So You Want an Editor For Your First Book...

A reader recently asked me to recommend an editor for a NaNoWriMo book. I receive a lot of requests like that, and I only had to try to fulfil their requests once. The editors I know will not take on a project like that, but before we get into that, let’s look at what a developmental edit actually is. Line editing is like being a human version of Grammarly. You’re correcting typos and grammar. That’s it. NaNoWriMo types aren’t looking for human Grammarlies. They’re looking for a developmental edit. They want comprehensive coaching, and editors won’t offer it because:

· Typically, new writers assume their work will be easy and relatively fast to work through, so they have no concept of what detailed edit will actually cost. To give you a ballpark, a local professional would charge at least ZAR2,50 a word for a basic proofread. I'm guessing if you've not crafted your story and don't intend to, that you don't want to push ZAR130, 000 (US$6,500) into an editor's lap. Even hiring a ghostwriter is cheaper than paying someone to coach you, but then you won't have written a book. You'll have paid someone to write it for you.

· If you’re a new writer seeking someone to do a dev edit, what you’re really asking for is mentorship. You might not realise it, but that’s how it plays out in practice. We’re tasked with the role of helping you write a book while simultaneously trying not to upset you. This is not editing. It is coaching, and that takes a lot of time.

· New writers are prone to offense. Editing them carries emotional labour and significant risk. The biggest cost of editing new writers is emotional. It's hard as fuck to work with people in that capacity, so I don't do it. My editor friends don't do it. The only people who will do it will either charge the earth or give you substandard results. You could try to wrangle someone on the cheap on Upwork, but what they can offer you is limited.

If you want to write a great book, the only affordable way to do so is to do all the legwork of learning how to write a great book. Go to workshops. Read. Study. Practice. There are no shortcuts. Fortunately, there are rarely qualitative differences between expensive and free workshops. In fact, the latter are often better because they’re run by passionate people.