| Description: | If you are working in the publication industry there are times you will need the services of a professional copyeditor to check on spellings. There are a few things you will need to keep in mind when you hire such professionals. Primarily they make a good hire if you are planning on self-publishing. Freelance writers can work as copy-editors but the skill sets needed are totally different. Copy editors can also be specialized. You can get professionals for a particular field of writing or you could use the services of general copy editors who can handle all kinds of projects.
When you are looking for a professional, ask around for those who have worked on projects that are similar to yours. Ask for referrals from people who may have used copy editors to handle similar kinds of work. They should be able to understand the nature of your work and be able to work it. One of the best places to look for referrals is with the local newspapers and magazines. They will be copy editing service providers around who can help with the kind of work you need.
Once you have narrowed down on a few copy editors give them small excerpts from your book and see how they handle it. Giving them a backgrounder on you and your work will give them a better perspective. What you will have to look into is the kind of pricing that these copy editors will look for. Some of them work on an hourly contract, while a few others take on payments for an entire project with break-ups in case the scope of the work involved changes.
Be sure to research the market and see how such projects work. Once you settle on your copy editor make it a point to outline the entire scope of the work and evolve milestones. Associating each of the milestones with a part of the payment will ensure the work is done on time and in the right manner. You will also have to keep up to your part of the deadlines and ensure that you keep the flow of work coming to the editor.
Once you have all your work done, it would be a good idea to have it quickly evaluated by one of your publishers’ or an independent editor. This will give you a good idea of the quality of work and will give you the ability to settle on the same editor for future jobs.
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