{"id":21661,"date":"2019-06-25T03:01:43","date_gmt":"2019-06-25T10:01:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/?p=21661"},"modified":"2019-06-28T23:11:48","modified_gmt":"2019-06-29T06:11:48","slug":"how-to-spot-a-professional-editor-telltale-signs-that-your-editor-is-a-professional-by-mary-neighbour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/2019\/06\/25\/how-to-spot-a-professional-editor-telltale-signs-that-your-editor-is-a-professional-by-mary-neighbour\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Spot a Professional Editor: Telltale Signs That Your Editor Is a Professional by Mary Neighbour"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"How<\/a>Please welcome back guest author Mary Neighbor<\/a> as she shares with us “How to Spot a Professional Editor: Telltale Signs That Your Editor Is a Professional.” Enjoy!<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

\"How<\/a>\u201cI\u2019ve already wasted thousands of dollars on my first editor, and now I find typos and problems with the organization!\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

All too often,<\/strong> a client brings his manuscript to me for an edit after being let down by a previous editor.<\/strong> This scenario upsets me as much as it upsets the author. But I also understand that it can be difficult for a writer to spot a professional vs. a well-intended freelancer, so I want to share twenty ways to tell if your editor is a professional\u2014and worth every penny you spend.<\/span><\/p>\n

Telltale Signs<\/h2>\n

Because a professional editor needs to know a great deal about the minutia of words<\/strong>, sentences, paragraphs, and storytelling, there are countless ways to spot a professional. In a nutshell, however, a professional editor makes your stories, your words, your books the best they can be. Here are twenty ways she does that:<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. She demonstrates that she understands the heart and soul of your manuscript, as well as its intended readership. <\/span><\/li>\n
  2. She can assess your authorial \u201cvoice\u201d (style), and her edits are consistent with it. <\/span><\/li>\n
  3. She knows which style guide is appropriate for your manuscript and has previously worked in your genre.<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. She will provide you with references.<\/span><\/li>\n
  5. She values consistency and continuity. <\/span><\/li>\n
  6. She applies the rules of a single style guide (e.g., the Chicago Manual of Style).<\/span><\/li>\n
  7. She maintains a style sheet while working. <\/span><\/li>\n
  8. She identifies problems\u2014grammatical, structural, or stylistic\u2014and offers positive, constructive solutions.<\/span><\/li>\n
  9. She queries authors about their intentions. <\/span><\/li>\n
  10. She really, really understands commas; she admires the way punctuation helps writers control the story.<\/span><\/li>\n
  11. She knows the difference between affect and effect, lay and lie, and other commonly confused words.<\/span><\/li>\n
  12. She spots and corrects misused homophones (to\/too; heal\/heel; their\/they\u2019re; etc.)<\/span><\/li>\n
  13. She consistently applies the rules about representing numbers in text.<\/span><\/li>\n
  14. She flags redundancy and repetition.<\/span><\/li>\n
  15. She knows the difference between a minus sign, a hyphen, an en dash, and an em dash\u2014and when to use each.<\/span><\/li>\n
  16. She spots and corrects tense shifts in verbs, dangling modifiers, and passive voice.<\/span><\/li>\n
  17. She capitalizes \u201cIs\u201d in titles and headers; she corrects inconsistent capitalization.<\/span><\/li>\n
  18. Her comments on the text demonstrate expertise and insight.<\/span><\/li>\n
  19. She listens well and demonstrates patience.<\/span><\/li>\n
  20. She laughs out loud watching <\/span>Victor Borge\u2019s phonetic punctuation<\/span> for the fifth time. <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    What a Professional Editor Is <\/b>Not<\/i><\/b><\/h2>\n
      \n
    1. She is not a school marm, who applies grammar rules learned in the fourth grade. <\/span><\/li>\n
    2. She is not merely good at solving crossword puzzles. <\/span><\/li>\n
    3. She is not a journalist or other writer whose work is edited by others. <\/span><\/li>\n
    4. She is not simply an avid reader. <\/span><\/li>\n
    5. She is not a self-published author who edited her own work and now can\u2019t understand why her book doesn\u2019t sell or win awards.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      \"How<\/a>Tip<\/b>: A good way to assess an editor\u2019s competence in the areas enumerated above is to negotiate a sample edit\u2014and throw in a few curve balls so you can see if she spots errors and problems.<\/span><\/p>\n

      Recommended<\/b>: Shop around for an editor. Give each candidate the same sample and compare the results. Factor in your comfort level with each person.<\/span><\/p>\n

      Next week in this series: \u201c10 Questions to Ask a Prospective Editor.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

      The following week: \u201cIndustry Standards for Cover Design.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

      ***<\/p>\n

      ABOUT THE AUTHOR<\/h2>\n

      \"Mary<\/a>Some call Mary E. Neighbour<\/strong> a \u201cbook shepherd,\u201d though Mary wields a blue pencil far more expertly than a herding rod. For the past ten years, she and her husband have helped dozens of writers bring their manuscripts to the marketplace, through <\/span>MediaNeighbours<\/span><\/a>, their publishing services business. <\/span><\/p>\n

      Passionate about helping authors make their work shine in the world, with a combined professional expertise of over 50 years in editing and design, this family team is one you\u2019ll want to adopt as your guide through the challenging world of independent publishing. <\/span><\/p>\n

      Mary\u2019s other passion is learning about the history of slavery and how it impacts race relations today. She incorporated much of her research into her novel, <\/span>Speak Right On: Conjuring the Slave Narrative of Dred Scott<\/span><\/i><\/a>.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

      ***<\/p>\n

      Other articles by Mary Neighbour:<\/h3>\n

      How to Spot a Professional Editor: Editing Terms You\u2019ll Want To Know by Mary Neighbour<\/a><\/p>\n

      How to Spot a Professional Editor: Industry Standards for Editing by Mary Neighbour<\/a><\/p>\n