“How efficient is the self-editing?” asks the writer of the findtheword blog as part of a summary of discussions among editors and publishers during a recent online seminar sponsored by Writer’s Digest University.

Their conclusion: “You always need another clean pair of eyes to read and have some critical inputs about your manuscript.”

But whose eyes? The blogger suggests, “It could be a friend or somebody you pay for.”

The statement is okay as far as it goes, but it stops short of the critical questions you should consider when deciding who should edit your work.

There are two important things to reflect on. First, what do you hope to gain from the process of having someone edit your book? If you want someone to look at your work with a critical eye to make recommendations on how to improve your manuscript, that assumes a set of skills and some detachment on the editor’s part and to offer the kind of feedback you need.

If you chose a friend as an editor detachment can be problematic. Most friends want to be supportive and encourage you. They may hesitate to tell you things about your manuscript because they don’t want to hurt your feelings. I have watched critique groups tap dance around flaws in a member’s works due to the relationships involved. One reason many self-publishing writers seek out professional editors is that the editor can focus on the work and what needs to be done to improve it without interference by personal considerations.

Second, when writers ask friends to edit their work, they often do so expecting nothing more than a quick copy edit. Their friend has good English skills, reads a lot, maybe even has done some writing.  The friend will pick up spelling errors, catch problems with grammar and usage, correct punctuation and spot typos. Voila! Done. The book is ready to publish.

Ah, but there’s more to it than that. An editor should help you develop a higher quality book. It takes a very unusual friend to provide developmental assistance and content editing. A developmental editor can make recommendations on improving the manuscript by adding illustrative detail, suggesting parts that should be cut or moved to make the narrative more coherent or increase the narrative flow. Helping an author with decisions that will shape the draft into a book takes both skill and experience.

So, when you consider who should edit your book weigh carefully whether you have a friend who can do what you need or whether you’d be better served by seeking out a professional editor to guide you through the revision of your manuscript.

If you have never worked with an editor, you may not really understand why you need one. I learned the value of good editing years ago when I began writing for the San Mateo Times, a suburban paper in the San Francisco Bay Area. I was told, “Everybody gets edited.” Fair enough, I thought, but what should I expect? Three great former staffers of The New Yorker magazine provide answers.

Writer Lillian Ross, in her book Reporting said, ‘What most writers need is not another writer but an editor – someone to talk to about their work, someone capable of giving guidance and help without getting in the writer’s way.”

The writer may not see that changes in his manuscript are needed. He has grown comfortable with it as he wrote and he knows what he intended it to say. That familiarity and comfort are exactly why an editor’s fresh eyes are needed. Gardner Botsford, a long-time New Yorker editor explains, “In editing, the first reading of a manuscript is the all-important one. On the second reading, the swampy passages that you noticed in the first reading will seem firmer and less draggy, and on the fourth or fifth reading, they will seem exactly right…But the reader, who will read the thing only once, will find it just as swampy and boring as you did the first time around. In short, if something strikes you as wrong on first reading, it is wrong, and a fix is needed, not a second reading.”

Harold Ross (no relation to Lillian), another long-time editor at The New Yorker, describes the relationship of editor to writer. “Editing should be … a counseling rather than a collaborating task. The tendency of the writer-editor to collaborate is natural, but he should ask himself, ‘How can I help this writer to say it better in his own style.”

So in seeking help from an editor you should expect an adviser who can help you to improve the interest and clarity of your manuscript to provide a better experience for your reader. As I learned at the Times, everyone needs an editor.

As a cook prepares a delicious dish she tastes it to make sure that it is just right. Does it need a bit more spice? Does the sauce need thickening? Editing your writing is a lot like that. You have finished a first draft and you want to make sure that you get it just right. The editing process is the way you do it.

The first stage is sometimes called a substantive edit. It is a macro level look at your first draft. Think of this as a time for revision, literally to see your stories again. Sit down with a pen in hand and read your draft making notes as you go. Ask yourself, “Do my stories communicate what I wanted to communicate in they way I wanted to communicate it?” Some of the things you will want to look for as you read are:

• Does the draft “hang together?” Is it coherent? Are the stories presented in a logically consistent order? If not how might they be better ordered?
• Are there places which might confuse the reader? How might they be revised to produce greater clarity?
• Are there places where you haven’t told the reader everything she will need to know to fully understand your story? If so, which details might you need to add to make your meaning more clear?
• Are there places where you have told the reader too much? Have you gone off on a tangent which has taken you away from the story you wanted to tell? Have you repeated yourself? How will your book flow more smoothly if you cut out some of the excesses?

First, you review the draft yourself then you discuss it with your editor who has also reviewed the transcript of your stories. Together you agree on the clearest and liveliest way to tell your stories.

The second phase of the editing process is a micro edit called a copy edit. The focus here is on the sentence and word level. It is important to copy edit only after the changes made during the substantive edit have been made included in the manuscript. Again, sit down with a pen and make notes on things to be changed. Look for:

• Undesirable / unintended words or phrases
• Errors in content, such as facts or names that are incorrect.
• Sentence level errors such as run-on sentences
• Errors in spelling or punctuation

The goal of a copy edit is to make sure that your manuscript is correct and flows as smoothly as possible before it goes to the printer.

I spoke with a woman yesterday who was completing a draft of a family history. She told me that she and her sister would edit the draft to “keep the cost down.” She explained that both she and her sister have master’s degrees. “I know there will be mistakes in it, but it will be okay for our grandkids.”

That’s certainly a decision that any writer may make. In a today’s publishing environment where digital technology has dramatically reduced the cost anyone can publish a book. A self-publishing author may decide when her book is ready for publication. But that author should seek to make the finished book as professional as possible.

Good editing is an important part of that professionalism. Pulitzer Price-winning author Wallace Stegner who founded the Creative Writing Program at Stanford University once described an editor’s role as, “to keep an author from appearing in public with his shirt tail out and egg on his tie.”

When you have spent months or even years developing a rough draft of a book you may not be able to detect weaknesses, errors or areas which need to be clarified that have become a part of the draft. Editing is more than a good proof reading to check the grammar and spelling. It is a review of the effectiveness with which the author communicates her ideas. Are they organized well, clearly presented and do they flow coherently? Having a set of professional eyes which have not been involved in creating the draft edit can only improve it.

When you build your dream home the final step is to gain the approval of the building inspector to assure that construction is up to code. A professional editor does the same thing for a writer. An author – particularly a novice – is well advised to consider the assurance of a quality manuscript that a professional editor can provide before going ahead without one.

You’re finished or almost finished with the manuscript of your memoir or family history. You know you want some help in editing it. How do you choose the editor for your manuscript? Here are five questions that will help you decide:

1. What kind of editing do I want done?
A content or substantive edit seeks to improve the quality of your manuscript, to make it more coherent, by adding, changing, cutting or reordering elements of the book. The goal is to help you tell your story well. A copy edit focuses on correctness of grammar, syntax, word choice, punctuation and spelling. Both are important, but they are often sold separately and at different rates. Know whether you want one or the other or both and find out what each costs?

2. Is this person someone I’d be comfortable working with?
In some respects this is the most important question. Revising a manuscript can be a very personal and sensitive process. You don’t want someone who makes you feel like you’re back in high school English looking at red marks all over your paper. Get someone who will work collaboratively with you to help you improve your book.

3. What is the editor’s experience?
You’ll want to find out how long the person has been editing and something about the books they’ve edited. Ask for testimonials from clients the editor has worked with.

4. Is the editor familiar with your genre?
In particular you’ll want to make sure that the editor is experienced in your genre. If you want a memoir or family history edited, you don’t want an editor who specializes in self-help or how-to books.

5. Does the editor offer a short consultation or edit to allow you to see how he or she would edit your work? Many editors may offer manuscript evaluation or hourly consultations on a portion of your manuscript. These generally come at a relatively low price and let you get a sense of what you can expect from this person. It will definitely give you an insight as to whether they will be a good fit for you.

A New Service From Stories To Tell

As we have met clients who have come to us already having written a complete or nearly complete draft of their memoir or family history we have found they have some variation of the same question:

People who have already part of our Complete Author’s Program receive unlimited editorial services as part of CAP. Their personal editor gives their draft a thorough, in-depth review making recommendations about their draft’s ideas, organization, completeness, clarity, cohesiveness, purpose, tone, illustrations, framing and goals.

But we realize that many of the people we talk to aren’t ready to become part of the Complete Author’s Program yet. But they could still save countless hours by sharing their work-in-progress with an expert editor. To help these authors hone their drafts, we have created a new service – Manuscript Evaluation.

An expert editor will give your manuscript a thoughtful reading, and call you to discuss these important aspects of your book project:

The feedback you receive from an editor can help you avoid errors, improve quality and speed your draft toward publication.

If you have a draft of your book done or nearly done and would like some editorial guidance and support in finishing and polishing it for publication, contact us about a Manuscript Evaluation. We’ll be happy to help.

When we talk to people who want to create a memoir or family history book, many of them say I have a lot to get finished before I’ll need an editor. The reason indicates a basic misconception of the role of an editor. These novice writers see an editor as the person who “corrects” their errors in mechanics, usage, punctuation and spelling. What they often don’t understand is that copy editing and proof reading are the final step in the editorial process.

An editor’s most important role is in helping the writer to tell her story effectively. This is called a content edit or substantive edit. The editor helps the writer decide, “Do my stories communicate what I wanted to communicate in the way I wanted to communicate it?” Some of the things you will want to look for as you read are:

• Does the draft “hang together?” Is it coherent? Are the stories presented in a logically consistent order? If not, how might they be better ordered?
• Are there places which might confuse the reader? How might they be revised to produce greater clarity?
• Are there places where you haven’t told the reader everything she will need to know to fully understand your story? If so, which details might you need to add to make your meaning more clear?
• Are there places where you have told the reader too much? Have you gone off on a tangent which has taken you away from the story you wanted to tell? Have you repeated yourself? Will your book be clearer if you cut out some excess?

The earlier in the writing process the editor is involved the more she can help the writer create the highest quality manuscript possible. That’s why at Stories To Tell we promise our authors a personal editor from start to finish.

[Over the next few weeks we will be highlighting articles on creating memoirs and family histories added to the Author Tools section of the Stories To Tell Website. Let us know if you find them helpful]

Q: How much help do I need to publish my book?

A: Whether you can do it yourself is determined by the skills you possess or are willing to acquire. At each step of the process of creating your book you can decide whether DIY or working with a professional is the right way to go.

Create Text

1. Write it yourself
2. Record & transcribe text
3. Use ghostwriter to create text

Images

1. Scan & Photoshop images
2. Send to image lab
3. Hire photo editor

Editing

1. Self-edit (NOT RECOMMENDED!)
2. Join a critique group
3. Hire an editor

Book Design

1. Use Adobe InDesign to design book
2. Hire a graphic artist to help
3. Hire a book designer

Publish

For any of these choices you must create files in Adobe PDF format

1. BookSurge or XLibris)
2. Sell Self-publish (limited distribution)
3. Self-publish (commercial press like manuscript to traditional publisher

If you are more interested in completing your book quickly rather than enjoying an extended journey in which you learn and perfect complicated new skills, you will find that using professional help is your best choice.

To read the full article on the Stories To Tell website, click here.