Why Work With Editors and Proofreaders?
Many new authors fear that an editor will end up changing their work so significantly that their original idea or concept might be diluted. This is a complete myth. An editor keeps the integrity of your message while fine-tuning and improving the clarity and quality of the work.
Authors understandably lack objectivity when reviewing their own work, and this is where we come in. We help authors by reviewing their manuscripts, polishing their work, making suggestions, and ensuring the copy is clear enough for everyone unfamiliar with the subject to understand.
Steps to a Comprehensive Editorial Review
1. Editorial Critique
This step is also known as a manuscript review and is a brief assessment of a manuscript to establish the right level of editing required for the book. An editorial critique also provides you with insights into your writing structure and overall framework. When you work with Writers For Hire, you will get an honest, neutral evaluation of your work.
2. Structural Editing
During the structural editing phase, we are able to provide you with a fresh set of eyes from a reader’s perspective. We highlight areas where the reader may be confused or may feel the narrative is dragging, and we itemize our big picture suggestions into an actionable to do list for you or our editors.
- Pacing. Is your pacing consistent or do readers lose interest in lagging places?
- Stickiness. Does your book start with a topic or scene that will grab the reader’s attention, or will another starting point have more impact? Does each chapter keep the reader engaged and interested to move on?
- Relatability. Can the readers place themselves in the narrative? Are you appealing to them in a way that creates an emotional impact or a inspires a genuine change in their way of thinking about your topic?
- Structure. Do your chapters flow logically into one another? Or would introducing your stories, scenes, or topics be more effective in a different order?
- Format. Is the physical presentation of your manuscript effective? Do your chapter “templates” flow engagingly (e.g. title style, intros, subheads, outros, sidebars, or teaching elements). Have you used graphical elements to clearly illustrate important concept? Have you chosen a consistent usage of chapter, paragraph, and sentence length?
- Messaging. Does the book fulfill the goals and messaging per your intention? Or are key messages getting muddled in places?
- Writing style. Does your writing style work with your genre?
- Voice. Does your vocabulary, tone, point of view, and syntax work for your audience? Does your personality come across on the pages?
- Setting. If applicable, have you created rich scene-setting?
3. Line Editing
This step is where we meticulously look at your manuscript line by line to look for unnecessary words, sentences, or paragraphs. We aim to rewrite or eliminate lengthy and confusing sentences, cliches, and redundancies that may put readers off. This stage does not involve correcting spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors, but rather correcting the flow, style, and readability of the manuscript.
4. Quality Assurance and Fact Checking
Our crackerjack research team will review all facts for accuracy and verifiability. Quality assurance work includes checking dates, unusual spellings, chronology, anachronistic content, basic math and formulas, contact and citation information, direct and indirect attributions, small logical inconsistencies, and factual contradictions within the manuscript. Complete citations in the academic format of your choice are also available.
5. Proofreading
Many self-published authors get their friends and family to proofread their manuscripts. That’s great; the more eyes you can get on your book before publishing, the better. If, however, you want to ensure your book does as well as it deserves to, you may want to get professional proofreaders involved. Our professional proofreaders are experts at picking up on minor spelling, grammar, punctuation, and other mistakes that always tend to slip through the cracks.
Work With World Class Editors and Proofreaders
At The Writers For Hire, our nonfiction editors are experts in various fields and have access to the latest technologies, including AI and our award-winning project management system. We leverage our skills and toolsets to provide efficient and accurate delivery. (We can work towards almost any deadline.) We use our 20 years of customer service, to ensure clear, friendly, and frequent communication. The result is this: we aren’t just good at our job, we’re lovely to work with too.
Want to learn more about our editorial team and discuss the best editorial plan for your unique manuscript? Give us a call, drop us an email, or send us a text. We’re quick to respond and happy to help.
