You did it. You wrote a messy first draft, and then you wrote another draft, and maybe you even wrote a third or fourth draft of your book, before you got to the point where you realized, hey, this is close, but it’s not ready yet.
Now you’re on the hunt for a great developmental editor, who can help you make powerful revisions that will take that stack of manuscript papers on your desk and turn them into the book that lives in your head.
One of things I love most about working with writers is that every book and every writer are so wonderfully different and distinct.
The same is true of every editor.
That’s why a developmental editor who was a great fit for another writer’s book doesn’t necessarily mean they will be the best fit for yours.
And I’d go one step further:
You need an editor who doesn’t just get your book – you need an editor who gets you.
I believe there are three questions you should ask yourself, about every potential developmental editor you interview:
- Does this editor want to understand my goals for my work before they start their edits?
- Will this editor engage with me as a peer, not a problem?
- Does this editor see our partnership as a longer term relationship, or am I just another paycheck?
In this post, I’ll help you figure out to find the perfect fit.
Find an Editor Who Wants to Understand Before They Edit
A good developmental editor will prioritize two things: getting familiar with the book on the page, and understanding their author’s intentions and goals for the final draft.
The gap between the two is where the best developmental editors focus their work.
Look for an editor who is curious before they are critical, who asks what you are trying to accomplish before they get to work. Your editor should solicit answers to those questions before diagnosing problems or suggesting solutions, and they should be able to separate the editorial needs of your project from their personal tastes.
Don’t be afraid to ask potential editors how they determine your authorial intent.
In my program, Dessert First! Developmental Edits, the process begins with a virtual meeting, so that my writer and I can get to know each other as people, talk about their hopes and dreams for their book, and be sure we get along well enough to be able to do productive work together.
If we proceed together, I start work by doing a blind read, with no other input, to get a sense of the book on the page. I don’t make any edits at this stage. I’m reading to get a sense of the story, to start asking bigger questions, and to understand the reader’s experience of the current draft.
I don’t start making editorial suggestions about structure, character, plotting, or scenework, until my writers complete their Quasi Query. A Quasi Query is a draft pitch to an imaginary agent or publisher, selling the finished product, the book that lives in their head.
Once I have that Quasi Query, I do several more reads of the book, comparing what’s on the page, to that draft pitch, and creating editorial suggestions that will help my writers reach their stated finish line.
Find an editor who sees you as a person – not just the appendage attached to the book they need to fix
One of the reasons I do this work is because I’m a writer, too. I know how much of yourself you’ve poured into writing your book, and I know what a deep act of trust it is to hand that part of your soul to someone you’re paying to potentially rip it to pieces.
That’s why my Dessert First! Developmental Edits program is an entirely author-centered process.
While I’m working on your book, I’ll encourage you to pursue all the cool stuff you haven’t had time for because you were too busy writing.
I’ll even ask you to write a list of those fun things. Will you clean out your closets? Go to the movies? Visit a museum? Have lunch with an old friend? Have ice cream for breakfast? Buy a bunch of stickers and stick them everywhere?
Then I check in regularly to be sure you’re having a good time!
When my reads are done, and I deliver my Edit Binder, I lean into the good stuff first.
There is always something great about every story, and we start there, so when you get deep into fixing the other stuff and are having the inevitable writer anxieties that come with the gig, you can go read about all the great stuff I loved and chill out enough to get back to work.
(Told you I was a writer too!)
Finally, once I’ve delivered your Edit Binder, we have a wrap-up meeting, so I can answer any questions and help ensure you have an actionable plan to revise your book that respects your goals for the project.
My authors leave the process confident in the editorial feedback they’ve received, and confident that they know how to make the changes that will get them to the finish line.
Find an editor who wants to build a relationship that goes beyond cashing your check.
Developmental editing seems expensive when you multiply cents per word. Still, when choosing an editor, price is only one part of the picture.
The question you really want to ask is:
What are you actually getting in return for your investment?
Some editors go dark when working with your book, and once they’ve delivered the edit memo, your relationship is over. They may produce brilliant notes, suggestions that seem absolutely perfect for your work – there are a lot of really talented editors out there – but you’re not quite sure how to make those changes, and now you’re on your own to figure it out.
You paid for an edit, and that’s what you got.
No more, no less.
The investment in a Dessert First! Developmental Edit doesn’t stop with your book.
I designed Dessert First! to ensure my writers come away from the process as better readers, and editors, of their own work.
I deliver my writers a comprehensive Edit Binder with those goals in mind. My Binder includes my edit memo, notes on the Quasi Query for when my writers are ready to query for real, and the tools I’ve developed for my own work, like my Revision Wrangler, to help my writers plan their changes.
And I remain available to my writers to answer questions by email, even after our wrap up conference.
The investment in a Dessert First! Developmental Edit pays dividends not only in what I hope will be a long and deep ongoing friendship, but in the new skills and tools my writers can use in all their future writing endeavors.
That’s what it means to find an editor who gets your book – and gets YOU.
So, to recap:
The right editor for you should want to understand what you’re trying to accomplish before prescribing changes.
They should remember that there’s a person behind the pages, a writer who has poured time, energy, imagination, gallons of coffee and maybe gallons of wine, into their book, and may need a little bucking up.
And they should see the editorial relationship as more than a transaction that ends when you make your final payment. This is a hard enough business without having to go it alone.
Most importantly, the investment you make in that edit should be an investment not only in this project, but in yourself and your future projects. Yes, your edit notes should help clarify your thinking about your book. Yes, you should have an actionable plan to make the changes those notes suggest.
But you should also come away with new skills you can apply to the next book, and the next book, and all your books to come.
Book a Power Hour and let’s get to know each other. Let’s talk about the book in your head, the book you know it can become, and what’s keeping you from getting it done. I want to hear what you love about it, what you’re not quite sure of yet. You’ll get a taste of how I think about the writing process, and what it’s like to have me in your corner. Let’s see what magic we can make together!
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