Vanity: Do I Really Need an Editor?

self | today | Grannyx4

[Vor Lady]

This is for any of you Freepers who have published books. I am done with the first 400 of hopefully 500+ pages of a novel. I'm wondering if I really do need an editor to get the thing published. I talked to a local person who advertises as an editor and she quoted me a rate of $3.00-$5.00 PER PAGE! Is that normal? Reasonable? All I think I need is someone to tell me if it is in the right format to submit to a publisher; does that really cost $1200-2000? I have had several friends read it over for errors and I have spell checker; grammar checker and my self reading it over for errors. What do you think? I would appreciate ANY help! Thanks in advance, Grannyx4

[Vor Lady]

Help!

[jdm]

What about an e-book in Adobe Acrobat (just a thought).

[coconutt2000]

A good editor can really enhance the quality of the work.

[JLS]

You need an agent. If the agent can sell your book to a publisher, the publisher will assign it an editor. Others may differ but I don't see a reason for an editor before then.

[Sloth]

I have no knowledge of such things, but I'll bump the thread for you. $5 a page certainly sounds very high.

[Vor Lady]

I am not sure what an e-book is? Is that where I post it on the web?

[Vor Lady]

Many thanks for the bump!

[Jeff Head]

I self published my:

Dragon's Fury Series

... and I did it using LightningSource.com.

Good friends here on FR helped edit it...but a number of errors still crept through. NIce thing about self publishing is that you can update it at your will and leisure.

That company gets you onto Amazon, Barnes & NNObles, and several others. They take PDF format.

[coconutt2000]

How about you give her three chapters to work on?

[kingu]

What subject?

Fiction or fantasy - if it is either, you'll want to secure a known editor who has edited previously published novels for the industry. They'll usually list which books - if the book is published by a company you want to print your book, they're the ones to hire.

Odds are that you'll never get a publishing company to look at your manuscript. Cover letters to get them to look at a synopsis, and then if you win the publishing lottery, they'll ask for a manuscript and then, if you're really lucky, they'll read it.

Nonfiction is a much different matter. There it matters who has read your manuscript. History topic? Make sure you get someone noted in the field to review it. Science? Backup in a peer review journal.

[Vor Lady]

Have you published before? Does the agent care if it is in the 'right' format? I have the dummies book on publishing but I haven't tried all the tactics. IE, getting a well-known to endorse it, etc.

[aft_lizard]

I heard somewhere that you also need to come up with your own cover art, helps sell your book to the publisher.

[atomicpossum]

If you're looking for critique, look around for a writing workshop, either real-world or online. You can get a lot of feedback and provide it to others, as well.

If you're just looking for info on how to format your work for submission, you can look around online for various publisher's submission guidelines, or go to the library and check out books like the Writer's Market current edition. This will help, as well.

[Vor Lady]

I'm not sure how to classify it. It is sort of a combination biography, autobiography, thriller type, but the protagonist is a woman so I could exploit that if I could bring myself to pandering to Oprah. Except for the true parts it's all fiction!

[republican4ever]

Yes, you do need an editor. It does not matter how many times you read and re-read your own work, you will be blind to your own mistakes and inconsistencies. Friends and relatives may not be objective enough and spellcheckers at times cannot recognize errors such as using a word that is correct in itself in the wrong context.
Shop around for the best rate, usually given by word.
I am a copyeditor, so I know what I am talking about.
Good luck!

[Vor Lady]

Thanks so much for this info!! I will definitely read it!

[Jeff Head]

It is a very hard and long road to find an appropriate agent and then have that agent get a publishing contract.

I decided to take the bull by the horns and do it myself.

Had a lot of help from friends...and I would recommend having several friends proof it...and then when you are sure you have it perfect...do it again with some different friends. I had several sets of eyes looking at it independently and some errors still crept in which my customers pointed out and then I fixed as I went along.

Put out Five individual volumes that way...each one well over 400 pages. And then did a large hardback edition which contained them all.

Best of luck. It's certainly not easy...but it is a lot of fun.

[Vor Lady]

Well that will be a challenge! I'm craft and art impaired!

[HitmanLV]

Yes, it's very difficult to self-edit. You should get an agent, and your agent will shop your book around to an editor, who will help you make the book better and publish it for their banner.

[Vor Lady]

Where on-line? I've checked here and the colleges in town offer them, but the caveat is that you have to be a student; unless there are others I haven't found yet....