How many of you are really truly happy with the person who fixes your car? Do you believe that you get a good deal and accurate diagnosis when you bring your car in for service? Do you constantly ask others for referrals in search of the one shop that you can trust with all of your car-related needs?
Ok, no, I’m not writing an ad for an auto shop but all of the same concerns apply when looking for an editor. I found out the hard way that editors, just like mechanics, are not all created equal.
The DIY road
How many of you change your own oil or try and replace spark plugs? Well, just because you are a good driver doesn’t mean you know anything about how a car actually works. The same goes for writing. I wrote a book. I used to be a copy editor. I thought I was completely capable of editing my own work. Uh uh. Wrong.
When I got my first review back it said in big bold letters that I needed a line edit. They liked the content but were concerned with my under usage of commas, among other things. I was so happy that they liked the content of the book that I didn’t take anything else too personally. That is, until they told me the price of this line edit. I almost fell off of my chair. Do you know how much a line edit of 149,000 words costs? I didn’t either but these people were charging A LOT.
I decided to do a little research and see what the going rate was for an edit of this type. Talk about opening a can of worms. I reached out to several different sources and the quotes I got back were all over the place. I had a hard time getting an apples to apples quote. Everyone was offering different things. I didn’t know where to turn or who to trust.
Call in the professionals
After stressing about it for a week (and losing precious publishing time), I decided to use a freelancer who was comparably way cheaper and offered a fast turnaround time. She returned the edited manuscript in a week as promised, and I turned it back into my publisher. The next call I got from them was to discuss whether or not I really wanted to put something out with this many mistakes. Mistakes? I just had a professional edit! I took a look at what they told me and they were right. There were still too many errors (although there were a lot more commas now). I guess I should’ve known that when the freelancer called my character Alexis instead of Alexa, something was wrong. I got what I paid for.
The plot thickened and after another week, I threw my hands up in the air and coughed up the big bucks to pay for the publisher to edit the manuscript that had already been edited. I waited on pins and needles for four more weeks to see the final product. When I got it back and reviewed it, I found 25 errors in the first 75 pages. I was distraught. All that happened was that they made a bunch of contractions (sometimes in error) and changed some very minor things. I did NOT get what I paid for and ended up doing the bulk of the corrections myself. After a successful appeal, I got another edit of the manuscript that had already been edited twice by professionals and once by me. I got this edit for free (insert sarcasm).
So, in a nutshell, after six weeks and a whole lot of cash, I finally submitted my thrice professionally edited manuscript. Are there still mistakes? I’m sure there are. 149,000 words is a lot to weed through. At least I know I gave it my best shot considering the circumstances.
Importance of a good relationship
During my initial search I did make a contact, that in hindsight, I should’ve used. I didn’t choose them for the wrong reasons and I know that now. They will be editing the sequel to Stay. I’ve been working with them on other areas over the last few months and I know that I will get what I pay for next time. If you need a referral for your car, you may want to ask someone else, but if you are looking for a referral for an editor, I can help. I certainly have experience now.
Eric says
I wish you great success,,,,,,,, so many professionals not enough “,”
Hilary Wynne says
Thank you so much!