Baby Evil Writers 101: When You Need and Editor

Baby Evil Writers 101: When You Need an Editor

Julie Butcher

            I waited ages to actually hire an editor to look at my writing, and probably wasted at least two years. Don’t do what I did. Really, it’s not an option in today’s market. The problem is, when do you send up the Bat Signal?  When is the exact right time to hire someone with experience to read your evil work?

1.      When you don’t know what to do to make it better.

2.      When your beta readers tell you eleventy-five different things and none of them agree.

3.      When you’re routinely rejected by agents and you don’t know why.

4.      When you start ripping out hands full of hair.

5.      When enough chocolate isn’t a thing anymore. (Okay, that one is iffy—because chocolate.)

6.      When your characters act like teenager s and are all YOU CAN’T MAKE ME DO THE THING.

I’m not saying you won’t absolutely hate what they tell you. You will fight it because the fixing will be a ton of work, and writers really don’t like work. Creating is fun, and working is called work because if you do it right, then you get money. Ergo, writing is work because here at the evil league, we believe this to be a fact. Also we, like Captain Mal, want paid for a job.

So when it comes time for you to find an editor, do your research. Ask your writing friends. Any reputable editor will not hesitate to give you clients as referrals. Check their background. Read their resume. Ask things. Make sure they have more experience writing than you do. Then suck it up, pay the money, fix the book, and jump light years in your writing.

Unless you find out what is wrong, you cannot fix it.