Adventures in Indie #5: Formatting and Editing

[j_cheney]

Originally published at J. Kathleen Cheney. You can comment here or there.

Back in 2011, I put up some books on Amazon and Smashwords and sold them. I formatted those myself, and while they were adequate, they didn’t look particularly…professional.

For my new forays into self-publishing, I wanted a product that looked better. So I paid someone to do an edit pass and format my books for publication.

There were two reasons for this:

1. I wanted another person’s perspective on the product before I put it out, someone with formatting and editing experience.
2. Learning to format these myself is a steep slope, one I wasn’t willing to climb at the time.

After looking through recommendations from my writers’ groups, I went with an editor I’d met before (at a convention), Rick Fisher at EQP Books (e-Quality Press)

Before I selected them, I looked at some books they’d edited, checked their prices, and discussed with Rick what level of edits I was interested in.

(For example, I was not interested in a “Developmental Edit” or “Content Edit”, which is the kind of edit where they suggest changing a plot point or removing a chapter to tighten things. I was more interested in a “Line Edit”, which is where they’re looking for grammar and clarity issues instead.  It helps to know what you’re looking for before choosing an editor.)

Here’s a great article by Rinelle Grey with Tips for Choosing the Right Editor.

Once I knew that I’d found the right editor, a lot of the same rules will apply in working with him as did with my cover artists:

1. Be Professional.
2. Be Timely. Don’t expect the editor to have your edits done in four days. They have other authors to edit, and other deadlines outside that. So make sure you’ve allotted plenty of time for the editing step. (I usually try to check in with mine before the manuscript is even done to set up a date. I’ve told him my manuscript for Original will get there early- to mid-March. And if I can’t make that date, then I’ll notify him as soon as I can so he can shuffle projects if needed.)
3. Have a good idea how much you can pay. Most professional editors will have prices on their websites. Put that together with how many words you’ll have, and that should tell you whether you can afford them or not.
4. Pay on time…or work out something with them. Don’t stiff your editor.
5. Make sure you let others know if you’re pleased with the work.

Overall, I found that having a professional editor working with me takes a lot of pressure of my mind when releasing a new book. It takes a weight off my shoulder to know that someone else is doing all the niggling little work that makes me batty!

And so far, I’ve been extremely happy with my choice of editor. I will be using them for the foreseeable future!

Next Week: Publishing Software