Review Group discussion

Ask for recommendations. See an indie author whose work was clean and presentable? Ask them who their editor was. There's a lot of editors advertising on forums and such, you can find them other ways. I've always felt that it's important for an editor to "get" a writers style, though, and the easiest way to tell that, is by seeing similar works that they've edited.

I just talked to a professional line editor in Tampa who charges $66/hour. I agreed to send her the first three chapters and will ask for a "not to exceed" project fee.
if she'd good, she's golden; otherwise I'm back in the vanity lane.

You can find plenty of reasonably priced editors. Just because one charges a substantial amount, it does not neccesarily make them a good editor. I agree, shop around, and find one through a well edited indie book.

Good Luck

If a book is already published, what do you hope to gain by working with an editor at that stage?

I've seen better pricing from respected editors...mostly a word count price instead of time.

You might take a look at the people offering services here: http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/8...

Befriend an English teacher for grammar and several people who love to read for plot and flow and resist the rush to publish. Great things are not written they are re-written.

I second Mark above.

Elizabeth wrote: "Larry wrote: "If a book is already published, what do you hope to gain by working with an editor at that stage?"

This is true, there isn't much to gain, especially when the review is out. That's p..."

There's a lot to gain, though, if you can show you are responsive to your readers complaints, can demonstrate that follow-up reviewers had a much cleaner experience, and can prevent other reviewers from driving your rating down if they agree with the initial poor review.

"rush to publish" is not a function of time. A work is finished when it feels finished, when you have exhausted every idea and every avenue that you can take. Allow others to input ideas. Some will be beneficial. Others, not so much. Don't be hard on yourself, learning a craft and yourself as a craftsman, takes time and repetition. Pat yourself on the back you did what few can claim: you finished your project.

Some authors do 8 books/yr. proud of 16-hour days yakking into a talk-to-text program. They may approach a book worth savoring in a few years. At 5-cents/word it ain't easy. So write the best book you can, then begin the next. It gets easier.