Book Editor Services for Self-Publishers.
Book editor services vary between sentence-level edits and content-level. An example of a sentence-level editing service would be copy editing. An example of a content-level book editing service would be developmental editing.
What Exactly Does Book Editor Services Provide?
Let’s take a look at an example of errors found in editing. Many are hidden! Can you spot the book editing errors?
EXAMPLE
“Allen turned toward the window, leaning his forehead against the windowpains, and sighed loudly. He concentrated on the birds chattering and singing outside in the beautiful, oak trees hopping from branch to branch.
“Hay, you all right?” Phyllis whispered. “Allan?” She patted her hand gently on his back, than more firmly as he didn’t respond. It was just the two of them in the old mansion that was so isolated in the countryside. His despair seemed to peak her curiosity.
“I’m okay, just . . .” David squeezed his eyes shut as tears threatened. “I can’t bare it, Phyllis.”
Suddenly, Becky put a knife into his spine and he crumbled to the floor. “You dirty scum sucking louse double-crosser!” she said stepping back. Outside, the birds didn’t notice, their birdsong never faulted.”
Editor Service Review:
- Wait, what? He leaned his forehead against the windowpain? Can windows feel pain? Hmm, maybe panes?
- No comma should be between beautiful and oak.
- Were the birds hopping from branch to branch? It reads like the trees were hopping from branch to branch…
- Allen or Allan? Or are there three people there? No, there’s two, it said so!
- Why would she bring up hay? Perhaps the author meant ‘Hey?’
- Of course, the author should have ‘then’ rather than ‘than.’
- ‘That was’ is not necessary (…in the old mansion that was so isolated in the countryside).
- No, no, no. His despair piqued her curiosity, not peaked.
- He can’t bare what, his back because his shirt is on? Surely, the author meant ‘bear.’
- Who’s Becky? You thought there were just two people there. Where’s Phyllis when this happens, why hasn’t she said anything? It slowly dawns on you that at some point, the author must have changed the character’s name from Becky to Phyllis but didn’t get them all replaced.
- And why didn’t the author say, ‘…plunged a knife into his back’? ‘Put’ is too passive.
- What does louse double-crosser mean? He has lice? He has betrayed lice? Maybe it should be lousy? And shouldn’t scum sucking be hyphenated? And how about some commas, huh?
- Birdsong never faulted? Does the author mean the birdsong never faltered?
It’s Clear When a Book Never Received Editor Services (Book Editor Services)
As a reader your flow has been interrupted, you’re annoyed, and the sound of the book slamming down on the coffee table is loud and final.
The author didn’t hire an editor, methinks.
Hiring an editor may turn your do-it-yourself book project into an expensive undertaking, but if your goal is to sell books, editing costs are part of your business risk.
While the example above is extreme, even well-written, proofread books need fresh eyes and a polish before their debut. Even if you’re an experienced writer, a professional touch will make the difference between a good book and a great book.
Book Editor Services Offer:
An editor offers an impartial, third-party perspective.
Friends and family members know your quirks, idiosyncrasies and character flaws; they are not objective readers and they probably already have heard parts of your story. They do not want to hurt your feelings or blunt your enthusiasm by reporting errors or syntax issues. An editor has a business relationship with you and it’s their job to report problems in your book.
An experienced editor has worked with a wide selection of authors and manuscripts.
Your editor has already worked through problems on several books similar to yours. Even if your story is unique, your tone, format and general direction probably are not. An editor who has worked on 20 memoirs (or carpentry guides, travel books, romance novels, business guides, self-help books, etc.) before yours is well-equipped to help you avoid clichés and keep your story flowing.
A professional editor has an unsurpassed trained eye.
If you’ve written several books and truly are a good writer, you’ll still be impressed by the perspectives of someone who has worked on hundreds of books. Do you want training, inspiration, and a critique on the highest level? If so you’ll ask a professional editor.
If you choose to go the traditional publishing route, agents and publishers won’t deal with a rough draft.
To demonstrate you’re worthy of being published, don’t hand over a stack of typos, bloated prose, and grammatical oversights. Publishers are swamped with “good stories.” What stands out for them is good, well-crafted stories that are highly polished, not manuscripts that need work and corrections.
You’ve spent a lot of time writing and researching, but the truth is you’re too close to your story.
You have annoying patterns of speech and character flaws that creep into your work (oh yes, you do – we all do).
You will take weak or missing parts of your narrative for granted because they’re just too familiar. An outside editor with a fresh eye and viewpoint will advocate for your future readers by insisting on clear explanations and authentic personal reactions to the events in your book.
Writing is a Team Effort
Thousands of self-publishing authors believe that writing a book can be done entirely by one person. You’ve slaved over your manuscript for years, checked it through a hundred times. Microsoft Word’s Spelling and Grammar comes up clean.
You’re certain it’s ready for publication. But, producing an exceptional book requires skills that lie beyond the capabilities of even the best writers. Refusing to accept that hiring an editor could add anything to your labor of love, skimping on cover design, or ignoring correct formatting are certain to diminish the quality of your book.
True or False: A good writer doesn’t need Book Editor Services
False. Today, you hear this often since there are more self-publisher writing groups. If you belong to a group that believes it can all be done yourself, don’t listen to them. Find another group with their feet firmly planted in reality.
You want your book to be strong, clean, professional, and appealing. If it will affect readers as you want it to, you must have it professionally edited. There’s never been a text written that didn’t need editing.
By the time you’re finished with countless hours working on your book, you don’t see the words anymore. You can see the ideas — the concepts, arguments, plot, and characters — but not every word on the page or the gaping holes in logic or jumps in style. An editor will. It’s what they’re paid to do.
True or False: I had my friend/spouse/parent/neighbor/high-school English teacher read it through, and they found nothing wrong. I don’t need to spend any money or waste time on a professional editor.
False! Those readers are great to have, of course. The more eyes you run your manuscript past, the better.
But having people who know you well (and don’t want to disappoint you or hurt your feelings) give you critical information about your book is a disadvantage.
A professional editor’s primary connection to the book is the manuscript itself. Your friends and family won’t approach the text with the eye for detail that an editor brings. That’s why you need book editing services.
True or False: An editor loves writing and loves books.
True! Editors are editors because they live for books. Most have been in your shoes and have at least tried to create a book or two. They know what you’re going through and what you’ve been through. The frustration and the joy and the angst of it all is their life too, through their client’s journey and their own.
True or False: One editor is the same as another so I should just find the cheapest one I can.
False. There are different kinds of editors with different skills, and different kinds of editing demand different commitments of time and energy, so cheap isn’t necessarily better. Editing services from the mass market service websites are usually done by people using online apps to quickly go through your book.
They don’t read it themselves and can churn out fifty cheap ‘edits’ a day. Wouldn’t you rather have an editor who’s going to read every word of your book? A professional editor worth their salt loves the job; they love books, writing, words. On their day off, they read books, when they surf the web, they check out new books.
Quality Book Editor Services Is All about Getting an Editor That Cares
That’s the person you want to assess and clean up your masterpiece. A real editor cares about the books they edit and they care about the authors. They are the cheerleader for your book and want it to succeed as much as you do. and will charge more to do a long-term, deep, developmental edit (to improve the manuscript at the fundamental level) than for a simple just-before-publication proofread (looking carefully for punctuation, grammar, and style issues).
The workhorse of the book business is the copyedit and that’s what you want for most books. It should be at a reasonable price ($10–$20 per 1,000 words) and take 1-4 weeks depending on the book and the writing.
As with any other service, you get what you pay for when it comes to editing services. To learn more about a ‘book editor near me‘ check out the link!
Book Editor Services