I've talked
on this blog before about how much I love editors. Sure, I use the word as a
grave insult at times, but I love them. ("You're an idiot." "Oh,
yeah? Well, you're an editor!")
Every author
and every book need an editor. Again, money's usually an issue for indie
authors, especially new ones, but hire
an editor. And just because someone says s/he's an editor, don't take her/his
word for it. Check them out. Talk to previous clients. Read previous clients'
books. If you spot problems in those books, then maybe that editor isn't for
you.
An editor's
job is to make a book better. (I'll stick with she because, while I know there are male editors out there, I've
never actually seen one.) She's supposed to catch when your characters are
acting out of character, when your plot is full of coincidences, when stuff
doesn't make sense, when you could drive a Mack truck through the holes, when
the conflict is insufficient and when the ending is too rushed or unsatisfying.
Editing is a talent.
Editing is a
talent.
Not just
anyone who wants to be an editor can be. So her friends tell her she's a good critiquer.
Well, my friends tell me that, too, but I'd be a lousy editor. I've got some
strengths, but I've got more weaknesses. My writers' group of seventeen or so
professional authors, all combined, could make two, probably three good
editors.
A bad editor, granted, is worse than no editor at all. But that's where your powers for research come into play: you not only have to find an editor who gets your
voice and your story, but she's got to have that editing talent, too. To quote
my indie-pubbed friend M. A. Golla, easy-peasy, right?(The above is my thoughts as a reader in what I'm looking for in indie-published books.)
