When it comes to completing a book, no writer should go it alone. A professional book editor can help you develop your ideas and polish your work. Moreover, they can help ensure your finished book is a high-quality, professional product ready for publishing. This guide will show you just how editors can help. Even better, it will help you find a book editor who is the right fit for you.

What Is a Book Editor?

When you’re a writer, opting for professional editing services will help you make your finished book as professional as possible. Professional editors make suggestions to improve things like pacing, characters, or plot. In addition, editors improve sentences so that they flow better, fix errors, and make sure your writing is clear and effective.

What does a book editor do?

The job of every editor is to improve your book and help make it a top-notch finished product. However, different types of book editors work on different aspects of books. The three main types of editors are developmental editors, copy editors, and proofreaders. We’ll describe each of the three types in greater detail below.

Developmental editor

A developmental editor looks at the story on a large scale. They critique structure, plot, character, and global style issues. Developmental editors work on the broad aspects of the book rather than on specific details. They look at the larger issues instead of editing the language sentence by sentence.

Copy editor

On the other hand, copy editors edit the text on a line level, ensuring sound logic, grammatical correctness, and consistent style. They don’t generally address larger issues like plot holes or confusing character motivations. (Of course, they can point out that they exist!) By the time a copy editor is working on your book, a developmental editor should have already addressed those issues.

Proofreader

A good proofreader examines the text on a purely mechanical level. They make sure that words are spelled correctly, that formatting is consistent, and that punctuation is used correctly. Further, they don’t have creative input—their job is simply to correct errors.

Why Hire a Book Editor?

A second pair of eyes on your manuscript can make all the difference, especially if that person is trained to recognize what works and doesn’t work for a certain type of book. However, the editor’s job isn’t to tell the author what to do. Instead, it’s to help the author bring her own vision fully to life. That’s why the best editors are patient and perceptive. They allow your vision to shine through without taking it over or pushing it in a new direction.

It’s difficult to look at your own writing objectively, especially when it’s something you’ve been working on for a long time. Thus, you need an editor to provide expert eyes on developmental, copy-related, and other issues with your manuscript. An experienced editor will catch things you never would have caught yourself—because you, the author, are too close to your project. Your editor will help you remedy overlooked issues that could weaken the experience for your readers.

Improve your manuscript

For traditional publication

Editors usually know how the publishing industry works and what acquisitions editors are looking for. Further, a good editor can help make a manuscript attractive to a traditional publisher. This gives you the key to getting your book to a place where it’s as sellable as possible.

For self-publication

If you are self-publishing your book, working with editors is still critical. When you work with a traditional publisher, they provide editors to work with you throughout the process. Self-publishing, however, means you’re responsible for whipping your book into shape. No writer should send his book to the printing press without a few sets of well-trained eyes to help improve it. And that’s what professional editors are for.

How to Find a Book Editor

When you’re considering how to find a book editor, think about your manuscript, and find someone who specializes in that particular genre. In addition, think about what level of editing your manuscript needs. Do you need someone to edit every sentence? Or are you still looking for someone to help you strengthen your book’s ideas and themes? Find out which of the three types of editors you need. Then follow the tips below.

Ask around.

Referrals are one of the best ways to find a good book editor. If you have any trusted writer friends, ask them for a referral. The people they refer may also know other talented editors who specialize in the kind of editing you need. For example, if you are self-publishing a science fiction novel, try to find an editor who has worked on self-published science fiction books that have gone on to be successful.

Search online.

You can start by googling “book editing services.” Then, narrow things down by looking for an editor with lots of experience and positive testimonials to work on your type of book.

At Elite Authors, we take the guesswork out of the process for you. We offer a full suite of book editing services, from developmental editing and line editing to copyediting and proofreading.

What Does a Book Editor Cost?

How much an editor charges depends on the type of editing you need. The more intensive the editing, the more time an editor spends on your book, which increases the cost. Some editors charge by the job while others charge by the hour or by the word. If you choose to work with us, you’re hiring a collaborative team who will take the guesswork out of the editing process. And we keep our prices easy and transparent so that you know up front how much a service will cost.

With a set of professional eyes helping you make your book the best that it can be, you’ll be ready to pitch your finished book to literary agents or publish it on your own. Behind every great writer is a great editor, so don’t skimp on book editing services. They can make all the difference when it comes to telling the world your story.

The post What Does a Book Editor Really Do? appeared first on Elite Authors.

What do Alexandre Dumas’s The Three Musketeers, JFK’s Profiles in Courage, and Carolyn Keene’s Nancy Drew series all have in common?

They were all written in whole or in part by ghostwriters.

Surprised? That’s the point—ghostwriters are called “ghosts” because you don’t know they’re there.

But what exactly is a ghostwriter?

In short, a professional ghostwriter works for someone with an idea for a book but who doesn’t have the time or the skills to write it him- or herself. A ghostwriter writes the book, but the client gets the credit as the author. Ghostwriting services cover every type of book you could think of—fiction, nonfiction, memoir, you name it.

Are you looking for a ghost author to write your book for you? In this post, we’ll explore how to hire a ghostwriter and what to expect once you’ve hired one.

How to Find a Ghostwriter

Finding the right professional ghostwriter to write your book takes preparation and research. As you’re thinking about how to hire a ghostwriter for your book, follow these steps to ensure you find the ghostwriting services you need.

Prepare your book concept.

The more you know about your book concept, the better chance you’ll have of finding a ghostwriter who is a good fit for your book—after all, you don’t want to hire a memoir writer if your book is a fiction romance. Think about what you want your book to be (e.g., fiction, nonfiction, memoir). Then think about what you want it to accomplish and who you want it to reach. Finally, look for ghost authors who can help you achieve these goals.

Look at similar books.

The easiest way to tell whether a professional ghostwriter is right for your book is to look at the published books that ghostwriter has already worked on. For example, if you need to hire a memoir writer to write your memoir, look for a ghostwriter who has written a book about someone with a background similar to yours. Or if you need someone to write your historical fiction book, look for ghost authors who have written historical fiction about the same period as the one you chose for your story.

Ask for referrals.

Do you know someone who has worked with a professional ghostwriter? If that person had a positive experience with the ghostwriter, research the writer’s background and writing specialties, and consider working with him or her on your book as well.

Search online.

The best way to find ghostwriting services for your book is to search online. Often, ghostwriters have their own websites or LinkedIn pages. These offer helpful information about their ghostwriting experience. However, steer clear of writing mills: though they’re tempting, the lowest book ghostwriting fees likely won’t give you the best value.

Interviewing a Ghostwriter

Once you’ve narrowed the field and found a handful of possible ghostwriters, how do you know which you should hire?

Reach out to each writer, and ask some preliminary questions to determine compatibility. This will help you decide which writer is the best fit for your book.

Share your vision.

Make sure a potential ghostwriter knows what type of book you want written, and give him or her as much information about your book concept as possible. Are you hiring a memoir writer? Share key facts about yourself. Do you need a fiction or nonfiction writer? Present your story idea or your vision for your book.

Consider the ghostwriter’s process.

Ask questions about the ghostwriter’s process. What are the writer’s book ghostwriting fees? How does the writer prefer to handle payment? Also, how does the writer like to communicate? Furthermore, how long of a project timeline is the writer most comfortable with? Keep in mind that the best ghostwriters are often the busiest, so be prepared to book the writer to work on your project in a few weeks or months, rather than immediately.

Determine compatibility.

Once you’ve discussed your vision for your book and the ghostwriter’s experience, process, and availability, you should have a clear idea of whether you and the ghostwriter will be compatible.

Working with a Ghostwriter

After you hire a professional ghostwriter, what will it be like to work with that person?

It will largely depend on the writer’s preferred process, but here are some things you can expect from your partnership with a ghostwriter.

Close collaboration

Your partnership with your ghost author might involve close collaboration, including many interview sessions and a close review of the book on a chapter-by-chapter basis. This approach might be helpful, for example, if your book is a memoir and includes many important details about your family’s history that the ghostwriter needs to learn from you and can’t just research on his or her own.

Creative freedom

If you feel you’ve given your ghostwriter sufficient notes about where you’d like your book to go, you might allow the writer some creative freedom in writing your book. This approach might be helpful if you have limited time to work alongside the writer.

Fine tuning

Whether you work closely on the book with the ghostwriter or give him or her creative freedom, once the writer has produced a draft, you should look everything over and, if necessary, provide helpful suggestions to guide the draft closer to your vision of the book. For example, if your book is a business guide, you might add another professional anecdote or adjust some details to make the content more accurate. If your book is fiction, you might offer suggestions for character development or plot structure that further expand the story you’ve envisioned.

Conclusion

If a book idea is haunting the back of your mind, but you just don’t have the time or know-how to write it yourself, working with a ghost author could be a fun, rewarding, and even intimate way to make your book a reality. Though learning how to hire this type of writer can be intimidating, our tips for finding ghostwriters, learning about ghostwriting services, and understanding book ghostwriting fees should help you get started!

And here’s a parting bit of great news: at Elite Authors, we know you have a story, and we’d love to help you tell it. So sit back and relax, because we can take care of everything you just read about in this article. If you’re looking for ghostwriting help, we will do all the hard work and lead you through the process with ease, matching you up with the right ghostwriter. Our ghostwriters have written for CEOs of Fortune 500s, New York Times bestellers, celebrities, Hall of Famers, and more, so you can rest assured that your story—your vision—will be in the right hands. Ready to get started? Let’s chat.

Resources:

https://quickbooks.intuit.com/r/employees/how-to-hire-a-ghostwriter-for-your-first-book/

https://www.thebookseller.com/feature/top-five-ghostwritten-books-339332

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/280519

The post How to Find a Professional Ghostwriter for Your Book appeared first on Elite Authors.

Copyediting is an often-overlooked service, and people frequently confuse it with proofreading. But they’re both extremely important steps before you publish your manuscript. Basically, copyediting happens during the draft stage, before you format your book. Proofreading happens after your book has been formatted—it’s the last step before the book goes to print.

You worked very hard on your manuscript. Now it’s time to let a professional editing service make sure it’s pristine before you start formatting and printing.

Rely on our copyediting services for authors.

Congratulations on your finished masterpiece! You’ve poured your heart and soul into your work. Although you’re excited about sending it off to be published, there is a crucial next step: copyediting!

You understand that copyediting is important for basic spelling and grammatical errors. But do you know how vital copyediting is—or even what copyediting is? It’s a failsafe to make sure that everything is ready to be published. Without copyediting, you risk embarrassing typos, misspelled words, and grammatical errors.

Copyediting can be a scary process. Your work is going under a microscope and is vulnerable to criticism. But when you hire the right professional editing service, you’re hiring a partner that will offer suggestions to make your work the best it can possibly be. A professional copy editor is the cornerstone of your book’s success.

How much copyediting experience does Elite Authors offer to authors?

Elite Authors comprises a team of experienced professionals. They work on manuscripts every day to make sure each one is thoroughly edited and ready to publish. They’re passionate about words, language, and storytelling. That means they pour their hearts and souls into your work!

Elite Authors can assist you through the entire prepublishing process. Did you know there are multiple stages of editing before you even get to the copyedit? Here are a couple of the additional editing phases:

• Developmental editing is a big-picture review of your manuscript. A developmental edit will examine the structure and style of your work. For works of fiction, developmental editors will make sure that the plot flows well and doesn’t contain holes. For nonfiction books, developmental editing will address the organization of the information in your book.
• Line editing is pretty self-explanatory. During the line edit, the editor goes through your book line by line looking for grammatical or spelling errors. This phase of editing might include suggestions on how to improve or upgrade your use of words. Since this phase of editing might lead to changes to your manuscript, you’ll need a copy editor to go over your work after the line edit.

The Elite Authors team knows how hard you worked on your manuscript. Remember the sense of pride and fulfillment that you felt when you finished your book? The Elite Authors staff puts that same investment into every piece of writing that they copyedit.

Why should you choose Elite Authors for your copyediting service?

Elite Authors are thought leaders in the field of copyediting. They understand the ins and outs of the publishing industry and will read your manuscript with a keen eye focused on making you successful.

All authors—new and established—need a strong copy editor on their team. You put a lot of yourself into writing your book. Let the experts take you the rest of the way.

Why does your manuscript need copyediting?

A manuscript takes a long time to create. You’ve probably read it a hundred times and are now blind to any grammatical and spelling errors. Or maybe there’s a plot hole that you’ve overlooked since you’ve spent so much time buried in your book. You need a fresh set of eyes: a professional editing service.

Most published works have to go through an average of six to eight rounds of editing. This sounds daunting, but each of these rounds is a crucial component of your success. If you’re self-publishing and don’t hire a professional copy editor, you are risking sending fixable mistakes to all of your potential readers. If you’re working with a traditional publisher, they might not read past the first few errors. Your manuscript deserves the very best. Hire a professional copy editor to take great care of your work.

How to find your perfect match

Your manuscript is just that: yours. In order to keep it yours, you have to find the right copy editor to fit your needs and exceed your expectations. In researching your options, you should look for a flexible editing service whose editors understand that your book is unique and can’t just fit into a boilerplate package.

What does a copy editor correct?

A copy editor will correct everything that you and the larger-scale editors might miss. Your copy editor will focus in on each word to make sure it’s spelled and used correctly. The last thing you want to do is to send off your masterpiece with typos!

It’s extremely important to pick an editing service that has a strong history and track record—and that understands that your work is your pride and joy. In addition, you’ll want to choose an editing service whose editors pride themselves on keeping up with the ever-changing trends in the writing and publishing industries.

Why should you work with an experienced copy editor?

Your manuscript is the fruit of your labor. Writing a book isn’t easy, but you did it! Now you need professional assistance to make sure it’s ready for publishing. Sure, you can ask your friends and family to proofread it for spelling errors. But you also need an experienced editor to view it through the professional lens of copyediting.

A professional copy editor will be able to identify and help you correct any issues that will raise a red flag to your publisher. After all of the time and resources that you poured into your manuscript, you deserve to have an expert put it through the copyediting process.

What are the risks of publishing without using a copy editor service?

Whether you’re self-publishing or working with a traditional publisher, there are major risks if you don’t hire a professional copyediting service. And although spellcheck software will remove some of the margin of error, it won’t catch everything. Here are a few of the dangerous mistakes that you might not catch without personal and professional assistance:

• Spelling. Are all of your words spelled correctly? What about commonly misused words like “your” and “you’re”?
• Word choice errors. Spellcheck software also won’t flag a word that is accurately spelled but incorrectly used. Do you mean “pour” or “pore”? “Definitely” or “defiantly”?
• Grammatical errors. “Your” and “you’re” also fit into this category. But keep in mind that spellcheck will not catch most errors with apostrophes, commas, semicolons, and other punctuation.

These are embarrassing, but they happen to everyone! All manuscripts—regardless of their length—will almost certainly have an error here or there. Don’t leave yourself vulnerable to easily fixed mistakes. Hire a professional editor to guide you to success.

Why should you choose Elite Authors for your copyediting?

In order to give your manuscript the best chance of success, your work needs to be clean, understandable, and free of errors. The best way to achieve this is to partner with a professional copy editor who will closely study your book.

And since every author is unique, Elite Authors offers multiple packages and custom services to ensure that you get the best service available. They understand that writing isn’t a “one size fits all” profession, and they are set up to provide custom options for each author.

How can Elite Authors protect your reputation as an author?

Everyone has experienced typos. They’re bad enough in text messages and emails. But they’re even worse in professional and published manuscripts! Elite Authors understands that your credibility is on the line and that even small mistakes will have a negative impact on your work.

Typos, misspellings, and grammatical errors are embarrassing and sometimes difficult to overcome. In the case of published literary works, they can be detrimental.

Consumers and readers might not take you seriously as an author if they see mistakes that you missed. And traditional publishing companies might toss your manuscript out if they see too many errors.

Elite Authors understands that your reputation and credibility are at risk. Their team of specialized copy editors is available to protect you from these mistakes and set you up for success.

How do Elite Authors’ copy editors work with authors?

Elite Authors understands that copyediting needs to be a cooperative process. Multiple revisions and proactive communication are part of this process.

Elite Authors will use Microsoft Word’s Track Changes feature so that you can review each and every suggestion they make and comment they write. They will be a full-fledged partner to help your book succeed.

What manuscript editing services does Elite Authors offer?

Elite Authors knows that helping you succeed has multiple phases. That’s why they offer several manuscript editing services:

• Developmental editing
• Line editing
• Copyediting
• Proofreading

Each of these phases is as important as the next. You need a trusted partner to help you on your way. And you deserve to be successful! Elite Authors will work to make sure that you achieve the highest level of success at the best price available. Copyediting is an investment in your book. Don’t leave this to chance—hire the esteemed professionals!

Common copyediting questions

Most authors want to focus on the substance of their manuscript. You have a story to tell or information to share. You have enough on your plate developing the characters and organizing the plot.

For many writers, copyediting is the last thing on their list—if it’s even on their radar at all! But that doesn’t mean that copyediting is unimportant. In fact, it’s a vital part of fully finishing a book.

What is copyediting?

Copyediting is the crucial step between finishing your manuscript and having it published. Without copyediting, you are opening yourself up to simple errors like spelling and grammatical mistakes. You’re also vulnerable to larger gaffs like using the wrong word.

A professional copy editor will capture all of these errors. And the best editing service will offer you multiple phases of editing. You’ll need help with big-picture edits like developmental editing all the way down to the nitty-gritty aspects of line editing.

What is the difference between copyediting and proofreading?

Copyediting happens in the draft stage, before you have fully formatted your book. Since the formatting process generally involves typesetting instead of simply copying from a word processing document and pasting into a book template, mistakes can happen when you format.

The proofreader is the final set of eyes on your formatted book before you send it to publish and print. Your proofreader is your last line of defense against simple mistakes.

So hire a professional editing service! Their expertise will help pave the way for your book’s success.

Why does a manuscript need multiple rounds of editing?

Your manuscript wasn’t written in a day. It took a lot of time to perfect, and you had to read it and reorganize aspects of the plot multiple times. Your work is complex and deserves a complex team to ensure that it’s ready for your readers.

Every book needs a few experts to put their lens to different aspects of the work. A developmental editor will make sure that the plot flows smoothly and the characters make sense or the information is organized in a cohesive, impactful way.

And a line editor will put each sentence under a microscope. Your copy editor will check for grammatical and spelling errors.

Once your manuscript has been formatted into your book, a proofreader will review it for any remaining errors or errors introduced in formatting. Each team member will offer suggestions or recommendations if they see anything that can be improved.

Although it can be difficult to accept constructive criticism, this is an absolutely vital part of the writing process. Your editing team is here to help you ring up book sales once you’ve published your work. Let them provide suggestions to improve your manuscript.

Get ready to publish everywhere.

You’ve finished your book and are ready to prepare it for publishing. Whether you’re an established author or a newcomer to the writing field, this is quite an accomplishment! Now it’s time to get ready to publish your work everywhere.

How does copyediting prepare your manuscript for online publication?

Copyediting will ensure that your manuscript is ready to publish. If you’re planning to publish your work as an e-book, your copy editor can even help you prepare your work accordingly. The best copyediting services even have tips and tricks to publish with huge companies like Amazon and Barnes & Noble, so you know you’re in good hands!

How do the publishing requirements of online media houses differ?

Each online media house has different publishing requirements. If you’re publishing an e-book, you’ll need to reformat your manuscript to comply with each house’s template. Additionally, the various print-on-demand companies will have differing requirements for page counts and formatting.

Your professional editing team can help you with all sorts of formatting, so just be sure to inform them of your publishing goals.

Why is copyediting recommended for traditional publishing as well as self-publishing?

The editing process is an anxious one for many authors. You’re putting your raw work into a professional’s hands so that they can put it under a microscope and identify problems that you need to fix.

Sometimes the relationship between an editor and an author can be strained because of this anxiety. But it’s important to remember that your copy editor is a teammate who is trying to help you.

If you’re sending your manuscript to a traditional publisher, you’ll need the aid of a professional copy editor to ensure that there are no errors.

Traditional publishers receive a lot of book proposals, and the slightest mistake might make them toss your work in the trash. And if you’re self-publishing, you could unknowingly release an error-riddled manuscript into the world. Hiring a professional copy editor saves you from these disasters.

Hire a copy editor to ensure your success.

You gave your best effort to your manuscript. Now it’s time to partner with a professional copy editor so that they can give their best effort to making it ready to publish.

When you rely on an expert copyediting and proofreading service, you are setting yourself up for success. And when you partner with Elite Authors, you are hiring the cream of the crop. Let Elite Authors start copyediting your masterpiece today!

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