Are you a freelance editor for publishers?
Yes, I am a freelance editor for various publishers in the UK and overseas. I edit mostly British English, but I can also work in American, Australian and Canadian English. As an aside, do you know that there are more fundamental differences between US English and UK English than -ize/-ise endings? And that there are multiple forms of formal British English, including Oxford English vs. Standard British English? It is true, and I work in all of them.
Do you provide editing services for self-publishing authors?
I am always happy to work directly with authors. Some publisher clients deploy me on a project-management basis, to liaise with the author directly throughout the editing process. I like collaborating with authors, they teach me a lot.
My approach to working with authors is, above all, collaborative. I understand that the copy fundamentally belongs to the author. My role is to help that author polish, present and optimise for publication – and to correct objective errors, of course. So, I maintain dialogue with the author throughout the editing process. I present suggestions for discussion and consideration, rather than direction.
What genres do you work on as a freelance editor?
I have worked in-house as an editor on academic medical papers. I now work as a freelance editor for publishers, editing both reference/non-fiction books and fiction. I cover most fiction genres, including romance. But I do lots of military/wartime fiction and I love a rip-roaring adventure or a really good detective story!
Additionally, I provide partial edit services, such as a digitalised reference list or formatting of references for a non-fiction work. I also edit things that are not books, including marketing and advertising materials, product documentation, web copy and entire websites.
How do I edit a book for publishing?
It is hard to edit your own work and, particularly for a document as extensive and impactful as a book, I do not recommend it. Now, you may think, but she would say that, wouldn’t she? And I would not blame you. However, I am not only an editor, but also a copywriter. So I have had my own work edited and it has taught me loads. I recommend a fresh pair of eyes on your work if at all possible. If you contact me, you’ll probably find it costs less than you think.
I absolutely have to edit my own book. How do I do that?
If it is impossible to get an entirely objective assessement of your work, you should eliminate as many errors as possible as a first step. In other words, proofread it ruthlessly, to professional standards.
Various tools and software can help you with this. Google’s online grammar check and specialist software like PerfectIt spring to mind. But never rely on software alone for a proofread. It will miss plot holes and may overlook many of the errors you expect it to find. I speak from experience here. Software can improve and expedite a proofread, but you cannot proofread anything without manually reading it as well.
If you are submitting to an agent or a publisher, proofreading may be sufficient. Your publisher will probably edit and then copy edit to their own house style anyway. But if you are self publishing, you must go a step further and ensure editorial consistency throughout the work. Following an established style guide (for example New Hart’s Rules) makes this easier.
Pro tip: do not forget to proofread your work again after you have edited it!
I have written a book; do I need a freelance editor?
Please see the answer above. If you love your work and have put something of yourself into it, you are likely too close to assess it objectively. Even the best and most successful authors have tics. That is partly why the best and most successful authors tend to have editors.
If you publish traditionally, you will probably be assigned an editor and a copy editor. This is because publishers must (a) optimise the quality of the work and (b) format books to their house style. If you intend to self publish, you may wish to consider why traditional publishing houses do things this way. This Reddit thread on book editing (written by an author) has some good pointers.
Is there more than one type of freelance editor?
There are many types of editing and therefore assorted titles for the freelance editor involved. However, most of us do more than one type of editing. So your structural editor may also be your copy editor. Sometimes the same person will undertake both of these roles at once, in a multi-pass edit of your work. For example, I am often asked to ‘be’ the following:
Freelance structural editor
For a structural edit the publisher (or author) sends me the raw manuscript to read line by line. My objective is to identify structural issues, and changes that could improve the book and/or increase its appeal to readers. So, if I find a plot issue, loose ends or a missed opportunity, I flag that for the author’s consideration. Sometimes I mark all suggestions on the copy, sometimes I do that and provide an accompanying report.
Speaking personally, I always add suggestions when I find issues. I can’t imagine anything more demoralising than a load of mark-up and no ideas for improvement.
Freelance copy editor
Quite often, the copy edit is a first-pass edit. I mark up objective errors, holes in the plot or other issues not flagged in the structural edit. If the publisher has an editorial house style, I impose it. If not, I ensure editorial consistency and correctness throughout. In some cases, books are formatted (laid out or designed) to house style at this stage, too. When the copy edit is done, the marked-up copy goes back to the author for their amendments and responses. Sometimes I do that direct, sometimes the publisher does it.
Freelance proofreader
In theory, proofreading is a final check that everything is in house style and all spellings and grammar are correct. However, it is common to find errors at this stage, having been introduced during previous rounds of editing. This can turn proofreading into a more complex process. If you would like to know more, I’ve written this article about proofreading on Medium.
For an industry that loves consistency, editorial can be very inconsistent. The role that is called ‘structural editor’ in one publishing company may simply be ‘editor’ in another. Lots of copy editors also lay out and format documents. Some publishers expect their proofreaders to intervene with edits where needed, others do not. That is why, when working with a freelance editor, it is important to be specific about the work involved.
Which document formats do you edit in?
Most of my work is on Word and PDF documents. I can go into a website CMS directly but most clients prefer to upload my work themselves. As I would, if I was commissioning a freelancer, for obvious security reasons.
Which style guide(s) do British freelance editors use?
I work to whichever style guide the client specifies. This is often an in-house document, created by the client. I also use standard guides like OUP and APA. When formatting references, I almost always work to an established format such as Harvard or Vancouver.
However, I am often asked to work without any style guide. Then, the main goal is to ensure consistency. Contrary to popular belief, there are few absolutes in editing – but consistency is mandatory. For example, some say that it is ‘correct’ to capitalise honorific forms of address and ‘incorrect’ not to. Thus, in these people’s worlds ‘Yes, Madam’ is correct and ‘Yes, madam’ is incorrect. This is not true: either can be OK depending on context. But if you write ‘Yes, Madam’ on page 10 and ‘Yes, sir’ on page 25, then it is incorrect.
Ultimately, the aim of a good edit is to optimise the reading experience. Not to show off or communicate the editor’s famliarity with Improving Literature (which tends to be awash with capital letters). Everyone loves a good book that is a pleasure to read, but nobody likes a smartarse.
What editing software do you prefer?
I ALWAYS take a manual, line-by-line read approach to editing at all stages and of all types. However, using editing software in addition to this can be very helpful. I use PerfectIt (which I have customised) to catch inconsistencies. And whenever I have completed a final proofread, I run an AI spelling and grammar check.
Do you edit with AI?
First off, define AI. That is not a flippant answer. People’s definitions of AI vary widely and often what is described as AI is not, in fact, AI.
I use what might loosely be called AI editing software to run final checks. However, I only ever use this type of AI AFTER I have completed a manual edit. I use it to check for stray errors or specific things that I know an author has trouble with. An edit that uses only AI is unlikely to be a useable edit. I would expect it to contain multiple errors, and that is based on a LOT of professional experience. Artificial intelligence simply cannot see a lot of things that human intelligence sees.
Artificial intelligence is not human intelligence
I read a comment recently, that it is more accurate to refer to text generation than AI. Use of this term, the commenter suggested, will eliminate unfounded expectations. I agree with that, and with this article and comments on the limitations of AI, which touch on editing. Artificial intelligence does not understand in the sense that humans do. It relies massively on the form of question or query that is given to it.
Can some editing software do a better job than a human editor?
No! For a full explanation please see the paragraphs above.
Don’t academic publishers expect everything to comply with Grammarly?
Some of them do. I recall my first Grammarly report on behalf of a client. It felt like being scolded by a very, very uptight schoolmistress who needed a drink and a night out. Obviously I complied with it, because it eased the passage of my client’s paper to publication in their target journal. But I then uninstalled it. Not just because it struck me as fatal to originality and creativity, but also because it messed with my desktop.
So, I have used Grammarly, and Word’s inbuilt editing systems, where clients have requested them. But (and for the avoidance of doubt, this is a personal opinion) I would never choose to use either. Especially with fiction.
If you need a free-to-use editorial check, try Google’s. It ‘sees’ much more than comparable software that I have tried. Also, for me at least, it does not seem determined to incite frustration-fuelled violence in the way that Copilot does. (When are you going to let me uninstall that thing, Microsoft, WHEN?) But nothing – repeat, nothing – works better than a properly trained and experienced human editor.