things like spelling and punctuation might be overlooked as the “big picture” is being considered. It would then be necessary, after the big picture is sorted out, to go back through the book with an eye to the details. An author should not panic if small errors make it past the initial editing stage, if the initial editing stage involved substantive work. Simply bring it to the editor’s attention and give her the opportunity to verify that something that should have been corrected was missed. Ask if, given the substantive nature of the initial effort, she would go through the manuscript one more time with an eye on spelling, grammar, and punctuation. This is not an unreasonable request.
And editor should not be expected to be a proofreader as well, unless she is being paid to proofread. Proofreading, which is done after the book is designed and prior to printing, costs between $1 and $3 per book page. The proofreader’s job is to catch any errors missed during editing (when bigger issues are often being looked at) and any errors that crept in during the design phase.
A Situation that Happens More Often than You Might Think:
Oftentimes an author will approach a book designer to have the pages laid out for the printer and assure the designer that the book has been professionally edited. In reality, the “professional editor” was the author’s wife, sister-in-law, office manager, or colleague. Not someone who edits books for a living. The author will then hire an editor to “proofread” the finished book pages, assuring the editor that the book has already been professionally edited and just needs “another pair of eyes” to review it.
When the proofreader begins going through the designed pages, it becomes immediately apparent that the book had never been professionally edited. This is not something one can hide from those who work everyday with books. Many mistakes remain. Sentences are repetitive. The book is simply not “trade worthy.” The proofreader is being expected, then, to edit a book while being paid to proofread it. Editing takes more time than proofreading; so this is an unfair scenario.
Also, the designer will be unhappy because he or she will be asked to make substantial improvements to the text after the book pages have already been designed. Not only is this time consuming, but it wreaks havoc with the designer’s work schedule and increases the chances that errors will creep into the book (as every time you change text within book pages, you have the opportunity to make a mistake!).
And, finally, you, the author, will be unhappy because you will have to pay the editor additional to do heavier proofreading than she expected to do, and the designer extra to rework the book pages and implement changes. All this can be avoided by carefully choosing an editor before moving onto the design phase.
An editor, once you’ve found one who is a good fit for your project, will be an asset not only to your manuscript but to you as a writer. Physicians are “the boss” of their medical practice and may not be used to suggestions on how to improve. But an editor will see the physician as a writer and will counsel him or her as a writer. Of course, an editor must be respectful of the expertise of the author and of the effort and knowledge that go into writing a book; but an editor must feel confident enough to suggest improvements. An editor must also know when to “back off” and let the author make the final decision. If the author is self-publishing, he alone will suffer the consequences. If the author is seeking a literary agent or publisher, that person may bring up the questionable topic a second time. If so, the author would be wise to consider what those who work in the publishing business are suggesting. They may have a good reason for it.
Where Will You Find Your Editor?
There are many people and businesses listed on the Internet offering editorial services. Narrow those down to those who work only in books. Then narrow those down to editors who work directly with you, rather than editorial services where you upload files to a nameless person (or spellchecker). Refer to the checklist offered earlier in this article, once you’ve got two or three names to consider.
Here are a few places where you might find an editor who is right for your project:
· The Publishers Marketing Association maintains an online resource guide of editors and book designers. www.pma-online.org
· Ask other doctors who have published books (successfully) to recommend their editor.
· Consider my services, please. You can find more information at: www.janicephelps.com.
Writing a book is a solitary effort, but publishing a book is a team effort. In building your team no one will be more important to your book’s success than your editor. An editor can make, or break, your project. She is responsible for helping you put your best foot forward to those who will read your book; therefore a good working relationship and mutual respect are essential.
All the best,
Janice Phelps Williams, Editing, Book Design, and Illustration