5 Benefits of Working with a Freelance Editor

As you progress on your writing journey, investing in professional editing can dramatically improve your story. Your editor will provide comments on your manuscript’s strengths and areas of improvement. Implementing your editor’s recommendations will help you transform your draft into a masterpiece.

In today’s post, we’ll explore five benefits of working with a freelance editor. No matter which type of editing you seek, freelance editors can help you polish your manuscript, grow as an author, and build a more fruitful writing life.

1. Your editor can help you create a well-polished manuscript.

Whether you’re pursuing traditional or independent publishing, a well-edited novel can help you make an excellent impression on readers and industry professionals. When you invest in freelance editing, you invest in your professional growth.

Developmental Editing can strengthen your plot, characters, themes, settings, and other large-scale storytelling elements. Meanwhile, Line Editing can help you refine your writing style, while Copyediting and Proofreading can ensure an error-free manuscript.

As an author, you wouldn’t want your name associated with a low-quality book. Poor plots, clunky prose, and grammatical mistakes can distract readers from the story you’ve worked so hard to tell. By contrast, professional editing can help you develop a polished creation of which you can be proud.

2. Your editor can help you spot areas of improvement beyond what you can see on your own.

Before you send your manuscript to an editor, revise it to the best of your own ability. When you submit your best work, your editor will be able to help you take your manuscript even further than you could take it on your own.

Oftentimes, authors are too familiar with their own work to determine whether they’re conveying their intentions clearly. For this reason, a professional editor provides an objective outside perspective that reveals which components of the story are strong and which could benefit from revision.

3. Your editor can offer more specialized instruction than writing resources.

Certainly, writing instruction books, articles, podcasts, videos, and conferences can expand your knowledge. However, these resources can’t provide specific guidance tailored to your novel. For instance, you might read an article about how to build immersive story worlds, but this article can’t pinpoint the specific places your story world could use improvement.

By contrast, a freelance editor provides line-by-line comments on your manuscript. These comments don’t contain solely general advice. Instead, they identify exactly how you can enhance your character development, plot structure, setting description, and many other aspects of your story. In this way, an editor can serve as your personal one-on-one writing mentor.

4. Your editor can provide more in-depth feedback than beta readers and critique partners.

To gain preliminary feedback on your manuscript, you can make use of beta readers, critique partners, and critique groups. However, these colleagues can’t replace a freelance editor. Editors evaluate your manuscript based on years of experience and knowledge of the writing and publishing world. As a result, editors provide much more detailed feedback than unpaid beta readers.

Although beta readers can’t substitute for professional editing, they can help you improve your novel before you submit it to a freelance editor.

5. Your editor can help you cultivate important skills as an author.

When you receive specific feedback tailored to your novel, you’ll be able to identify your individual writing strengths and weaknesses. Understanding these tendencies will help you develop your style with each book you write.

Similarly, working with an editor allows you to develop personal skills that are crucial for building an author career. Receiving and applying professional feedback gives you hands-on experience with the process of persevering, investing in your growth, and remaining patient over the long term.

Shaping Your Story One Word at a Time

Working with a freelance editor offers numerous advantages for you and your novel. First and foremost, your editor’s comments will equip you to produce an exceptional manuscript that shines on every level—plot, characters, writing style, grammar, and more. Your editor will also help you spot areas of improvement from an objective external perspective.

An editor provides detailed, personalized feedback that dives deeper than beta readers, critique groups, and writing instruction resources. Finally, working with an editor will reveal your tendencies as an author and enrich your patience and perseverance. In all these ways, investing in professional editing will equip you to effectively reach readers with unforgettable stories.

If you’re ready to take the next step, contact me to request a sample edit today. I would be honored to help you develop the story of your dreams!