How to Find and Hire a Developmental Editor
You’ve decided that you want to hire a developmental editor to assist with your article or book manuscript. Congratulations! This is a great step to helping you achieve your writing goals in what will likely be an easier process than if you did it alone (trust me on this as someone who did it alone myself!).
If you aren’t quite sure what developmental editors do, start with this blog post. As a quick reminder, developmental editors help you think through the big-picture issues related to your manuscripts. They read with an eye to argument, structure, organization, voice, and narrative flow. Most will also focus on specific issues that you identify in your writing. Developmental editors work with writers at all stages of the process, whether it’s advising on how to revise a dissertation into a book to reviewing a full manuscript to editing an article. Some developmental editors also provide coaching services, meeting to help you talk through your ideas for your manuscript or to help set writing goals and keep you on track.
There are a lot of places you can go to find an academic editor. Searching for one online will turn up lots of websites. I suggest looking at several of these to get a sense of the range of services that editors offer. It’s also a great idea to ask colleagues for recommendations. Your colleagues can give you a sense of how their editors work and what they like about them. Another source is the Editorial Freelancers Association (EFA), which is one of the major professional associations for editors in the U.S. Their member directory allows you to search for editors based upon their specialty (developmental editing, copyediting, etc.) as well as their subject area. Most of their profiles provide information about their backgrounds and services as well as links to their websites. The EFA also allows you to post to a job board, which is sent to their members. That is a good way to hear from a lot of editors (like, really, a lot. A friend told me she got 80 responses to her job posting). Finally, if you already have a book contract, your acquisitions editor may be able to recommend developmental editors to you as well.
Once you have some candidates in mind, here are some things you’ll want to think about when hiring an editor:
What kind of editorial support do you need? Developmental editors provide different kinds of feedback at different stages in a project and not all editors provide the same services. So before you start the process of hiring an editor, think about the kind of help that you need. As I said above, if you are in the early stages of the project or have a full manuscript that you feel needs some major work, developmental editing is likely the right choice. If the manuscript is complete and in fairly good shape, but you think the writing needs polishing (help with transitions, flow, organization, etc.), you might hire a substantive editor (also known as a line editor). Many, but not all, developmental editors provide these services as well. If the manuscript is in good shape, but you need help with grammar, punctuation, and consistency, consider hiring a copyeditor. Note that some of these editing categories can overlap: watch for a future post that explores them more fully. The basic idea is, before you hire a developmental editor, make sure that this is the kind of editorial support that you need at this time. Any potential editors who you talk with should also be able to help you determine what kind of editorial support you need.
What’s your budget? Be realistic about how much you are able to spend on this project. You want to be open and honest with an editor about your budget because this can help them advise you on the level of intervention that they can provide. For example, if your budget is tight, you might ask them to do a full manuscript evaluation. This generally involves them reading your manuscript and then providing detailed feedback in the form of an editorial letter (and sometimes marginal comments). If you have more funding, you might add a line edit where they engage with the text using track changes. This is much more time consuming and therefore more expensive. If you’re worried about your budget and work at a college or university, check with your institution to see if they have funding that supports this kind of work. Many have small grants that can be used for editorial support.
Developmental editors charge in different ways. Some, like myself, charge hourly. Others charge a project rate, quoting a flat fee for your project. Most editors should be able to give you an estimate of the cost of your requested work if you share a portion of the manuscript with them. Remember, as independent contractors, editors’ fees don’t just cover their salaries, but they also use them to pay for Medicare and social security, federal and state taxes, health insurance and so on. They also provide valuable expertise. This is all to say that editing is not cheap. You can get a sense of the cost based on the EFA’s average rates (note that many developmental editors charge more than this, depending on their expertise). This discussion of cost is not meant to scare you away, but rather to emphasize the importance of knowing your budget so that your editor can advise on how to best meet your needs while working within it. Many editors are also willing to set up payment plans to help you meet your financial needs.
What’s your timeline? Along with budget, your timeline can help inform the kind of editorial intervention that would be best for you. If your book manuscript is due to a publisher in a month, you likely won’t have time to implement large global edits. But if you have a year to refine your book, a full manuscript review and a later line edit could be helpful. If you are just starting out, you might want to set deadlines throughout the next year for when you will be sending your editor chapters. Working together over time would allow you to think through the book together. Be realistic about your timeline as well as your other commitments to help you best determine what you can realistically accomplish. Note that many editors’ schedules fill up several months in advance so it’s a good idea to start looking for an editor before you actually need one.
What sort of interactions with an editor do you think would be helpful? Would you prefer solely receiving written feedback or would you like this to be combined with oral feedback as well? Do you think that regular meetings to talk about your work would be helpful? Do you want someone who will just read your full manuscript or are you looking for support as you write your book? Trying to answer these questions will help you figure out if the various editors who you are looking for will be able to meet your needs.
******
Once you have thought through these issues and have located a few potential editors, it’s a good idea to ask to meet with them. You’ll want to talk over the above topics, and this is a chance for you to ask them about their experience, background, and approach to editing. Many academic editors have PhDs so you may want to select one who is familiar with your subject area or who has experience working in it. Beyond qualifications, also think about how you feel with this person. Do you feel comfortable talking with them? Do they seem like someone you would want to work with and who will be respectful of you and your writing? Do they seem like they will be able to deliver thoughtful critiques? Talking to reference can also provide helpful insight into how an editor works. Being sure that the editor feels like a good match is important to ensuring that you are comfortable with them and confident that they will be able to improve your manuscript. You are going to share writing that you have put a lot of effort into so being confident that the person on the other end will handle it with respect and care is extremely important.
Once you’ve decided which editor you will hire, you will likely talk together to work out the scope of the work and the focus of the editing. This is a chance for you to convey challenges that you are facing in your writing and the types of interventions you think will be most helpful for you. Make sure that your editor is willing to document these decisions in writing so that you both will have it to refer back to. This will also help you both check that you are on the same page. Sometimes the editor will provide a formal contract or a letter of agreement. Whatever the case, review this carefully and make sure it lays out clearly everything you have agreed upon (type of editing, deadlines, scope of the editor’s work, etc.). If something doesn’t seem correct, discuss it before you sign.
Congratulations! Once you’ve hired an editor, you’ve taken a big step towards bringing your manuscript closer to publication. You may have also started a relationship that could continue for years and over multiple manuscripts. Writing can be a lonely process so having helpful support is a wonderful thing that can make the entire process easier. Happy writing!
Like this post? Consider subscribing to my blog below!
