You’ve spent months – if not years – lovingly crafting your book. Now it’s time to choose the right editor to edit your writing.

The trouble is there are so many of editors to choose from. How do you go about finding the right one? How do you know who to trust? Who will work best with you?

Here’s a quick checklist to help you make the right decision:

1. Check out the testimonials

Don’t be fooled by a fancy webpage and clever sales copy. This is just smoke and mirrors. Check out the editor’s testimonials page. Are these red hot testimonials? Or are they lukewarm? If they don’t have any testimonials at all, don’t even think about it!

2. Think ‘Quality Control’

Your alarm bells should sound if you see editorial services that list scores of editors. Bigger does NOT necessarily mean better. Some agencies seem to stack up the names in the same way that a collector hoards stamps. Many of these editors have simply written in with their resumes asking for work – then immediately get uploaded on to the website because it ‘looks good’ (well, to the unknowing). Think about quality control. You need to check exactly WHO is monitoring quality and HOW.

3. Think results, results, results

Over the years, I’ve met published authors and professional editors who are absolutely CLUELESS. They sometimes have wonderful resumes, and credentials as long as your arm. I’m talking about editors who have worked in top publishing houses for 20 years or more and authors with strings of literary awards. But here’s the thing – they may work well on their own or in a certain environment. But when it comes to helping others, they are nothing short of useless.

It’s easy to get taken in by someone’s professional resume. However, what you really need to know is that they will give YOU the results that YOU want. Results are all that matters!

4. Are you on the same wavelength?

Make sure you are both trying to achieve the same goal. It’s no point working with an editor who loves highbrow literary fiction if your book is for the mainstream mass market. Make sure you both talk the same language. Check out the testimonials to make sure their aims align with yours.

5. Pay peanuts, get monkeys!
I can’t remember who first said this to me, but this is SO true. Don’t just go for the cheapest option. If you pick a service just because it’s cheapest, it may end up costing you in the long-run. I’ve made this same mistake myself many times. The fact is someone who is well-paid for their services is more likely to pay meticulous care and attention to your work, than someone who is paid peanuts!