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https://thewritelife.com/how-much-to-pay-for-a-book-editor/ https://thewritelife.com/how-much-to-pay-for-a-book-editor/ 1-10 thousand for hiring someone to edi

https://thewritelife.com/how-much-to-pay-for-a-book-editor/ https://thewritelife.com/how-much-to-pay-for-a-book-editor/ 1-10 thousand for hiring someone to edit. That could be the entire profit of most self published books. Someone like Brandon Sanderson has not only an editor but continuity staff to make sure his plot lines aren’t full of holes and timelines make sense. But he sells millions.

dpwm 5y ago
> Someone like Brandon Sanderson has not only an editor but continuity staff to make sure his plot lines aren’t full of holes and timelines make sense. But he sells millions. I always thought that’s an important part of what an editor does. I've edited, typeset and generally helped develop a couple of books for a friend who self-publishes fiction. I look out for stuff like continuity errors right down to seemingly petty ones, such as a TV being turned off twice. Maybe some readers wouldn’t notice, but I do. I first read over to get a feel for the book, then I discuss any high-level improvements — little things like suggesting re-ordering chapters to maintain suspense. Sometimes it means breaking bad news gently, such as song lyrics in a work of fiction not falling under the doctrine of fair dealing[0] and licensing fees that make an editor look cheap. In the self-published space, achieving 9th decile in terms of cover art, editing or typesetting doesn’t seem like much of a challenge. It’s really nice to see a draft become a finished product and be a part of that. [0] Fair dealing is like fair use but in the UK.
derefr 5y ago
But surely part of the reason the most self-published books do so badly in the first place, is because they're poorly edited. By analogy: all that $5 plastic junk on Wish/AliExpress/etc. The no-name manufacturing companies responsible for this dross, charge so little because they have no idea how to make quality products. Nobody will pay more than they're charging for the low standard of quality they're capable of putting out, so that's what they have to charge. But when one of these companies figures out how to make higher-quality stuff, they do start selling it for more, and begin creating a trustworthy brand, and begin marketing that brand on more trustworthy marketplaces, and so they end up with higher profit margins, despite the increased CapEx.
huhtenberg 5y ago
> continuity staff to make sure his plot lines aren’t full of holes I'd assume for books of his scale authors use specialized software to keep track of plot lines and characters.

dpwm 5y ago

> Someone like Brandon Sanderson has not only an editor but continuity staff to make sure his plot lines aren’t full of holes and timelines make sense. But he sells millions. I always thought that’s an important part of what an editor does. I've edited, typeset and generally helped develop a couple of books for a friend who self-publishes fiction. I look out for stuff like continuity errors right down to seemingly petty ones, such as a TV being turned off twice. Maybe some readers wouldn’t notice, but I do. I first read over to get a feel for the book, then I discuss any high-level improvements — little things like suggesting re-ordering chapters to maintain suspense. Sometimes it means breaking bad news gently, such as song lyrics in a work of fiction not falling under the doctrine of fair dealing[0] and licensing fees that make an editor look cheap. In the self-published space, achieving 9th decile in terms of cover art, editing or typesetting doesn’t seem like much of a challenge. It’s really nice to see a draft become a finished product and be a part of that. [0] Fair dealing is like fair use but in the UK.

derefr 5y ago

But surely part of the reason the most self-published books do so badly in the first place, is because they're poorly edited. By analogy: all that $5 plastic junk on Wish/AliExpress/etc. The no-name manufacturing companies responsible for this dross, charge so little because they have no idea how to make quality products. Nobody will pay more than they're charging for the low standard of quality they're capable of putting out, so that's what they have to charge. But when one of these companies figures out how to make higher-quality stuff, they do start selling it for more, and begin creating a trustworthy brand, and begin marketing that brand on more trustworthy marketplaces, and so they end up with higher profit margins, despite the increased CapEx.

huhtenberg 5y ago

> continuity staff to make sure his plot lines aren’t full of holes I'd assume for books of his scale authors use specialized software to keep track of plot lines and characters.