How to Hire a Copy Editor and What You Need to Know About the Editing Process

Photo by Neel on Unsplash

This is what you need to know about hiring a professional copy editor to work on a writing project with you.

It covers the general principles of the copy editing process, which are mostly consistent across genres and contexts.

However, the bulk of my experience is working on professional writing rather than fiction — and with people in organizations rather than private individuals — so the information here is skewed in that direction.

It can be daunting, the first time you engage an editor.

Maybe you feel self-conscious about your writing, and you’re not sure what to expect.

Maybe you’re super-confident you’ve written an absolutely flawless masterpiece, and you’re shocked when the file you supplied is sent back with oceans of red tracked changes in it.

Wherever you are in your writing process, there can be a lot to get your head around at the beginning of a relationship with an editor.

So let’s demystify some of the experience.

But before I move on to discuss the different levels of editing, I want to look at some expectations on both sides of the table.