Red Adept Editing

When the editing process is complete, will my book be error-free?

No.

That sounds harsh, but it is the unvarnished truth. When the process is complete, your book will be as good as two (or three if you chose to add a second proof) people can make it.

Commercially published books go through even more editors and proofreaders. As I’m sure you are aware, those aren’t perfect, either.

As one example, in the first chapter of Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer, I found the following sentence:

“The room was familiar; it had been belonged to me since I was born.”

This is not an excuse. It’s a statement of fact. No one is perfect. (We do take our best shot at perfection, though. 🙂 )

To that end, I strongly suggest that every author either read his or her book again (yes, again), get someone else to read it who will report errors, and/or sign up for a second proofread, done by a different person.

I have heard from other clients that having the Kindle read the book aloud to you will greatly assist in locating extraneous errors.

How long does the first edit take?

For line editing and content editing:

Books under 40k words: 1 week

Books between 40k and 90k words: 2 weeks

Books over 90k words: 3 weeks

How long does the entire process take?

I can’t answer that, as a lot of it depends upon the author and how long they take to go through the edits and make corrections.

We do understand that authors want to get their books out as soon as possible, but we certainly don’t want to sacrifice quality for speed.

What is your availability for scheduling?

Our schedule varies from week to week. You can check here for our next available slots: http://www.redadeptediting.com/availability/

However, we often have new openings due to postponements. So be sure to contact us if we don’t have a date soon enough for you.

How soon do I need to get the book back to you after the first edit?

We do not place authors under any sort of deadline. Many of our clients have day jobs and take weeks, or even months, to go through all of the edits. Also, the amount of editing varies.

My best advice is to take your time. You should read your entire book and consider each edit carefully. How long that takes is entirely up to you.

How and when do I pay you?

You do not pay until invoiced, and we do not send invoices until we are within two to three days of beginning work on your novel. We invoice through PayPal, but you do not have to have a PayPal account. You can pay with a credit card.

What happens if I can’t meet my scheduled date?

We request that you give notice two weeks prior to your scheduled date in order to cancel.

What happens if a reader finds an error, either before or after publication?

I suggest sending the passage to us so that we can ascertain if it is actually an error and if your change will fix it in a grammatically correct manner. Some readers get a bit overzealous in pointing out so-called errors. 🙂

Of course, if it’s just a simple typo, feel free to correct it yourself.

If it involves a storyline issue that you feel might need changing, we can discuss that.

If I pay you to edit my book, will you consider my book for your publishing side?

No. If you pay us to edit a book, it is no longer eligible to be submitted to our publishing side.

 

If your question has not been answered, please feel free to contact me at Lynn@RedAdeptPublishing.com