It’s always best to have a clear understanding of whether you are getting real developmental editing or just copy-editing, and to have an agreement before you begin regarding the exact hourly rate and estimate of time to be spent. From the rate (too low for a developmental editor,) the lack of response, and general ambiguity of what you describe, this sounds like a situation where you might be better off to cancel and look elsewhere.

Good luck,

Alan

I’ve asked if she has a relationship with an agent that has connections to a large publishing firm since she was highly enthusiastic about this memoir being highly successful and having a broad appeal. I don’t really know if she is a copy editor or a developmental editor, although comments about an addition I sent her suggest that she is looking at the the anecdote in terms of whether or not it fits in with the objective of the book.

Would a good editor expect to answer these questions for a client?

I’ve just begun the process of learning how to try to get published. Your site and Nathan Bransford’s site have been enormously informative. I signed right up for Publisher’s Marketplace, on your advice. Again, useful site.

Your comments about how publishing has changed since Maxwell Perkin’s time put much into perspective for me, since I’ve been so fixated on how things “used to” work as he did them. I had the opportunity to copyedit/edit/design Maxwell Perkin’s letters to his daughters, when the ms was in Godine’s hands, and I always perk up when his name is mentioned. One of my childhood dreams was to be somewhere in his orb. That was the closest I got–lunch with one of his daughters and hours and hours on the ms–and no pay. (Godine didn’t end up publishing this book; someone else did.) Ah, so my old dream is now truly a dream. Your site helps me figure out how to keep dreaming in the right direction.

Thank you.

If you’re submitting the work to an agent or publisher, you don’t have to hire a copy editor, since that kind of final technical edit falls under the domain of the publisher. Publishers always employ their own copy editors to go over a manuscript very carefully if they decide to publish the book.

If you are self-publishing, I would advise both types of editing. Developmental editing for concept, structure, clarity and literary style, and separate copy editing for the final pre-publication technical read to correct any mistakes of spelling, punctuation, and other details.

So you are not responsible for delivering a copy edited manuscript when submitting to an agent or publisher, only a fully developed manuscript on a literary level, to the best of your ability, with or without the benefits of a free-lance developmental editor. I do recommend you run it through a spell-check, and go over it very carefully yourself, since typos can be embarrassing!

-Alan

Maxwell Perkins was a staff editor at Scribners whose job it was to both acquire and develop books. He wasn’t assigned anyone but rather sought out and signed up the authors he published, just as acquiring editors for big commercial publishing houses do today. In the case of Hemingway, Perkins read his short stories at the suggestion of F. Scott Fitzgerald.

You’re right, though, commercial agents and publishers today are not ordinarily willing or able to do extensive editorial development and expect to see proposals that are ready to complete or manuscripts ready to put into production. Writers do not, however, pay for any costs of development or production once they have a deal, then or now.

Your choice as a writer is whether or not to invest up front in a developmental editor to work page by page on the kind of revision that a good freelancer can provide. Smart writers get professional evaluation and when necessary, detailed, specific suggestions for revision. It’s just a matter of how and when to get it, and my advice is the earlier the better.

-Alan

I am curious if this is the kind of editing that publishers used to provide and have now cut back on. In your Perkins example, did Hemingway, Fitzgerald, and Wolfe hire Perkins, or did Perkins get assigned to them once they were under contract with Scribner? Didn’t this used to be part of the whole publication deal?

I understand that manuscripts have to be well polished to have a chance getting a look from an agent, and that every manuscript would likely benefit from this type of edit. But now it seems the cost is being front loaded onto the author without the warm fuzzy of knowing he’s got a deal. Or has it always been like this? Either way I think the author would pay the cost, out of the proceeds formerly (but with the warm fuzzy) and up front now. Correct me if I’m wrong.

Just looking for some historical perspective.
~jon

Some developmental editors do focus on a particular genre, but I think a good editor can work on any project as long as he or she believes it really has promise, knows how to fix it, and is willing to take the time to go page-by-page with specific detailed corrections and instructions for revision.

I don’t personally specialize in any genre when working as a free-lance developmental editor, but instead always ask to see the work-in-progress, whether it be an outline or draft manuscript, and see if I can be useful.

As a writer trying to figure out which one to choose, you have to research the track-record of a potential editor, get in touch — speak on the phone or meet in person if you can — and consider what words pass between you. Get an estimate of cost…then take a leap of faith, which can always be checked and evaluated along the way.

-Alan

I wonder whether it’s important to choose a developmental editor that specializes in the genre in which you are working. For example, would it be pointless to have a romantic comedy edited by someone who’s good at mysteries or biographies? Also, people have such different preferences and likes/dislikes, is it a consideration that one editor might like your writing style and another might have a problem with your style? How would you know which one to listen to? So many questions . . . .

Your article on selecting an editor was very informative, and it will start me on a path to find a good editor. Thanks for taking the time to post that.

Pam

Thanks for your input!

Bonnie

As a develpmental editor the material I work with is not finished. So I much prefer to start with the early ideas, short story or draft sketches in preparation.

When I work with an author, my initial fee includes the tracked fully edited manuscript plus a cover letter detailing problems and solutions. The initial fee also includes an hour follow-up consultation, and short emails and phone calls.

After that, the author may retain my services to continue editing revisions on an hourly fee basis until the book is finished.

Alan

If the freelance developmental editor is willing to be auditioned for a fee and within a time limit to be agreed, and then you’re happy with that collaboration, by all means go ahead and work together on the full manuscript.

A review of only the first 30 pages, however, won’t have the benefit of the developmental editor’s analysis of the whole work. So that initial evaluation could change.

Alan

I would add that in any initial agreement, writers should set a time limit for completion. This “editor” left me hanging for several months with little input. I take full blame for not having set a completion target date.

My manuscript has been revised and is much improved, thanks to a lot of hard work. I’m considering hiring another editor, at least to review my query letter and first thirty pages. If, at that point we are both happy with our working relationship, I will ask them to consider working on my entire manuscript. Is that a reasonable request?

I don’t always leave a comment, but I appreciate the advice on your blog.

Thanks,
Bonnie

What’s the going rate for this type of editing?

Thanks!