How to find an editor for your book

If you’ve finished writing a book, your next step might be to find an editor to help you shape and polish it. But lots of authors aren’t sure of where to start when it comes to finding a qualified, experienced professional – after all, online, anyone can put up an “editor for hire” sign, and there are lots of scams out there, too.

So let me walk you through the best way to find an editor for your book – someone who has the experience and credentials you’re looking for.

First things first, though – the type of editor you will need depends a lot on the publication path you want to go down.

Your publication path and finding an editor

Traditional publishing

If you’re aiming to traditionally publish (you want to query literary agents and land a book deal with a publishing house), you don’t necessarily need to hire an editor. That being said, the submission pile is so incredibly competitive, and it’s increasingly hard to stand out and attract an agent’s attention. Lots of authors want a second pair of eyes or a professional opinion on their manuscript before they submit.

In this case, the most effective form of editing would be developmental editing or a professional manuscript assessment. This ensures all those big-picture elements a literary agent will be looking at – your plot, hook, character development, world-building, subplots, and so on – are as strong as possible.

Hiring an editor to provide copyediting or proofreading before submitting to agents isn’t necessary. These services are part of the book production process, and they’re provided by a publisher later, if you sign a book deal.

Some authors may opt for a line edit if they have particular writing craft concerns, but it’s not absolutely necessary.

Self-publishing

Self-publishing is a little different, as you’re effectively becoming the publisher. You’re doing everything yourself – not just the writing, but the production side too.

Editing falls into that. You won’t have a team ready and waiting for you like you would with a publishing house – you’ll have to build this yourself. All the tasks of publishing will be organised and dealt with by you.

Some self-publishing authors go through developmental editing before they move on to sentence-level editing (which is the way it’s done with publishing houses as well). Not all authors do this, though, as some rely on beta readers or critique partners to carry out this role.

Because the author acts as the publisher in self-publishing, I always recommend a copyedit at the very least – combined with a line edit if possible. This smooths out an author’s sentences and sorts out any errors or ambiguous areas, so a book is polished when it reaches the hands of readers.

Where to find an editor for you book

Now that you understand how your publication route factors into finding an editor – where do you actually go to find one?

If you want to find qualified professional editors, these are the resources I’d recommend after almost a decade working as an editor in the industry myself.

The Editorial Freelancers Association

This is a US-based organisation for professional freelance editors, though they have members from around the world. You can use their member directory to search for a suitable editor.

Authors can also post their requirements on the jobs board so that editors can respond directly to apply.

The Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading

Another recognised editorial organisation – this time a non-profit promoting excellence in English language editing. Editors who join can move through membership “tiers” based on their experience level – and this is all vetted by an editorial panel. The highest level of membership is “advanced professional”.

Authors can use their member directory to search for an editor.

The Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook

This UK-based yearbook is released every year – it mainly contains lists of literary agents and publishers that authors can submit to, but editors can advertise in the book as well, so it’s a good place to find prospective editors.

Referrals and recommendations

Another great way to find an editor is to ask around! Ask other writers if they have used an editor, and who they would recommend. In self-publishing circles, ask writers who are already published – or check the acknowledgements sections of self-published books in your genre.

Other resources

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with finding an editor through other methods – many of us have websites and appear on Google searches, or we’re active on social media. In these cases, though, you want to make sure you check the editor’s credentials carefully.

Some tips on how to do that next!

How to vet prospective book editors

The main things to look at when vetting editors are their experience and credentials. How long have they been in the industry? Do they have recognisable clients – publisher or author names you recognise? Do they have a portfolio of books they’ve worked on? Are they listed in the acknowledgements sections of any of these books?

What about training and professional qualifications? It’s a great sign if editors have these from editorial organisations – places like The Editorial Freelancers Association, The Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading, The Publishing Training Center, Editors Canada, ACES. Some editors might have university-level qualifications.

Look for reviews and testimonials too – most editors have a page like this on their website. If you can, reach out to a few of the authors by email or on social media to check the validity and what their experience was.

Some things not to do: Don’t ask editors if they can share extracts/edits that they’ve done for other writers. The problem with this is that editors keep their work and their clients’ manuscripts confidential – to send out edits or notes created for others would be a breach of this agreement.

The better alternative is to ask for a sample edit. Some editors do these for free and others like myself charge a small admin fee (for very valid reasons). This can give you a feel for the editor’s skillset and their editing style.

Avoiding scams

A final point to help you in your search for a book editor – you may want to read this page on editors/editing services from the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers Association. It not only covers how to vet editors, but red flags to watch out for when hiring a freelance editor.

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I hope this post helped you with your task of finding an editor for your book!