The Writer-Editor Relationship: Setting Up For an Edit

There are a lot of skilled editors out there. They work for publishing companies, they work freelance, or they might be a core part of a school or another type of company. 

I’ve heard the process of finding a good editor is like finding a good therapist, and in a lot of ways, that can be true. You can’t expect the same from an editor as you would a therapist, but there are many standard processes editors will follow. The process is not solely about finding a good editor, though, it’s about finding the editor who’s right for you. 

You’re trusting an editor with something you’ve been working on for a long time, and if you don’t know your editor already, how do you know if they’ll do a good job? 

Many editors have a standard “onboarding” process through which trust can be built. I’ll show you how Purposeful Prose does it for reference!

1. Consultation: Writers schedule a one-hour consultation over the phone or video chat. We discuss the writer’s project and talk through initial questions. The writer would let us know which of our services sound best to them. We would also talk about pricing and the writer’s budget for an editor. Usually, editors have flexible payment plans! If we’re a good fit, we move on to the next step.
   

2. Sample: This step is the most important with any editor. Almost every editor that I’ve ever known has a process like this. A writer should pass about 10-15 pages of their manuscript to potential editors (yes, more than one). The sample would be edited according to the editor’s style. Usually, after the sample edit, the editor will have some general feedback.
   

3. Contract: Purposeful Prose has a simple contract, serving as a summary of the work to be done, the cost of the work to be done, the agreed upon payment plan, the estimated time frame, a nondisclosure agreement [stating that we will not be sharing your work with others] and signatures. We do our best to make sure that everything is in writing!
   

4. Deposit: Before work officially begins, writers must pay an initial deposit. Purposeful Prose does not start work before the deposit is paid. Editors show they fill their end of the bargain at the "sample" stage. At the deposit stage, writers show that they’ll fill their end of the bargain as well!
   

5. Work and Consultations: After the deposit is made, Purposeful Prose begins work on the manuscript. At different stages, we schedule consultations to check up on progress and answer questions.
   

6. Final Delivery: The writer is notified before final delivery of the manuscript. Revision is possible! Just let us know, and we can make arrangements. We can also discuss next steps. Do you want a cover designer and help with publishing, for example? We can help arrange that as well!
   

Purposeful Prose does their best to make the writer-editor relationship as streamlined and personalized as possible, and our process is not too different from those of other amazing editors! We can only speak from our own experiences, though, so make sure you're doing your due diligence to find the editor who's best for you. That said, we'd love to see if you're a good fit! Contact us today to schedule a consultation, and we'll help you as best we can!

Purposeful Prose is currently working with a very talented writer who will be helping us and other writers take a peek behind the curtain and see what our editing process looks like. Stay tuned, and let us know what you’d like to learn about!