| How to Find Your Editor | | | | anyone but the most committed of researchers. |
| To land a great literary agent you MUST stand | | | | Searching for a good manuscript editor online |
| out from the pack and not give the agent, or her | | | | takes some perseverance - most of the top |
| assistant, any reason to automatically toss your | | | | results for any given search will be the large |
| pages into the rejection pile. | | | | services I warn about below. That said, I recently |
| Some writers need editorial help to get there; | | | | surveyed all of the clients I've worked with in the |
| some don't. If you decide to hire an independent | | | | last five years, and, to my surprise, found that |
| editor to help you prepare your manuscript for | | | | more than a few said they'd found me through a |
| submission, follow these handy guidelines for | | | | google search. Now, the highest I can find my site |
| finding the editor who is right for you - and for | | | | without actually typing in "Murdock Editing" is about |
| your manuscript. | | | | the 13th page in, so...grain of salt. |
| DO: | | | | DON'T: |
| 1. Put up an ad. There are lots of websites where | | | | 1. Pick the first ad that pops up. Finding the right |
| you can place an ad for an editor. Some will | | | | editor takes research - trust me, it's worth your |
| charge you fees; some won't. You can try | | | | time. |
| getafreelancer.com, guru.com, or to name a few, | | | | 2. Use a big faceless service. I'm not going to |
| but I honestly recommend you take the easy | | | | name names, but you can find some of the |
| route: craigslist.org. It's free for you and your | | | | offenders yourself by taking a scroll through the |
| editor, and TONS of quality freelancers regularly | | | | Preditors and Editors database. Many of these |
| use craigslist listings to connect with potential | | | | larger, corporate-looking editorial services - the |
| clients. Beware of a few things if you do place an | | | | ones that have no actual editor name and face |
| ad: | | | | behind them - farm out your work to people with |
| - You'll get some spam. Easy to delete. | | | | very little to no experience in publishing who are |
| - You will get LOTS of responses. Use some of | | | | working for next-to-nothing and have no real |
| the tips in Part III of this series of posts for | | | | investment in your success. Some hire quality |
| sorting through the e-mails and picking the best of | | | | editors - but it's a crap shoot - you'll have no way |
| the batch. | | | | of knowing whether your editor is a publishing pro |
| - You'll likely be contacted by scam publishers and | | | | or a college student trying to earn a little extra |
| predatory fake agents. More on this later, but for | | | | beer money (not that there's anything wrong with |
| now, just hit delete on any e-mail response to a | | | | that!). |
| craigslist ad from anyone who claims to be a | | | | 3. Choose a "literary agent" who also charges |
| publisher or agent. The end. | | | | fees for editorial work. There are many out there |
| 2. Ask your writer's group (and if you don't belong | | | | with a mission to educate writers about this scam |
| to one yet, join one!). Other writers will be some | | | | - start at Preditors and Editors or Writer Beware. |
| of your best sources for finding a quality | | | | Basically it comes down to this - no legitimate |
| freelance editor. Ask around. If you don't belong | | | | literary agent will ever charge you for anything |
| to a group yet, Yahoo! has some great groups | | | | upfront (except maybe incidentals like printing and |
| you can join. (My personal favorites include the | | | | mailing supplies - but that's at smaller agencies and |
| Writing and Publishing group and the Fiction that | | | | fairly rare). If an "agent" is offering to edit your |
| Sells group.) | | | | work for a fee, run. |
| 3. Google. I hesitate to recommend this one to | | | | |