What shape should your book be in before you hire an editor?
Hiring an editor is an important milestone. It usually means you have reached the point where you are ready to stop looking at your manuscript as a work in progress and start looking at it as a book.
But there is a question authors sometimes overlook:
Is your manuscript actually ready for an editor?
Sometimes what looks like a manuscript is really an early collection of ideas, notes, scenes, research, memories or fragments that still need to become a coherent book.
An editor can help you make a good manuscript better. They can help you identify structural problems, strengthen the writing, improve clarity, resolve inconsistencies and prepare the work for publication. But an editor cannot always determine what your book is supposed to be while simultaneously trying to edit it.
If the manuscript is still changing fundamentally from week to week, you may need a different kind of editorial support first.
Editing is not the same as writing the book
One of the most useful ways to think about the editing process is this:
Editing works with existing material.
That does not mean your manuscript needs to be perfect before you contact an editor. Quite the opposite. A developmental editor is there to help you identify what is not working and what needs to change.
Your first draft can be messy the structure can be imperfect. There might be weak chapters, repetitive sections, missing information, unclear character motivations or an ending that does not quite work. What you generally need, however, is a manuscript with a recognisable shape and there should be enough material for an editor to understand what you are trying to create.
If you have 80,000 words that tell a complete story but the structure is problematic, you may well be ready for developmental editing.
On the other hand you might have 20,000 words consisting of notes, memories, disconnected scenes and ideas for things that might happen later, then you may not be ready for editing yet. You may still be writing the book. And that is a different stage.
The manuscript does not need to be perfect
Authors sometimes delay hiring an editor because they believe they need to polish every sentence first, which is sometimes not the case. In fact, spending months perfecting individual sentences before you have dealt with the larger structural issues can create more work later. There is little point in beautifully polishing Chapter 3 if Chapter 3 gets cut in the developmental editing stage.
Likewise, there is no need to obsess over commas when your protagonist's motivation, your argument or the order of your chapters still needs substantial work.
For most books, the general progression looks something like:
Idea
Planning/research
Drafting
Revision
Developmental editing
Line/copy editing
Proofreading
Publication
There can be considerable overlap between these stages, and authors work differently. You may also work with a developmental editor earlier than this, particularly if you need help shaping a book while you are writing it. But there is an important difference between asking an editor to help you revise a manuscript and asking an editor to turn a collection of material into a manuscript. The latter is mor inline with what a ghostwriter does and that’s an important distinction.
What does having a finished first draft look like?
For fiction, that usually means you have a complete story from beginning to end. You may know that the middle is weak, have characters who need more development, and glaring plot holes that need attention.
For nonfiction, it can mean you have written the substantive material that makes up the book. Your argument, ideas, research, examples or expertise are substantially there, even if the organisation needs some work.
For memoirs, it might mean you have moved beyond simply collecting memories and have begun shaping them into a cohesive narrative. This last distinction is probably the most important when it comes to memoirs. An editor needs to be able to see the story you are trying to tell.
Signs that your manuscript may be ready for developmental editing
You may be ready to hire a developmental editor if:
You have written a complete first draft.
You can describe what the book is about.
You know who the intended reader is.
The manuscript has a beginning, middle and end, even if those sections need work.
You have a reasonably clear idea of the book's purpose.
Major characters, arguments, themes or narrative threads are present.
You are prepared to make substantial changes if the editing process identifies problems.
You are looking for an outside perspective on structure, pacing, character, argument, narrative or overall effectiveness.
You have reached the point where you are struggling to see the manuscript objectively yourself.
A manuscript can be rough and still be ready, but rough is not the same as unfinished.
Signs that you may need to write more first
You may want to spend more time drafting before commissioning a full edit if:
You have only written the opening chapters.
The ideas are great but the prose is disconnected.
Major sections are missing.
You are still deciding what the book is about.
You regularly change the premise, structure or central argument.
You are writing chapters in no particular order and do not yet know how they fit together.
You have extensive notes but relatively little manuscript material.
You are still conducting the research that will fundamentally change the book.
You have several possible endings and do not yet know which story you are telling.
You are expecting the editor to tell you what happens next.
None of these things mean you are doing anything wrong. It simply means you are probably still in the writing or development stage. And that is worth recognising before you spend money on an editing package.
What about a manuscript that is a complete mess?
This is where things get slightly more complicated. A manuscript can be messy and still be entirely suitable for developmental editing.
For example, you might have a 90,000-word novel with:
Inconsistent character arcs
Pacing problems
An overlong middle
Unnecessary subplots
A confusing timeline
Scenes that need rewriting
An ending that does not quite land
That is a manuscript an editor can work with. The problem is not that it is messy. The problem is whether there is a book underneath the mess. If the material is still fundamentally a collection of fragments, you may need to take a step back before commissioning a conventional edit.
When you may need editorial coaching instead
Sometimes the answer is to not go away and write another 50,000 words. You may simply need support moving from your current material to a workable manuscript.
Editorial coaching can be useful when you have a substantial amount of material but need help deciding:
What belongs in the book
What does not
What the structure should be
Which ideas deserve more development
What order the material should appear in
What information is missing
What needs to be researched
How to approach the next stage of writing
How to keep moving when you are overwhelmed by the size of the project
This can be particularly useful for a memoir, complex nonfiction, hybrid books and books based on extensive research. Instead of immediately editing every paragraph, the first task may be to work out what the book actually is. The same can be said for fantasy, but in the case of fantasy you are writing the history, so make sure you have all your ducks—and lore—in a row, before taking the next step. A book coach can help you see the big picture and help you to build the premise and subsequent skeleton of the book you are writing.
When you may need a ghostwriter
Sometimes an author has an interesting idea and a large amount of source material but does not yet have the bones and structure required of a manuscript. In that case it can be a ghostwriting project rather than an editing project.
For example, imagine someone has:
20,000 words of notes
Hundreds of pages of research
Recordings of interviews
Personal memories
A rough chapter list
Emails and documents
A strong idea for the book
Files of world and character lore
A 20, 000 word brain dump of a story
If the expectation is that someone will take all those fragments and actually write the book, that is no longer ordinary editing. It is much closer to ghostwriting or substantial editorial development. That distinction should be discussed before the work begins.
Memoir’s needs particular care
Memoir is one of the genres where the difference between "material" and "manuscript" can become especially blurred. People naturally remember their lives as collections of events rather than neatly structured narratives. You might have written 30,000 words about your childhood, another 10,000 about a relationship, several chapters about your career and a collection of stories about your family. While all that information and context is valuable material, it is not necessarily a memoir yet.
Ask yourself the following questions to help you plan out your memoir:
What is the central story?
Where does it begin?
What transformation, question, conflict or theme connects the events?
Which memories belong?
Which are interesting but not relevant?
What does the reader need to understand?
What can be left out?
An editor can help with those questions, particularly at the developmental stage. But you should ideally have enough material and enough clarity about the project for those decisions to be possible.
One of the biggest problems is often changing the book while it is being edited
Editing works best when the author and editor are working on the same book. If the author is still fundamentally changing the manuscript while the editor is working, the editorial process can become circular, with no end in sight.
A chapter gets edited.
The author decides it belongs somewhere else.
The structure changes.
Three chapters are added.
Two characters are removed.
The ending changes.
The opening is rewritten.
The editor now needs to revisit material that has already been edited.
This is not simply inefficient. It can make it very difficult to establish a clear editorial direction. Some revision during editing is completely normal. In fact, developmental editing often results in significant rewriting. But there is a difference between revising because of editorial feedback and continually redefining what the book is while someone is trying to edit it.
Can you explain the book?
Before contacting an editor, try answering these questions.
What is the book about?
Who is it for?
What does the reader get from reading it?
What happens in it?
What is the central conflict, question, argument or transformation?
What are the major sections or chapters?
What still feels unfinished?
If you cannot answer these questions yet, that does not mean you should abandon the project. It may simply mean that you are not at the editing stage.
What you should send an editor
When you are ready to approach an editor, give them enough information to understand the project.
Depending on the genre and type of editing, this might include:
The manuscript
The approximate word count
The genre or category
A short synopsis or description
Your intended readership
Your publishing plans, if known
Any particular concerns you have about the manuscript
Relevant comparable books
Your preferred variety of English, if applicable
Information about previous editorial work
A voice or tone guide if you have one
Any deadlines you are working towards
You do not need to produce a perfectly formatted publishing proposal simply to ask an editor whether they can help. But the more clearly you can explain the project, the easier it is for an editor to assess what it needs.
Don't hire the wrong service for the stage you're at
One of the most expensive mistakes an author can make is paying for the wrong type of editorial work.
If you need help figuring out what your book is, a proofreading package will not solve the problem.
If the manuscript has major structural problems, copyediting every sentence may be premature.
If you have a pile of research and 15,000 words of notes, commissioning a line edit may not be the right starting point.
If you need someone to turn your source material into a book, you may be looking for a ghostwriter rather than an editor.
The right service depends on the stage of the project.
Before you hire an editor: a quick checklist
You are probably ready to discuss editing if you can say:
☐ I have a substantial amount of the manuscript written.
☐ I know what kind of book I am writing.
☐ I can explain the book's central idea, story or argument.
☐ I know who I am writing for.
☐ I have a complete first draft, or enough substantial material for the specific editorial service I am considering.
☐ I am open to changing the manuscript.
☐ I understand that editing may require rewriting.
☐ I am not expecting the editor to write the entire book unless we have specifically agreed on a ghostwriting or writing-development service.
☐ I have allowed enough time for revision after receiving editorial feedback.
If you can tick most of these boxes, you are probably in a good position to start talking to an editor.
If you cannot, don't panic.
You don't need to rush a manuscript into editing simply because you have reached a certain word count.
Sometimes the most useful thing an editor can tell you is not what comma to change or which chapter to cut, it is that the book needs another stage of development, or editing first.
And finding that out before you commission a full edit is exactly what a good editorial conversation should help you do.
Need an editor for your book? Get in contact with us to discuss how we can help you finish your books.
