What should you look for in an editor?
These days, anyone can put up a “digital shingle” and advertise editing services. Please don’t fall for the first (or second, for that matter) highly polished website offering editorial services.
You have worked long and hard on your book, and you deserve to partner with a high-caliber editor who can see the entirety of your book and who also has a keen eye for detail.
We advise insisting on the following:
- Your editor is experienced in editing books—not just college papers or his or her own work, but now-published books.
- Your editor is a stickler for absolutely, 100-percent, no-exceptions correct grammar. There is (currently) no AI or chatbot that can achieve this; you really need a human being on your side.
- Your editor understands the marketing process in book publishing.
- Your editor takes the time to get to know your dreams for the book and helps steer you in the right direction in terms of early marketing, creating reader personas, and the importance of a great cover.
- Your editor is your greatest cheerleader and most honest critic.
At LODE Publishing, our senior editor, Conna Craig, fits the bill. She’s got 27 now-published books under her belt, and she is also a published writer. Most important, she loves what she does, and you will know she’s on your side throughout the process of editing your book and preparing it for publication.
