Absent a handy little publishing rule book, it's fairly easy to be brought up short with questions of "what now?" after you've written the literary gem you wish to see in print. At this point, questions such as this run thicker than answers. Is my work expected to be pristine? Am I expected to have it edited for publication myself? Am I expected to know the preferred styles and format? What constitutes a good--or good enough--edit? Will it advantage me to have it professionally edited? Where can I find an editor who won't take me for a ride and/or not improve my manuscript? What can I expect an editor to do? How much should I expect to pay?

Ballpark answers to these questions are, respectively: No, not really, but "close to" helps; not normally, but you may find someone you submit the work to suggest that you do--and they may be right, but they may also be a scammer; not precisely, but pretty closely if you want to be competitive; one that helps the manuscript sell and helps you learn how not to need a editor the next time; not usually; can be done on the Internet, but follow the credentials; a range of services that this article will tell you about; not as much as most of the advertising tries to make you believe. Perhaps the following will help make the questions less burdensome.

If you have sufficient training and talent to be competitive in publishing your book or article in today's tough markets, you really should not need to engage the services of a professional editor to work on your manuscript before you submit it to an agent or publisher. The strength of your writing and ability to tell a story should shine through minor content and style problems in your manuscript, and traditional publishers have editors of their own to polish the manuscripts they contract to publish (and it will mean nothing to them that you have already had it edited to your specifications).

However, there may be situations in which you feel a professional edit would enhance the salability of your manuscript, an agent (honestly) feels you need to have the manuscript edited before approaching publishers, or a publisher is only interested in publishing the work if you make revisions that you need the help of a professional editor to accomplish. With the current deluge of well-written manuscripts in the publishing market, agents and publishers indeed are expecting work to be more highly polished when they receive it than ever before. Also, if you are self-publishing or contracting the services of a book production company (e.g., a POD producer or other form of vanity press), you will probably have to arrange for and pay for the edit of the book yourself.

So, what can you do if you think your manuscript needs an edit before you submit it to an agent or publisher, if you are self-publishing, or even if you just wish to have a sample of your work professionally edited so that you can uncover and be made aware of bad habits and unwanted quirks (which is one of the best reasons to seek a private
edit)?

You can find a fresh set of eyes to review your manuscript by asking literary or extensively read friends to read and make suggestions and point out possible grammar, spelling, and punctuation problems or by asking for recommendations for such readers from other authors or from local publishers or university creative writing programs. You can also find editors listed in the publisher's "bible" of publishing services listing, the Literary Marketplace, a large, two-volume set published annually and available in the reference section of most public libraries in the United States. Or, with a wary eye, you can do an Internet search for editorial help. Reliable editorial services that can be contacted via the Internet include the following:

The Editorial Freelancers Association , which has demonstrated training and experience requirements for membership and has a job board where you can list jobs (for at least $15/hour). The Website also has a listing of members who offer their services and who can be approached directly with project proposals.

. consulting-editors.com

. editorialdepartment.net

. book-editing.com

A less reliable Internet job board where you can advertise for an editor can be found at the Copyeditor Web site. Credentialed editors do check this Web site, but there is nothing to keep those with no experience or ability at all from bidding for an editorial job from this listing. If you use this service, it is doubly
important that you ask for and verify credentials.

When considering engaging the services of an editor, pay attention to the type of editor you think you need and the credentials and experience in working with books similar to yours of the editors you are researching. Book and journal/magazine article editing is a specialty-primarily because the publishing industry has highly specialized style and format preferences that don't match college-level English rules. Just because someone is a college English teacher or a technical or newspaper editor does not mean they have the right qualifications or skills to be editing for the book-publishing world. In addition, the different genres and categories of book publishing are specialized to the point that, once you've decided to invest in your own editorial help, you'd be best served by only engaging an editor with demonstrable editing experience in that genre or category.