4 Tips for Your First Time Working With an Editor

Because working with an editor should be delightful, not scary.

Let's be honest. When you start working with an editor for the first time, it can feel a little scary.

You’re sharing your manuscript, the project you’ve worked so hard on, with a stranger on the internet. You’re inviting another person into a process that up until now has been entirely solo.

And you’re entering an industry of professionals that’s probably entirely new to you. What should you expect? And what’s expected of you?

In this episode, I’m demystifying what it’s like to work with an editor. I’m sharing four tips to help you make the most of your time with your editor—even (or especially!) if you’ve never worked with an editor before.

You’ll learn:

• What NOT to do while you wait for your editor’s feedback
• 10+ things you CAN (and maybe should!) do while you wait
• What to do AFTER you get your feedback to move forward with clarity and confidence
• And more!

Your work with your developmental editor can be one of the most rewarding creative partnerships you’ll ever experience. That may sound hyperbolic, but it’s 100% true.

The first step is simply knowing what to expect. And that’s what you’ll learn in this episode.

Links mentioned in the episode:

• Check out my manuscript wishlist: alicesudlow.com/wishlist
• Want me to edit your book? Tell me about your book here: alicesudlow.com/contact
• Ep. 66: 4 Tips to Find the Right Editor for Your Novel

Transcript

0:00

Your editor wants you to be successful. We want your story to be successful. We want to help and support you. We want your story to be the best that it can be. And we want to facilitate that process and make it easier for you to accomplish your goals. We are on your side. We're not against you. We're not here to condemn your story or shut you down. We're here to collaborate with you, support you and help you achieve your goals for your writing. We're so excited to see what your manuscripts can become. And we are honored to be part of your creative journey. Welcome to your next draft. Let's be honest. When you start working with an editor for the very first time, it can feel a little scary. It's a scary thing to share your manuscripts, this project that you've worked so hard on with a stranger that you met on the internet, because that's probably how you met your editor. It's also scary to engage in a part of the book production process. That's new to you when you're just getting started writing. And when you're working on the first draft, you can pretty much Intuit your next steps on your own. You have an idea for a story you pick up a pin or open a new document on your computer. And you start writing until you get to the end. But after you finished the first draft, the process is a lot less clear and a lot more difficult to do entirely on your own. And whether you decide to hire an editor after draft one or after draft five, At some point, you're going to reach a junction where your only logical next step is to involve other people in your book creation process. And it's a scary thing to work with a professional in a field that's new to you where you don't know what the process is or what the etiquette is or what's expected of you, or what you can expect from someone that you're working with. All of that on top of the fact that you're sharing your precious creation with a stranger that you met on the internet. After you've gone through this process a few times, it's going to feel old hat. The vulnerability of sharing your work for feedback will probably always be there. But the process itself won't be a confusing, scary mystery. But if you've never worked with an editor before. You're not there yet. It might still feel like a confusing, scary mystery. So let's demystify it. Shall we? In today's episode, I want to make the process of working with an editor, feel a little less scary and a little more accessible. I'm going to share four tips to help you know, what to expect and how to make the most of your work with your editor. We'll cover some do's and don'ts some etiquette around editing. And what you can do to make your work with your editor, a pleasant and rewarding process for you both. This is actually the second part of a two episode series on how to work with an editor. In the first episode, I shared four tips to help you find the right editor for your book. So if you haven't found an editor yet, but you're thinking you'd like to work with one, I recommend that you head back to that episode to help you select a great editor for your book. You can find that episode@alicesedler.com slash 66. And once you found your editor and you vetted them and you've learned what their editing process will look like, and you've decided to work with them, then come back to these tips to make the most of that work together. And before we get into the tips, I will also add that. Of course I, myself am an editor and I do work with one-on-one clients in the ways that I'm going to be describing in this episode. My goal in this episode is to give you a guide, a kind of handbook for how to work with just about any developmental editor or really any type of editor. I'm going to cover some baseline expectations that will apply to pretty much any editor that you work with. Now, if you've been listening to your next draft and thinking, I really love what Alice has to say about story, and I would love to get her feedback on my manuscript. Well, the good news is I do work one-on-one with writers. and if you think that I am a great fit for your story, I would love to hear from you. You can go to Alice solo.com/wishlist to check out my manuscript wishlist and the types of books that I am a really great fit for. And you can go to Alice said though.com/contact to tell me about your book. That's the first step to work with me. Fill out that form on that page to tell me about your book and we'll connect to talk about whether we're a good fit and what it would look like to work together. That said, regardless of whether I'm the best fit for your book or another editor is the best fit. The four tips that I have for you in this episode are going to help you make the most of any editing relationship. So you can get the most out of professional editing on your book. Ready for the tips. Let's dive in. Tip number one. Don't edit your manuscript while you're waiting for your editors feedback. Once you've sent your manuscript to your editor. Wait. I don't edit your manuscript while you're waiting for their feedback. Put the manuscript down and step away. Just wait. Your editor is preparing their best feedback based on the version of the manuscript that they have. You want that version to be fully up to date. So their feedback is fully relevant. It's not helpful to either of you, if, for instance, your editor prepares feedback on the climax of your book. And while you're waiting, you change the climax. So then when they share their feedback, it doesn't match your story. It's also not a good practice to send your editor updated versions of your manuscript while your editor is working on the project. If your editor is midway through reading your manuscript and you send them a new version, they'd have to start all over again from the beginning in order to give you feedback on all your changes. That would be a huge delay. And I don't know of any editors who would be willing to do that, to be quite honest. The exception here is if you know that you're sending your manuscript to your editor ahead of time, and you know that they aren't starting work on it right away. You can check with them to see if you can send them an updated version before they start working. I've done this with clients. Sometimes a writer might send me a manuscript a couple of weeks or a month before I actually start reading it. And I'll typically say, just so you know, I'll be starting work on X date. So if you have any changes that you want to make between now, and then feel free to do that and send me the updated version. Sometimes writers, take me up on that. And they keep working on their manuscripts right up until the day that I start editing. And sometimes they decide to go ahead and put their manuscripts down and work on other things. In the meantime. If you're not sure if your editor has started working on your manuscript yet. And you've thought of some changes that you'd like to make. It's totally reasonable to email them and ask, you can say something like, Hey, I'm curious, have you started reading my manuscript yet? If not, I'd like to make a couple changes and then send you a fresh version before you start. If you have, I won't make any changes. And I look forward to your feedback. And if they have started. Except that gracefully and don't touch your manuscript. You can start a list of all of your ideas for what you would like to do in your story next. And then you can discuss those ideas with your editor When they're ready with their feedback, just don't make changes to the manuscript itself. The big truth. Here is book publishing is a waiting game. There are going to be so many points throughout your author career where you will pass some part of this project off to someone else. And it will be entirely out of your hands and your task will be to wait for days or weeks or months while someone else does their part. So this is something just to get used to and make peace with. Which brings me to tip number two. I do work on other parts of your author career while you wait. Yes, you've put your manuscript down and you're not allowing yourself to make any changes to it while you wait. But that doesn't mean that there's nothing you can do. On the contrary, there is so much you can do while you wait. A successful author career involves so much more than simply writing a great book. That's the heart of it. And it's essential. Of course. But that alone will not lead you to authorial success. Writers tend to love the writing process. They range from loving the editing process. Just as much to grudgingly accepting it as an unavoidable part. But I can count on one hand, the number of writers that I have met, who loved the rest of the tasks involved in a thriving author career. Especially marketing almost no one likes marketing. The thing is all of the non-writing parts of your author career. Have to happen at some point, if you want your books to reach your readers. Yes. Even marketing. And the waiting time in between sending your manuscript to your editor. And getting your editor's feedback is the perfect time to make progress on all of those non-writing tasks. Yes, even marketing. Yes, I'm going to keep saying it because no one wants to hear it. Yes. Even marketing. Here are a dozen things that you can do while you're waiting for your editor's feedback. One. Create a social media profile for yourself as an author. To create an author website. Three create an email newsletter to send to your readers. Four. Start building an email list of readers. Five, write a short story that you can give to readers for free as a lead magnet to attract new readers. Six. Right. Several short stories and try entering them into writing contests or submitting them for publication and then theologies or literary magazines. Seven. Network with other authors at writing conferences and defense. Eight read books on writing craft. Nine. Study books that are similar to yours to figure out how to emulate them in your writing. 10. Research avenues to publication and start evaluating your options and what you'd like to do. Traditional publishing indie publishing, small press hybrid, something else. 11. Start gathering a list of comps, comparative titles, which you'll need to know in order to position your book within the marketplace. 12. Write a draft of your query letter. If you want to query agents or your back cover book description, if you want to self publish. This is a non-exhaustive list. I could keep going. There are so many things that you can do while you're waiting for your editor's feedback that don't involve looking at your manuscript at all. Hopefully, there are a few things on that list that don't make you want to curl up in a ball and hide from the publishing world. If that whole entire list does make you cringe though. Here's the good news. The advantage of working on these things in between drafts while you're waiting for your editor. Is that you know, that you have an in-point when you will be coming back to your book. This will not be your main focus forever. This will be your main focus for four weeks or so, while you wait for your feedback. Then your editor will reach out and tell you that your feedback is ready. And you'll get to dive back into your story. The space where you're writing is fun and inspiring and exciting. And if you focus on these non-writing tasks for just a few weeks, every few months in between each draft, you'll be tackling the enormous and scary project of marketing in baby steps over a long period of time. That way you won't be trying to create an entire marketing strategy from scratch when your book is finished and ready to go. And trust me, no one wants that. No one. No writer ever has ever gotten to the end when their book is ready to publish and said, thank goodness. I'm so glad I didn't prepare marketing at all. And I get to start this entire project from scratch now. No one says that. So. When you send your manuscript to your editor, close out at the document, put it down and challenge yourself, not to touch it until your editor sends you their feedback. Make peace with the weight. And embrace the built in pause from your editing process. As an opportunity to make progress on the less exciting, but equally important areas of your author career. Yes, even marketing. All right. So we've covered what to do and what not to do while you're waiting for your editor's feedback. You wait patiently, you make progress in other areas of your author career. And then your editor reaches out and says, good news. The feedback is ready. What then. Well first, your editor is going to deliver your feedback according to the structure that you established together, when you first agreed on your editing package. For my clients. This typically means that we're going to get on one or more zoom calls to talk through my feedback and their ideas for other editors. This might mean that you get feedback in the form of calls and editorial letter, inline notes or other deliverables. Start by listening or reading through all the feedback that you get. Just take a look around at what your editor has shared with you. Hopefully you'll be able to spot pretty quickly some ideas from your editor that make you go. Ah, yes. That makes sense. Or even, wow. Yes. That's going to address a problem that I was concerned about. But you might also feel a little overwhelmed by it. All. Between the intensity of changes that your editor might suggest. And the sheer volume of feedback. It's easy to get overwhelmed here. So if you see all your editor's feedback and you think, oh, holy cow, this is a lot. And I don't know what to do with all of this. Don't worry. This is normal. It does not mean that you're a bad writer. It just means that getting feedback can be a lot. When I get feedback, I do my best to make that experience as digestible and approachable as possible. I'll point out where to start to dig into all my suggestions, I'll include actionable next steps so that you know what to do next. And by sometimes even point out which areas of feedback to focus on last or skip for a while, if the feedback is really overwhelming, That said we editors can do our absolute best to make our feedback approachable and digestible. And writers can still get overwhelmed and confused by it all. So tip number three for working with your editor is to ask follow up questions. Don't be afraid to reach out and ask for more clarification about things that you don't understand or guidance on, what steps you should take next. Once you've looked through all your feedback. Editors will often specify what kind of support they offer after they deliver your feedback. There might be unlimited email support, or email support for a couple of weeks after delivery. There might be the option for a follow-up call. The principal. I like to keep in mind though, is if you're stuck, that's the perfect time to reach out to an editor. Your editor will be happy to answer your questions and clarify your edit. And they'll let you know if the questions are big enough to merit a new editing engagement. Above all we editors do not want to leave you confused and overwhelmed at the end of your edit. We want you to walk away with confidence and clarity, knowing exactly what to do next, to make your manuscript even better. So don't be afraid to reach out and ask questions. Which brings me to the final tip for working with your editor. Don't be afraid. That's it. I know it can be a frightening experience to share your manuscript of someone else, Especially if it's your first time working with an editor. Especially if your editor is a stranger that you met on the internet, which is almost always the case. But if you have vetted your editor and you found a good fit. You are in safe hands and your editor is on your side. And even when they give you feedback on things that aren't working in your story, or when they recommend that you change some things in your story. No, that they are in this creative process with you. And that you have a shared goal for your book. Your editor wants you to be successful. We want your story to be successful. We want to help and support you. We want your story to be the best that it can be. And we want to facilitate that process and make it easier for you to accomplish your goals. We are on your side. We're not against you. We're not here to condemn your story or shut you down. We're here to collaborate with you, support you and help you achieve your goals for your writing. We're so excited to see what your manuscripts can become. And we are honored to be part of your creative journey. There's no fear here. Only support as we pursue a shared goal together. Of course, the caveat for that sense of safety is that first you'll need to find a good fit editor. If you're not sure how to do that. Head back to the previous episode of your next draft and check out my four tips to find the right editor for you and your book. You can find that at Alice. dot com slash 66. And there you have it. My top four tips for how to work with a developmental editor. Especially if you've never. Never worked with a developmental editor before. Here they are again. One don't edit your manuscript while you're waiting for your editors feedback. Send them your materials, then wait for them to work their magic on your story. I do not make changes while you wait. Too. Instead work on other parts of your author career. Marketing is a great thing to work on during the natural breaks in between drafts. Three. When you receive your editor's feedback, feel free to ask follow-up questions. Your editor wants you to move forward with confidence, not confusion. So ask away. Four. And finally. Don't be afraid. Your editor is on your side. We are working towards your success together, and we are honored to be a part of your process. I hope all these tips help demystify the experience of working with an editor just a little bit so that you feel more excited and more confident about taking this really cool step and your book creation process. I hope this helps you make the most of the work that you do with the editor who was a great fit for you and your book. And if you'd like to see if I might be that editor, who's a great fit for you and your book, then check out my manuscript wishlist and see what kinds of books I'm a great fit for at alisando.com/wishlist. And then reach out and tell me about your book at alisando.com/contact. I am so excited for you to discover how delightfully rewarding it can be to work with an editor. Who's a wonderful creative partner for you and your story. And I am cheering you on as you work with your editor to turn that story into an amazing published book. Happy editing.