You Need an Editor

You work hard to put good words down on the page. You consider the order of the words, the strength them, and the clarity of the message. Now you need to add a partner to your writing process.

An editor is an accomplice, looking in from the outside. That objective view is essential. We don’t write in a vacuum, and we don’t publish in a vacuum. —David Bergen

Bergen is right; writing and publishing cannot happen in a vacuum. Simply put, written work has an audience, and it’s critical a writer finds someone to stand in the middle ground between the writer and the audience with a careful eye.

The editor brings an objective view to the project and, for that reason, can locate sentences that are difficult to read from the reader’s point of view. A professional with the right skill set can navigate the requirements of genre, a publishing house, or academic documentation and formatting.

Find the partner that best fits you and your project. Things to know before contacting a prospective editor:

your project’s needs: proofing, line editing, or developmental editing
your project’s deadline and specific, important details
your project’s current format (Pages, Word, Scrivener, etc.) and location (personal device, Dropbox, or Google Docs)

Things to know before choosing the partnership:

the editor’s personality and your own
the editor’s skill set and experience
the editor’s intake process, pricing, and payment options

You may or may not find a best friend in your partnership. That’s okay. You’re looking for someone who will honestly invest in your project and your audience’s interests. Choose a partner who is truthful and skilled.

Interested in pricing from Prepared & Polished? Fill out a form on the Contact Page.

~Jennifer