Many writers, authors and marketing people, in recent years, have entered into the business of helping authors. Some of us, of course, have been working within the industry for a long time. But with the shaky economy and the huge new wave of authors coming on scene, more and more people without a lot of experience are offering various services to new authors.
There are book shepherds, writing coaches, editorial assistants, marketing/publicity people and ghostwriters, for example. Even traditional publishing houses are setting up self-publishing arms in order to help authors become published. There are fewer and fewer reasons for authors not to publish these days and more and more reasons why they can.
Before you sign with an editor, publicity manager, publishing consultant or other author’s helper, make sure that it is a good match. For example,
• How do you know this person? If he or she has been recommended, if you have been following this person’s career for a while, if you’re impressed by the material this person creates on the topic, he or she may be worth pursuing.
• Get an example and an estimate before signing with a new editor, ghostwriter and even publishing consultant. But remember, less isn’t always better. I had a hopeful author contact me once about editing her book. I gave her a quote. She decided to get quotes from others—which isn’t a bad idea, if you also check credentials. But the editor she chose for her manuscript quoted something like $300 to my $1,500 to edit her 200 page manuscript—which, by the way, needed quite a bit of work. She boasted to me that the “editor” could do the job in just a couple of hours, as opposed to my estimate of around 30 hours. Well, this author came back to me a few weeks later to tell me what a huge mistake she had made. She spent $300 for nothing more than a quick automatic spellcheck. Yes, there are scammers out to get even the hardworking, serious, diligent author. So beware. You will usually get what you pay for.
• Ask for references. Also check out the comments/testimonials posted at the individual’s website.
• Don’t necessarily trust lists of qualified, reliable book shepherds, etc. Why? Many of them require payment in order to be included—a fee is the criteria for inclusion, not qualifications.
If you are currently seeking an editor or someone to help you with your book proposal, consider contacting me: PLFry620@yahoo.com. I have references. You’ll find numerous testimonials on my websites. And I will provide a free evaluation and estimate for editing work.
One thing I do NOT want you to do is to go out and seek a publisher or engage a pay-to-publish service without first hiring an editor. The results could be disastrous.
Special offer for my blog followers: Send me your first three to five manuscript pages and I will do a FREE edit for you. What will this prove? You’ll discover whether or not you like my editing style. This may also give you some guidelines for doing some serious self-editing before you actually send your manuscript to a qualified editor. This can save you money.
Learn more about me and my work here: http://www.patriciafry.com Contact me here: PLFry620@yahoo.com