Photo credit: Donna Hamaker
Today we are interviewing freelance writer and editor Sarah Hamaker.
Sarah Hamaker is a freelance writer and editor, and author of Hired@Home, a guide to unlocking women’s work-from-home potential. Two of her stories have appeared in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Count Your Blessings and Chicken Soup for the Soul: All in the Family. She has a master’s degree in Literature and Language from
Sarah took a few minutes to talk about freelance editors with Tiffany Colter.
Tiffany Colter: How do publishing houses use freelance editors?
Sarah Hamaker: Freelance editors are used much the same as in-house editors: to polish and correct manuscripts. Freelance editors work in much the same way.
TC: How does a freelance editor benefit a published author?
SH: Just because someone has had a book published doesn’t mean he or she writes perfectly! Even editors make mistakes and need an editor, so a published author could benefit from having a professional editor polish his or her work before sending it to an agent or publishing house.
TC: How does a freelance editor benefit an unpublished author?
SH: For an unpublished author, freelance editors can do a content edit first and then a copyedit before the author submits the manuscript or proposal.
TC: Can you tell us some materials/books an author should have to become familiar with industry standards?
SH: For industry standards, most book publishers use The
TC: Anything you'd like to add?
SH: A freelance editor can be extremely helpful to a writer as long as both know exactly what will be done to the manuscript, i.e., content edit and/or copy edit. Before signing on with a freelance editor, check his references. I also recommend asking if the editor would edit a page of your manuscript for you to see how she edits before committing to a contract.
Read more of Sarah’s interview on editing here at Writing Career Coach.
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