Getting Your Manuscript Ready For Editing

Are you looking to have your manuscript published? Whether you want to publish traditionally or self-publish, it is wise to consider having your work edited professionally. Still, the act of sharing your work with another person can be daunting. This is particularly true when they are a professional you are expressly inviting to judge it. So, how do you know when it’s ready for an editor? This article takes a look at what it means for a manuscript to be ‘ready’ for editing and details some of the methods of preparing your manuscript for editing, cutting the cost of editing, formatting it correctly, and polishing your work in the process.

Notebook with flowers - Preparing Your Manuscript For Editing

How do you know your manuscript is ready for an editor?

At a minimum, it is highly recommended that you complete a second draft before submitting your manuscript for editing. A second draft is the process of returning to the start of your manuscript and going over it line by line. As you review the content from beginning to end, you make any changes or corrections you feel are necessary.

Far more than just a proofread, the second draft is key to fully realising your work. This is because it gives you the opportunity to revisit everything you have written at least once. There is often a substantial amount of time—months, even years—between the first time you sit down to write and the moment you write ‘The End’. This is more than enough time for inconsistencies, repetitions, or oversights to form. Even greater than the second edit’s potential to resolve such issues is its tendency to spark new ideas. It enables you to expand and improve upon what’s already been written.

But this brings us back to the original question: time.

Maybe the thought of spending one more minute with the manuscript makes you want to tear your hair out. Perhaps you’re too busy to elevate it to the standard that you’d hoped for. You could be on your third or fourth draft, and something still doesn’t feel right. Maybe you’ve simply given it all you’ve got to give.

How long should I spend preparing my manuscript for editing before hiring a professional?

As with most creative endeavours, there are very few hard and fast rules here. That said, it is best to submit your work for editing only after you have been through several drafts. Self-edit as much as you can. Not even the most accomplished authors produce a finished product on the first draft! If you have arrived at this page immediately after writing your epilogue, chances are your manuscript is not yet ready for an editor. At least, not in the sense that you will have done all you could have to round it out and realise your vision with your own hands.

There is no ‘wrong time’ to submit your work for editing. Still, the more kinks you work out yourself, the less time your editor has to spend on them (and the more money stays in your pocket!). It’s important to understand, however, that there’s only so far that self-editing can take you. Put simply, no amount of self-editing will ever enable you to reach the standard of polish that a professional editor can provide.

How should you format your manuscript?

Unlike publishers, editors do not expect any particular standard of formatting. It's nevertheless a good idea to familiarise yourself with basic publishing guidelines, such as margins, page size, font, indents, and line spacing. Publishers receive such a high volume of manuscripts in a day that they will often use poor formatting as a means of filtering the submissions they read. This means they may not even begin to read your work if it is not formatted appropriately. Many editors do not correct (or even comment on) style or formatting conventions. This can leave you at a disadvantage, even after having your work edited professionally.

At editors4you, these conventions are applied as a standard to all of our edits. No matter what stage your manuscript is at, how much time you have dedicated to self-editing, what kind of editing you may need, or how familiar you are with the process, we have a range of services and personalised advice to suit your situation and help you to achieve your goals, both creative and professional.

When it comes to preparing your manuscript for editing, publication, and beyond, there is simply no substitute for a second set of eyes—and no better set of eyes than an editor’s!

Head on over to our book editing page for details on our personal service and expertise. Submit an enquiry at the bottom of this page to receive a no-obligation quote or sample edit.

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