What All Writers Should Know About Finding Good Editors
Part I: After Writing 'The End' (and Before Looking For An Editor)
If you’re reading this, you have probably (or are currently) writing a fantasy fiction story and thinking about publishing it. Thanks to the internet, the publishing process has undergone a vast shift and many barriers to publication have been removed. Both traditional and independent publishing paths are open to new writers, but depending on your goals and priorities, success will look different to every author.
Before wading into the vast landscape of today’s publishing industry, and particularly before hiring an editor, which is often one of the biggest investments a writer can make in their story, it’s important to get clear on your goals so you can ensure you choose an editor that can align your story with your version of success. Answer these 3 questions before you begin looking for an editor!
1. Are you pursing a Traditional or Independent publishing path for this manuscript?
Assuming you are committed to publishing your story, your first decision should be whether to pursue a Traditional publishing path (through queries, agents, and a publishing house) or publish Independently (usually via an online platform). Thanks to the surge in independent publishing in our current digital world, both paths are now reasonably viable, so your decision should take into consideration some of the most common reasons writers cite for their choice.
Table 1 (below) compares some common Pros and Cons associated with Traditional & Self/Independent Publishing Paths:
| Traditional Publishing | Independent Publishing | |
|---|---|---|
| Royalties (% author takes home from each sale) | Generally Low (10-15%), however publishing houses generally will not accept manuscripts they don’t expect to sell over a specific $ amount, and have a larger distribution area and established promotional networks to lean on | Generally Med-High, however the # of sales the author can make depends on the author’s marketing and networking abilities, or ability to pay for promotional advertising (or for training in this area |
| Editing (costs & control) | Publishing House is responsible for retaining and paying for editors but also gets final say on all changes | Author is responsible to find & hire appropriate editor(s) but also gets final say over changes |
| Cover Design (costs & control) | Publishing House makes all decisions; author often gets little to no input | Author makes all decisions but also finds and pays for the artist |
| Marketing/Promotion (costs & control) | Author often is responsible for their own marketing despite the Publishing House having more resources for this; Publishing Houses will put more effort into marketing for high-value authors who hit high sales numbers. | Author must determine marketing direction and organize promotions OR hire/engage a marketing specialist, OR learn marketing skills to increase their sales and audience, however this is often a far more loyal audience once built |
| Barrier to Entry | HIGH Author generally has to ensure all Story Pillars, Story Anchors and Developmental issues are solid before submitting a story to a publishing house. This usually involves either a Manuscript Evaluation or a full Developmental Edit (or both) Author may need to retain an agent to represent them, as many publishing houses only accept manuscripts from agents | LOW Many free and low-cost online platforms are available for authors to publish their work, and the most popular of these (Kindle, Amazon, iBooks) provide the opportunity to compete alongside traditionally published books without the exorbitant costs of printing physical books. Small Presses are more open to unsolicited manuscripts and have a lower entry bar than major publishing houses; they still require manuscripts be suitable to their brand/audience and have varying standards for acceptance, requiring the author to do targeted research for submission(s). |
| Extended Rights (Foreign language, audiobook, film/tv optioning) & Legal Assisstance | Publishing Houses have designated agents to pursue and close overseas/foreign language deals for your book Publishing Houses will pay for audio book narration, editing and publishing ($$$) (IF they choose to exercise those options | Author is responsible for pursuing any foreign language publishing contracts, audiobook narration and editing arrangements, and securing and/or negotiating any film/tv rights and retaining any legal counsel to do so |
| Summary | ||
| PROS | Once a manuscript is accepted, all editing, cover & printing/formatting costs are covered and controlled by the publisher Publishing Houses often offer an Advance on royalties, providing immediate income (although it's not usually a BIG advance...especially for new writers) Publishing Houses have more distribution relationships and pay for key placement in major bookstores and on key online platforms Publishing Houses will secure foreign and tv/film option payments for authors by allowing film rights to be ‘reserved’ by studios. (Film and TV deals generally materialize only for traditionally published books) Publishing Houses will retain lawyers in the event that a legal case is brought against your book and cover the legal fees involved | Author has full control over all editing changes, the cover design, and how & where the book is marketed, and retains all distribution rights (can re-release or update titles whenever they want) Author takes home a higher royalty on each book (depending on how author prices their books) Author does not need to endure many rejections and/or retain the (usually expensive) services of an agent in order to get their book accepted & published Author can publish as quickly or slowly as they desire; Author makes their own deadlines and is not constrained by the timelines of other author’s projects Author has full control over their career and can pivot, explore other genres, publish under multiple names and/or with multiple publishers and can remain a free and independent agent, unrestricted by terms often included traditionally published authors’ contracts |
| CONS | Author has much less control over their cover design, final editing choices, and is often asked to do some/all their own marketing anyway Author may be restricted by contract terms not to publish with another house, not to self-publish subsequent books in a series, or to write only/mainly in a particular genre Authors ultimately receive a lower % of each sale in royalties Author may not be able to release as many books as quickly as they want, or vice versa, due to the Publishing House’s deadlines and process. Author may have difficulty recovering the publishing rights from a Publishing House (even if the book is ‘out of print’ and not selling!) to update or re-release the story Authors may spend years and hundreds or thousands of dollars on writing workshops, courses, book coaching and/or editing before their book is accepted by an agent or Publishing House Authors may experience rejections that are: 1. Unrelated to the quality of their story 2. Unclear; don’t suggest why the story was rejected 3. Discriminatory (against author or content) 4. Related to the Publishing House not being interested in marketing the book (niche/cross genre; controversial/traumatic situations or representations; rejecting with lines like ‘we already have a book like that on our list’ or ‘this doesn’t fit with current trends') | Author must be able to find, evaluate & hire any experts (editor, cover designer, marketer) to complete tasks they are not skilled in, OR obtain the resources to learn and execute these skills themselves Author is financially responsible for all expert’s (editor, designer) services and marketing/publishing/audiobook costs Author is personally or (if they have set up an LLC or incorporated a business) otherwise responsible to respond to an financially cover any legal cases or costs incurred by their work. Author must pursue international/foreign language publishing rights on their own, if they wish (without a Publishing House’s connections) Author may have difficulty navigating options or offers if they are approached by film or TV producers, or need to retain counsel and cover these costs Authors are competing against traditional Publishing Houses and their high ‘quality’ bar (books usually go through at least 3 levels of editing and 4 pairs of eyes before hitting the shelves) and often need to budget for professional services to ensure their book can at least match this standard (as readers have come to expect it and publishing a book edited for the lowest cost on platforms like Fiver or Upwork can risk an author’s reputation if enough readers review it poorly) |
Give serious thought to what you want out of your publishing experience before hiring an editor. Choosing a publishing path and getting clear on your goals and what is most import for you to achieve with this story is critical to determining what type of editing your story needs, and how you should best budget your time and resources.
Overall, writers who feel they want more direct control over the editing & publishing process, or have a limited budget tend to choose Independent Publishing. Writers who prefer an established publishing house manage most of the editing and production process so they can focus solely on writing, or writers who want the status or distribution placement only a publishing house can offer tend to choose a Traditional path to publishing.
There are also Hybrid writers who publish both Traditionally and Independently, but this requires being published somewhere first, of course! Once you have been published, there are ways to use your first publishing success to leverage success on the other path, though that is beyond the scope of this guide.
If you feel, partway through one publishing path, that it isn’t right for you, it’s always possible to reassess and redirect your path. In these cases, a writer with strong evaluation skills who can pinpoint specific Story Problems and identify a suitable and affordable expert to address them is able to pivot paths with greater ease. However, it can be expensive and time consuming to change publishing directions after you’ve started because optimizing your cost and time investments looks different for each path.
Writers aspiring to publish Traditionally should prioritize Developmental Editing. Publishing Houses (even small ones) have thousands of manuscripts to choose from and all the resources to “clean up” a manuscript with in-house line and copy editors. Traditional publishing won’t accept a new manuscript that does not already fit certain foundational story criteria, including clear marketability to their established readers. Attracting an agent or editor to accept your manuscript will depend on the quality of your Story Pillars and Story Anchors, and how well (and to who) you can pitch and/or query your story.
Writers aspiring to publish Independently face the challenge of ensuring their book crosses the ‘industry standard’ bar with only their own resources. They are best served by Manuscript Assessments and specifically targeted editing passes. Learning their strengths and weaknesses as a writer and acquiring the ability to navigate the editing market well are two of the best skills a writer focused on Independently publishing can develop. They often learn complimentary skills to reduce their outside costs while developing the evaluation skills necessary to hire experts to fill their biggest skill gaps. Balancing a budget against individual income or personal goals for each book is tricky — especially for a debut book — but identifying high quality potential in emerging & lower-cost experts or finding an expert who can deliver value that visibly increases your story’s income potential is critical to Independent publishing success.
2. What does ‘success’ mean for you (for this story), and what skill gaps and/or limiting factors will affect your pursuit of success?
Is your goal primarily:
- Financial: My book needs sell a certain amount of copies or make a certain amount
- Integrity/Control-based: I want final say on any/all changes, edits, or design & marketing decisions OR I want full control over my intellectual property
- Status-Based: I want my book to be published by a particular publishing house/be distributed a particular way
- Goal-oriented: I want someone else to manage everything about publishing so I can write something else OR I just want to get published and I’m not picky about how
- Something else?
Determining ‘success’ is the first step to achieving it and begins with understanding what is important to you as a writer. Why did you write this story? What does it mean to you? What emotions or needs are behind your desire to share it with others through publishing? The answers to these questions may orient you in favor of one publishing path or the other.
If your heart is set on being traditionally published, the goals you will set to achieve that success may require accepting the realities of the high barrier to entry set by publishing houses. You may need to focus on mindset goals, make network connections, be willing to concede final say on changes to your manuscript or accept a cover you dislike to reach ‘success’.
If you love the idea of having full intellectual control of your work, and taking on the challenge of self-publishing, you’ll need to develop excellent evaluation skills to fill your skill gaps, understand that your resources will always be more limited than those of the publishing houses you are competing with, and find the strength and fortitude to be your own boss and manage your career to reach ‘success’.
Your ability to reach your publishing goals will also be affected by limiting factors and skill gaps.
Limiting factors are any resource a writer does not have in infinite supply and must therefore manage frugally. Time, money, focus, skills, attention and (lack of) connections can all be limiting factors for a writer seeking publishing success. The smart writer determines their most limiting factor and uses other resources to increase their potential for success. For example, a writer wanting to self-publish may have connections for cover design and marketing help but have a limited budget. A writer wanting to traditionally publish may be excellent at self-editing but lack the network to connect with an editor or agent or be unskilled in writing query letters, so their manuscript is never requested.
It’s important to be aware of your limiting factors so you can choose realistic goals and make wise time, money and attention investments towards them. If money is a more limiting factor for you than time, you may want to spend more of your time before spending money to fill a skill gap. If you do not have much attention to spend on editing or marketing, you may choose to spend more money on these skill gaps to save your focus. Learning to balance your resources will help you avoid wasted resources and ensure you do not accidentally spend beyond your resources.
Every writer has skill gaps; there are no perfect writers. Even editors send their own work to other editors for critique! If you are headed for a traditional publishing career, you may focus on mastering story development skills, since your publishing house will handle much of the line and copy editing. If you plan to independently publish, you may find yourself developing many non-writing skills in order to manage your author career. However, unless you plan to spend more time learning ancillary skills than writing, learning how to find and hire experts to fill your skill gaps can save you time and focus that is better spent on writing your next book!
Honest self-evaluation (without inducing imposter syndrome!) is important: if you know what you are good at and where you need a different expert to address a problem will bring you closer to success. Having a good idea of your skill level, abilities and capabilities will help you prioritize how you should spend your time, energy and budget. Pinpointing your weak areas and understanding your limiting factors will help you balance your resources to address your skill gaps.
3. What are your Story Anchors?
Whether you’re a planner, a pantser or follow your own unique creative process, your story ideas always begin somewhere. Inspiration is everywhere, there is usually a small handful of core ideas, concepts or situations that underlie the foundational pillars of your story. These are your Story Seeds, and they often speak to why are you writing this story and what you want your readers to REALLY love about it.
Your story anchors might be several “what if” thoughts that coalesced into a whole within your story, or a few specific images or scenes the story is built around. One story anchor might be a particular magic system, environment, relationship(s) or identity you are exploring in your work. Sometimes an anchor is less definable and involves an atmospheric or stylistic “feeling” you want to immerse your readers in; sometimes a story anchor is a unique twist or trope/convention subversion that raises questions you want to leave with them once they turn the last page.
Pinning down your story anchors; the handful of things that make your story uniquely your own, and being able to clearly define, in a sentence or two, why each one is vital to your story will help you determine ‘good’ feedback for your story (at any level of editing). If you understand the unalterable essence that is the core of your story, it will improve your ability to determine your story needs, find an editor that will align your story with success, and help you judge the level and quality of professional feedback you receive so you can make informed choices about suggestions, revisions or changes & answer any questions an editor may ask before they take on your manuscript.
Your story seeds can help you specify which parts of your story you are most concerned about, so you can choose an editor who shares those concerns. If inducing a ‘gothic’ feel to a fantasy world is one of your story anchors, you can look for an editor who is familiar with maintaining this type of consistency and well-versed with examples of how other books have built a similar reader experience. If your story is built around a thoughtful trope or convention subversion, you may want your editor to be experienced in reader expectations around that trope.
Once you are clear on these three questions, you are ready to begin diagnosing your story needs and navigating the editorial process!