Special thanks to YA editor and author, Poppy Solomon for today’s guest post. For my instalment: How To Prepare for Publication visit Poppy’s Pages Editing.

Poppy Solomon’s YA novels reflect the traumas and hard lessons she went through as a teenager, and she loves creating ‘unlikable’ characters who learn to heal themselves. Crafting inspiration and escapism is the goal of her creative writing. From her home on the Sunshine Coast, she freelances as a YA editor and coach through her business Poppy’s Pages, and runs the Writing YA With Poppy podcast. Your best bet of finding her is on Instagram or TikTok, @poppysvintagebooks (if she isn’t cuddling her cat and ignoring the world). Woken Kingdom is her first series, and she has plenty more to come

I’m very honoured to be creating a cross-post with editor Steph Huddleston, where I’ll be talking about pre-edits here, and she’ll be talking about pre-publication over on my blog! Once you’re finished here, make sure you head to Poppy’s Pages Editing to read on. 

So, if you’re reading this post, I’m assuming you have at least one draft of your book down (or you’re just getting ahead with research and planning, which is amazing!) and you’re wondering what the next step is. How do you know if you’re ready for professional editing?

In this post, we’ll discuss some steps to help you figure out if you’re ready to work with an editor, talk about how to prepare to work best with an editor, and go over some tips on finding the right one to work with, and what comes next. 

Step one: Self-edits (drafting, then drafting again)

Writing isn’t just about writing. A lot of it is rewriting. And rewriting. And rewriting. Yes – you are your own first editor!

It’s very rare that a first draft will be ‘good’ enough to send directly to an editor. In this phase, you’re still figuring out your characters, voice and plot. Read through it again, and make an outline if you haven’t already. This way, you can start to identify the weaknesses and what to be changed. Keep rewriting the book until you feel confident it’s the best it can be before you get any other opinions.

Remember that it’s okay – and normal – to write a ‘bad’ first draft. Rather than slowing your progress by editing as you go, focus on getting words down and getting a feel for the story you want to tell. Then, by writing and rewriting, you’re increasing the quality of your work every time, and this means your editor will have much less to do.

If you can take care of most of the smaller errors, your editor is more empowered to dive deeper into your manuscript and focus on stronger edits. It also saves them time, which saves you money. 

(Try my self-editing checklist for more.)

Step two: Use beta readers and critique partners

The writing world is typically friendly and passionate, and as long as you are too, you’ll fit right in. There are many other writers out there who want to help you! 

After writing several drafts, you become too close to your work and can no longer see the work objectively. Early readers help with this, minimising the ‘developmental’ work your editor will need to do. Early readers help to identify plot holes, weaknesses in your characters and world building, etc.

A critique partner offers feedback on your work, and since they’re your partner, you do the same for them. This means you’re both getting help for free. It’s best to have a critique partner familiar with your genre and audience, who understands your voice and writes at the same level as you. 

Beta readers are people in your target audience. They aren’t necessarily writers; they’re readers who can guide you on their perspective of your novel, not as someone who knows writing conventions, but as someone who might buy your book. This means you get invaluable feedback early, reducing chances of negative reviews when it’s too late. It’s important to note that these people shouldn’t just be family and friends, who are likely to only tell you what you want to hear. Find real readers, and even sensitivity readers if the manuscript represents groups you aren’t part of. 

When you have feedback, it’s time for more revisions. Yes, more! Otherwise what’s the point of the feedback? But once again, the more work you do on your manuscript, the stronger it is when it comes time for editing. 

Step three: Assess if you’re ready for edits

When do you know you’re ready for an editor? 

So you’ve done draft after draft, used early readers for feedback, and now have a version of your story that you feel confident in. (Do you not feel confident yet? It might be time for more drafts or feedback!) It’s time for an editor when you’re certain that there’s nothing more you can do to improve the manuscript. 

If you find yourself going over it again and again, just making small sentence-level edits and catching typos, it’s time to quit the perfectionism and put the manuscript into a professional perfectionist’s hands. 

Congratulations, writer! Now it’s time to decide what to do with your story. Will you self-publish or query for traditional publishing? Either way, you can employ the help of an editor to enhance the beautiful book you’ve been working so diligently on. 

Step four: Find an editor

The best way to find an editor is to look to your author friends and see who they’ve worked with. This way, you’re getting a first-hand recommendation. You can also look at the books of indie authors that you love, and check the acknowledgements to see who they use. 

If you need a specialty editor, try Google or Reedsy. No matter who you go with, make sure to always check for real reviews and have a couple of editors provide a sample edit. This helps you make sure you’ll work well together. 

The editor/s you get samples from should have: 

• Experience and a love for your genre
• A strong portfolio
• Happy reviews from clients
• Relevant qualifications
• A pricing structure that matches industry standards

Once you’ve seen who you work with best, it’s time to book them! 

Step five: Prepare your manuscript 

Having your document in a readable state (especially if the editor has requested you send it formatted in a certain way) not only helps save your editor time, but is great practise if you’ll be going on to query agents and publishers, who are sticklers when it comes to submitting documents correctly. 

So, what sort of formatting am I talking about? Here are some standard guidelines:

• Page setup: white, plain background (no borders)
• Text: Times New Roman font, pt 12, black
• Spacing: 2x 
• Indents: 1.25cm first line of each paragraph (not a line break between paragraphs)
• Quote marks: follow the guidelines of your country; in Australia, single quote marks are more acceptable (though consistency is most important)

Using these guidelines helps your editor because you’re ensuring that the manuscript is easily read and they don’t have to waste time going through it and changing things that you can easily change yourself. 

Remember, you can change it back once you’re done with the editor! Personally, I change the background colours of my documents to give them a tint based on the vibes of the book I’m working on, but I’d never expect my editors to have to work with that colouring, because they might find it distracting. 

Step six: Send the right documents and information

It isn’t only your manuscript that your editor should receive. Especially if your novel includes a complex fantasy world, for example, you want your editor to have as much information as possible to serve as resources.

Here are some examples of resources you can send to streamline the editing process:

• Style guide (grammar choices, names of places and characters in the book, etc.)
• Map (rough guide to the layout of the book’s setting)
• Timeline (events that happened before your book, and during your book)
• Outline (a clear, simple document laying out what happens in each scene)

There’s also some information to ensure your editor is aware of. This is bigger picture information that they need to know to establish what’s appropriate or not for the text of the book, most importantly the genre and the target audience’s age range. 

Step seven: Assess the edits 

When you get your manuscript back, especially if it’s your first time working with an editor, you might have some funny feelings. It’s normal to look at all the corrections and feel a bit offended, embarrassed, or upset. Just remember that your editor is working with you, not against you! They’re on YOUR team, and their edits should reflect that. If their edits make you feel told off instead of encouraged, consider if you’re just having a strong reaction to the sense of rejection, and try to sit with the edits for a while. If you’re sure the editor is just being cruel, however, it might be best to look for someone new for book two!

Steph discusses this further in her blog post, How to Prepare for Publication, so it’s time to head over to my website, where she tells you all about getting your now-edited book ready for publication. 

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Find out more about Poppy’s services (+ lots more helpful blog posts) at http://www.poppyspagesediting.com, and make sure to follow her on Instagram @poppyspagesediting and @poppysvintagebooks. Her debut novel, Woken Kingdom, is available wherever you buy books online.