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How to hire an editor.
How to Interview The Individual to Edit Your Baby
So you want to write a book!
Oh! I’m sorry! You’ve already written it.
Well it’s about time because everyone has a book in them and whether or not it becomes a best seller doesn’t matter because you’ve poured your heart out on paper and is about to see your baby in print. Now you do your homework you research and find the publishing houses you want to publish your baby. You’ve researched these houses on Predator and Editors and you feel confident about your choice. You’ve chosen to self-publish. You’ve read everything you believe you need to know about self-publishing but what you haven’t read is how to interview the individual to edit your baby. I didn’t interview the individual who edited my baby because I never thought of it as my hiring an employee and that’s exactly what you’re doing. You’re an employer seeking an employee to perform a task you’re going to pay him or her to perform. Most employers are willing to take a chance and train employees but you can’t because you’re probably working from a shoestring budget so you have to get it right the first time. To help you are questions to help you in your search for the most qualified person to edit your baby. I believe if you do it right the first time you won’t have any regrets or have wasted your hard earned money.
ªQUESTION: What is the first question you should ask the interviewee?
ANSWER: Please give me the titles of four books you’ve edited where the author thank you for a job well done on the acknowledgment page.
ªQUESTION: Now that you have these titles in hand, what has the interviewee provided you?
ANSWER: References.
ªQUESTION: Now what have you learned after reading the titles?
ANSWER: You’ve learned
▪the genre they prefer or specialize in
▪how well the interviewee understands the characters
▪how well the interviewee understands the settings
▪how well the interviewee understands the concept the author is trying to convey
▪how many of the references are like the book you’ve written
▪if any of the characters are like the characters in your book
▪if the language is like the language in your book
▪if the interviewee will understand the slang in your book
▪if the interviewee will understand the geographical area(s) you’ve described in your book
▪if the interviewee has exposure to the lifestyles of the characters in your book.
ªQUESTION: What do you do if the interviewee who wants to charge you to edit your baby can’t provide references?
ANSWER: Run as fast as you can because this interviewee has little to no experience and you don’t want to hand over your hard earned cash for a service you expect but may or may not receive.
ªQUESTION: What should you do now that you have the references?
ANSWER: You should buy the references and read them.
ªQUESTION: Should you be concerned with who their favor authors are?
ANSWER: Yes. You want to know the genre(s) they favor because this will tell you how well read they are in the genre you’re writing in. Ask them who their favorite authors are in no fewer then five genres.
For example, if I were asked the question my list would look like this:
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Crime / Police / Espionage / Military / Mystery / Psychological Dramas / Private Detectives
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Science Fiction / Paranormal
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Romance Suspense / Historical / General Fiction
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Robert K. Tanenbaum / Linda A. Fairstein / John Sandford / Stuart Woods / J.D. Robb / Judith A. Jance / J.A. Konrath / Kay Hooper / Nancy Taylor Rosenberg / Nelson Demille / Brian Haig / David Baldacci
Stephen Frey / Helen MacInnes
Margaret Truman / Sue Henry
Dana Stabenow / James Swain / Sir Author Coin Doyle / Jacqueline Windspere / Nancy Springer / Sue Grafton / Lee Child / Walter Mosley
Donna Andrews / Marcia Muller
Jonathon King / Robert Crais
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John Twelve Hawks
Amanda Quick
Jayne Castle
Christine Feehan
Walter Mosley
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Linda Hudson-Smith / Danielle Steel / Julie Garwood / Raymond S. Edge / Kathleen E. Woodiwiss
Linda Lael Miller / Janet Dailey / Julia Spencer-Fleming / Karin Slaughter / Ann B. Ross / Carolyn Hart
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Christian
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Classics / Non-Fiction
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Psychology
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Willa Cather
Lori Wicks
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Edgar Allen Poe
Alexandra Penney
Michael Morgenstein
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Iyanda Vanzant
Dr. Laura Schlessinger
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ªQUESTION: What have you learned?
ANSWER: You’ve learned where my passion lies.
Other things you want to know
- Did the interviewee grow up around people like the characters in your book?
- Does the interviewee have friends like the characters in your book?
ªQUESTION: Does it matter if I have personal contact with the person I hire?
ANSWER: It’s imperative to have contact with the person who edits your book whether it’s face-to-face, email, or via telephone. Never, and I mean never ever go through a third party.
What’s next?
Now its time to determine the type of edit you need.
Copyeditor: corrects errors in spelling, inconsistencies, grammar and punctuation, verify cross-references and impose industry-standard style.
Line Editor: checks manuscript for more pervasive errors in spelling, grammar and punctuation, address syntax and word choice and make light recommendations for improving the overall readability of the work.
Content Editor: checks to ensure the general accuracy and consistency of content and focus on more extensive restructuring of sentences.
ªQUESTION: After my book has been edited, do I need to hire a proofreader?
ANSWER: Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.
ªQUESTION: Do I need to interview the proofreader?
ANSWER: Yes.
ªQUESTION: What questions do I ask during the interview?
ANSWER: You ask for references. Ask to talk to no fewer than five people whose worked they’ve edited. Call them and ask if they would let the interviewee edit other works by them.
Don’t be afraid to ask the hard questions and always remember you’re paying for the service—you’re hiring an employee.
An ‘A’ in English Does Not Make You An Editor
from the book The Frugal Editor by Carolyn Howard Johnson
So you got As in English. You know grammar and spelling. That's great
but an editor of you it doth not make. An editor knows formatting, front
and back matter, indexing, structure, the elements of fiction and on and
on. But mostly she'll see your manuscript in a fresh new light.
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