It is so important that you find the right editor for your book. The question is, how? What kind of editor should you look for? Where should you look? How do you know if she’ll be a good fit for your manuscript? Here, I’ll break down the key things you need to know in order to find yourself an editor that fits your needs and your manuscript.

All editors specialize in two areas: editing level and content genre. Editing levels range from broad edits on the manuscript’s overall structure to specific edits on each sentence’s grammar. Some editors (like me) specialize in multiple editing levels, while others focus on just one level.

Content specialization often goes beyond just fiction or non-fiction. Fiction editors often specialize in specific genres, such as young adult, science fiction, fantasy, romance, thriller, and mystery. Non-fiction editors can also specialize further in areas such as medical, educational, cooking, and self-help writing.

So, before you can start your search, you need to know what your genre is and which level of editing you’re looking for. A lot of modern searches involve online databases, where your success entirely depend on using the right keywords. Using genre and editing levels to focus your keywords can be very helpful.

Of course, I can hardly write this post without also pointing out that I myself am an editor. I provide both story-level and sentence-level editing services for fiction writers and my genres of choice are fantasy, speculative, historical, and literary fiction. If my specializations match what you’re looking for, you can also take a look at my services here and be in touch to see if I would be a right match for you and your manuscript!

Otherwise, here’s what you need to know to start your search for an editor.

Identifying Your Genre

This step is fairly straight forward. You should at least start with the broad distinction between fiction and non-fiction editors. There are a lot of editors out there though, and specifying the genre area further can help you narrow down your search. Besides, the more familiar an editor is with your genre, the better she’ll be able to give you feedback that is relevant to your genre and target audience.

But, of course, genre specializations can blur, and that blurriness can make it harder to know which genre keyword you should focus on. Take the book Twilight by Stephenie Meyer for example. Twilight is a young adult supernatural romance. But what kind of genre specialization would you use as a keyword? Romance, young adult, or supernatural?

You could look for an editor who has experience in all three genres mashed together, but that heightened specificity may be harder to find. Young adult (YA) fantasy is a more common sub-genre. Even though Twilight’s romance elements are somewhat more prominent than is typical in this genre, YA fantasy still has lots of romance conventions and it’s the closest popular sub-genre to compare it to. In this hypothetical, if “YA romance supernatural” hadn’t turned up any viable candidates for Stephenie Meyer, “YA fantasy” may have been her next best bet.

When you have a unique genre mash-up, the key is to start specific to your book’s niche and work your way out to the most similar mainstream genre or sub-genre. Your genre keyword doesn’t have to define your unique story perfectly – it’s just there to point you in the right direction.

The Different Types of Editing

All editing exists on a spectrum from broad structural editing to specific sentence editing. Since editing exists on a spectrum, the lines between each editing level can blur. Still, it’s important for editors to compartmentalize editing levels because it allows their feedback to be more thorough and efficient. There’s no such thing as an all-levels edit that will magically complete your entire editing process perfectly in one pass. At least, if you try to cram all the editing levels together into a single pass or service, you’ll end up with an lower-quality edit. Trust me: when you’re deeply focusing on grammar, your mind isn’t processing the story normally or properly. When you’re reading for the sake of the story, you’re not going to catch all the tricky grammar errors.

That’s why the next keyword you pick should be the type of editor you’re looking for. If you’re looking for an editor but are unfamiliar with the different editing levels, I strongly recommend you give my other posts The Four Levels of Fiction Editing and Which Editing Service Is Best for My Current Writing Stage? a read. They go into much more depth about how the different editing levels work. In short, here are the four levels of fiction editing.

The Four Editing Levels:

• Developmental Editing (also called Structural or Substantive Editing): An edit that addresses the manuscript’s overall structure. For fiction, developmental editing focuses on the story itself – its plot, structure, pacing, setting, character development, narrative techniques, and themes.
• Stylistic Editing (also called Line or Substantive Editing): An edit that addresses sentence-level clarity, coherence, and flow. It’s often combined with copy editing.
• Copy Editing: A technical edit for grammar, spelling, usage, punctuation, basic factual correctness, and editorial style.
• Proofreading: Proofreading occurs after the manuscript has been typeset into it’s final format as a book. It is the final check for grammar spelling, usage, punctuation, and editorial style. It also address the formatting for consistency and readability.

Your story should be completely ready to go before you start sentence-level editing. Story-level editing often involves revising, reordering, or cutting scenes. It’s really inefficient to perfect sentences that you’ll need to remove anyway to address story-level concerns, and any new sentences you add will need to be edited all over again. Ordering your edits inefficiency costs you time when you’re self-editing, but getting the order wrong can cost you money and quality as well when you’re pursuing professional editing.

Also, you may have noticed that the term “substantive” editing can refer to different levels of editing. There aren’t any strict definitions of these terms, so some editors define them in different ways. Be sure you read an editor’s service descriptions carefully so that you know which level of editing the service will cover.

Where to Look

Once you have a clear idea of what you are looking for in an editor, you’re ready to go out and find her. There are many different routes to finding an editor. You just need to know where to look.

Word of Mouth

The first route you can try is simply asking your fellow writing friends if they have any recommendations. You may not know someone who’s had the exact editing services that you are looking for. But if you do happen know someone who has an editor to recommend, that personal testimonial can mean a lot. It also opens the door to asking follow-up questions about what the friend’s experience was like with the editor. Naturally, that information can be very helpful.

Search Engines

Yes, you can use good-old Google (or Bing, or DuckDuckGo) to look for an editor. This is where your choice of keywords is paramount. Just remember to use genre and editing levels to guide your search, and you should find relevant candidates. If you’re looking for a service that can have different names, try a couple searches using the different terms. For example, if you were looking for a story-level edit for supernatural thriller manuscript, you could use the search terms “developmental editor fiction supernatural thriller” or “substantive editor fiction supernatural thriller.” If your genre specification ends up being too specific, just broaden your genre to the most relevant major genre: “developmental editor fiction thriller” or simply “developmental editor fiction.”

Professional Directories

There are many professional editing associations that have online directories of available editors. In some organizations, members simply need to pay to be listed, and other times members need to pass certain criteria as well. These sites often have job boards where you can list your project and have prospective editors contact you directly. Even though their members could be anywhere in the world, these organizations are often regionally based. If you’re looking for an editor specifically in your area, your regional database can help. Here are some of the most prominent editing directories that you can search through:

• Editors Canada
• Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading
• Editorial Freelancers Association
• American Copy Editors Society
• Alliance of Independent Authors

Online Marketplaces for Freelancers

I’m somewhat tentative about this route. Online marketplaces for freelancers such as Upwork and Fiverr are companies that list freelancers who you can hire directly through their website. There is a key difference between online marketplaces and online directories. Online marketplaces are run by for-profit companies, whereas online directories are run by non-profit societies. In online marketplaces, the freelancers not only pay the company to be listed, the company also takes a percentage of the freelancer’s service fees. These companies view the clients as their customers and their freelancers as their products. So, when disputes arise, the company almost always favours the client over the freelancer, regardless of the situation. These sites also function like a race to the bottom, where the only way to get reliable work is to have the lowest price compared to other freelancers. That fact often results in freelancers being drastically underpaid.

In short, online for-profit marketplaces are often a nightmare for professional freelancers. It’s usually far better to cut out the middleman and hire freelancers directly from their personal websites. I recommend searching the non-profit directories above before you search through these for-profit companies.

An Exception

That being said, there is one online marketplace that I have heard good things about: Reedsy. Reedsy is an online freelancer marketplace specifically focused on book publishing. Unlike UpWork or Fiverr, Reedsy vets their listed professionals. The company structures their search system based on genre and editing levels, not on price point. The website is structured to emphasize finding quality services to match your needs, rather than finding the cheapest service possible. My editing colleagues that I’ve talked to about Reedsy have found it to be a constructive platform for their business. As far as online marketplaces go, Reedsy is the place to look for editing professionals.

A Final Note on Fit

So, you’ve found a professional that has the services and specialisms that you need. How do you figure out if this editor will be a good fit for you? First, assessing the editor’s education, experience, and testimonials should give you a good idea of the quality of the editor’s services. But when it comes to stylistic editing, there’s something else that you should consider when it comes to good fit: the editor’s personal approach and style.

Subjectivity in a Stylistic Edit

In stylistic editing (which is often combined with copy editing), the editor addresses issues in clarity, coherence, and flow. While the issues at hand can be quite object, there are endless potential solutions to any given stylistic issue. Take for example this sentence from Twilight:

The first male into the clearing fell back immediately, allowing the other male to take the front, orienting himself around the tall, dark-haired man in a manner that clearly displayed who led the pack.

This sentence has a clarity issue around the pronouns. Which person is the word “himself” referring to: the first or second man? Which of the two is the tall, dark-haired one exactly? If you think about it long enough, you can figure out what the author likely intended this sentence to mean. The sentence still trips up the reader though.

There is an objective issue here, but there are endless potential ways to rephrase the sentence to make it clearer. The solution is more subjective. Here are some potential solutions:

• The first male into the clearing fell back immediately to allow his tall, dark-haired companion to take the front. From the first man’s positioning, it was clear which one led the pack.
• The first male into the clearing fell back immediately, allowing the tall, dark-haired male to take the front in a manner that clearly displayed who led the pack.
• The first male into the clearing fell back immediately, allowing the tall, dark-haired male to take the front. It was clear who led the pack.
• The first male into the clearing fell back immediately. The way that the first male oriented himself around his tall, dark-haired companion made it clear which male lead the pack.

I could go on, but I think you get my point. All good editors will try to mimic the author’s writing style when recasting sentences. Whenever I make major edits like this, I add a comment explaining the original issue to the writer. That way, he can tweak my sentence if he feels I’ve lost his voice. But even though the editor’s goal is to maintain the author’s voice as much as possible, the editor’s own writing style will inevitably seep through. That’s why part of finding the right fit in a stylistic and copy editor is making sure that her editing style matches your writing style.

That’s why, before hiring a stylistic and copy editor, it’s a good idea to pursue a sample edit. That way, you can see if the editor’s approach matches your style. Many editors provide a small sample edit for free. If so, be sure to take them up on that offer!

Summing Up

Any search for an editor should start with defining your genre and figuring out which editing level you’d like to pursue. Once you know what you’re looking for, you can search these sources to find an editor: a friend’s recommendations, search engines, professional directories, and online marketplaces. Be careful with online marketplaces though, as many don’t treat freelancers well and are structured to prioritize cost over quality. Once you find a likely candidate, the editor’s education, experience, and testimonials can help you assess the quality of her services. For a stylistic and copy edit, it’s also important to pursue a sample edit when possible to ensure that the editor’s approach and editing style suits your own writing style.