Weekly Writers: Tips For Working With Editors

Many of these apply to all three kinds of editing.

Polish first. Make your work as good as possible before sending it to an editor. The self-editing tips covered in previous posts will help with that. The editor can then focus on bigger issues. Or, if they are paid by the hour, it can save money because they won’t waste time fixing all the small errors you could have spotted. I’ve edited books for others that are a joy because they are so well-polished that I can focus on more complex issues of style and structure and character.

Be consistent and provide information. Language is flexible, and there are many options in how we convey information. An important aspect of good writing is ensuring that you are always consistent. Will you use serial commas? Will you end words with –ise or –ize? What are your preferred spellings: no one, noone or no-one? How do you treat large figures, and when do you use words (twenty-five) versus numbers (25)? If you change these things randomly, editors will waste a lot of time trying to fix discrepancies.

And that is where following a style guide comes in, as it will provide guidance and consistency. If you use a particular style guide then let the editor know whether it’s Hart’s Rules, the Chicago Manual of Style, Guardian Style, New Oxford Style Manual, or something else.

Since I have never yet found a style guide where I agree with all of its pronouncements, I have gone down the route many authors take, and created my own style guide which has developed over time. I supply that to copy editors and proofreaders.

If you don’t have a fixed style yet that’s fine, but I’d recommend that if anything of this type comes up in queries from your editor, then once you make a decision, record it. Pop it into a document called something like “style guide”. After working with a few people you’ll have a comprehensive and shareable list of your editorial preferences. Further, it will soon become a subconscious part of your writing, aiding consistency.

Get a free sample. This applies only if you are paying for the editorial service yourself. Most editors will edit a sample of your work for free, usually a few pages, and provide a quote based on that. It helps to illustrate their quality, and establishes if they are the right editor for the job (and also, from their end, the sample helps them decide if they want to work on the rest of your book!).

If, after due consideration, you don’t agree with their suggested changes, or you don’t feel like you’d enjoy working with them, then go elsewhere. It helps if author and editor think along the same lines, and their styles and temperaments match. And if the editor made suggestions where you can see that your work would be improved, and you feel like there is professional compatibility, then you’ll be off to a great start.

Partial edits. Another option (if you are footing the bill) is to pay for a partial edit. You could save a lot of money by getting an editor to just edit a few chapters. Then whatever repeated issues they pick up on (mistakes of style, grammar, sentence structures, overuse of passive voice, speech tags, punctuation etc.), you can go through rest of manuscript yourself fixing those, before submitting the full thing. Then you’ll really understand that issue, and be less likely to make the mistake in the future. Also, any future editorial work won’t require the same little things being pointed out again and again.

Likewise you could get an editor to look at just the areas you feel are weaker, such as the opening of your novel. I did this once with a short story collection where I knew most stories were good since they’d been polished in the past, or published already. However, other stories were brand new, more experimental, and I was less sure about their strengths. In that case I paid a substantive editor just to work on the new stories.

Genre. Some editors specialise in particular genres, subjects or styles. They are more likely to know the tropes and expectations of the genre than one who is a stranger to it. Likewise they all have their own specialisms in terms of writing – one may be great at dialogue, another at structure, another at developing mood. This is where an editor who is also an author can be a big help.

Nationality/region. If your editor is in a different country (e.g. UK author but US editor, or vice versa) then make sure they are familiar with your country’s spellings and idioms. If the book’s content is heavily tied to a region or subculture where there are all sorts of nuances of language or dialect then it might be advantageous if the editor is familiar with that area.

Editorial variety. There are benefits to sticking with the same editor over time. They get to know you and your style, there is trust, a communication shorthand develops, and the writing can be taken to the next level. It may become cheaper as you internalise what they have to teach, and they know your work won’t contain basic errors any more.

There are also benefits to working with different editors. In those cases a new editor can be refreshing, as they pick up on different issues, and guide you to new techniques and story improvements. It’s like having multiple teachers.

Don’t look at it as just one book. Expanding on the last point slightly: when you work with an editor you are not just working on that single book. You are learning things that you will take forward and apply to future works. That is an additional value.

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