Authors Beware: How to Vet An Editor
How do you know if your editor, writing teacher, or book coach is worth their rates?
Here are three ways how to be sure:
Look Them Up
It’s 100% okay to google the names and business names of the people you’re thinking about hiring.
Check out their social media—TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. This is a great way to see how they interact with writers, authors, and other editors.
It’s really telling how people interact with others, especially when they’re not being paid to interact with them.
Peruse Watchdog Sites
My favorite site is Writer Beware, it’s a website co-founded by Victoria Strauss and sponsored by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writer’s Association (SFWA). They concern themselves with the problems and pitfalls that affect aspiring writers.
They post regularly about literary schemes and scams, along with how writers can protect themselves.
Here are some key articles from them:
An Editing Nightmare—This article is on a (possibly) familiar book coach that makes content on TikTok & Instagram, with evidence and writer’s testimonies in the comments
The Best of Writer Beware 2022—A summary of all the 2022 scams
Outside of the Writer Beware blog, there are vigilantes of writer justice. Here’s a Twitter thread about another editor/book coach you might want to familiarize yourself with—she enraged BookTok in May 2023.
Ask A Potential Editor Questions
Professional editors want you to ask questions. Those who don’t or who beat around the bush are someone to be wary of.
Here are some important questions to ask:
Can you tell me about your editing procedures? – Some editors may tell you what their process is via call or email, while others will send you a form to initial or sign of how they run their business. For example, my editing procedures form covers the software I use, how I’d like you to format your manuscript before sending it over, the details of my services, my editorial process, my basic payment plan, and my working hours.
Do you do sample edits? – Editors will often offer a sample edit. Sometimes they’re free and sometimes there is a fee involved—both are normal. It’s a red flag when they do not offer a sample edit. The sample allows you both to see if you’re a good fit and if you, the writer, like their feedback.
Do you use contracts when working with writers? – A editing contract (also sometimes called an agreement) will lay out the editor’s policies, protect them, protect you, and protect your work. If they don’t have a contract, run. And never give someone money before a contract is signed. Never let someone pressure you into doing anything before you’re ready! And be sure there is a clear list of deliverables (e.g., heavily annotated manuscript, editorial letter, and book map). A professional editor will welcome questions and fix any issues within the contract before you sign.
Do you have payment plans? – Every editor I know and have spoken with offers some sort of payment plan. Some do half up front and half at the end. Some will take a 20% deposit to hold your spot in their calendar, and then you’ll pay 40% at the start and 40% at the end.
Do you have past client references or books that have been published? – Now, new editors will probably not have clients who have published their books (yet!). But what all editors will be able to give you are past client references.
In The End
Editing is a service-based industry in which sizeable sums of money are exchanged for a professional’s time and small sums of money are exchanged for a product or tool.
It’s a weird world out there, so be sure to research, talk with other writers, and if your gut is telling you something is off…trust it.