The Book Editing Process – Sometimes it’s a Bumpy Ride!

Choosing an editor for French Illusions wasn’t easy. As a matter of fact, it was downright difficult. I searched the web for many months, pouring through blogs and editors guilds until I found three candidates who looked promising. I asked for references, contacted all  them and received good feedback. Now what, I thought. How will I choose? The answer seemed simple. I would ask each of them to perform an edit on my first chapter. They all agreed, and over the next few weeks, I received their samples. With a critical eye, I spread them out on my office floor and carefully compared their work. Each editor offered something, but none of their edits felt like a perfect fit. Reluctantly, I tossed all of them aside.

I continued to search the web until I stumbled across my first editor. She grew up in the LoireValley and spoke fluent French.  A match made in heaven, I thought.  Actually, no. Admittedly, she helped me with translations and corrected several cultural issues, but let’s just say, she identified a little too closely with my antagonist. In the end, I asked her to return my manuscript knowing full well it would need additional line editing. What now, I thought.

Disheartened, I took another look at the three candidates who had provided me with sample edits early on. One of them stood out and I chose her as my second editor. She was a pleasure to work with and she ironed out some important kinks in my book. Additionally her positive feedback healed my wounds. Definitely, a match made in heaven this time. Almost.

After I received my fully edited manuscript, I sent an excerpt from French Illusions to Dorothy at Pump Up Your Book. She found a punctuation error in the first few sentences. I found a whole lot more on my own. Arghhh.  I immediately asked Dorothy if she had a reference for a line editor. She referred me to my third editor and she corrected the remaining errors throughout my book.

As you can see, my editing process was indeed a bumpy ride. I will admit that my book was a highly complicated edit given the foreign setting and French translations. Maybe I was too hard on my first two editors. Maybe it took all three of them to get it right.