Editing And Proofreading: How to Find a Good Book Editor

About this video

In part three of his how-to-self-publish series made with Fiverr, Roberts walks through editing and proofreading a ghostwritten manuscript and warns against publishing a rough draft or relying only on self-editing. He distinguishes editing — a first line of defense that clarifies the message, removes ambiguity, and works on syntax and voice to bring out the best version of the writer — from proofreading, a last line of defense that polishes and catches typos, small grammar errors, and missing pieces. Because writers gloss over their own mistakes, he says an unbiased outside editor is essential. He recommends referrals first, then freelance sites, and test-driving an editor on a longer manuscript before committing. Before sending work out, he advises a quick self-edit using Microsoft Word’s checker and Grammarly, then line editing, including listening via Microsoft’s read aloud feature. He then describes hiring editor Cindy and proofreader Amanda through Fiverr, each of whom returned notes plus a version with changes applied within a couple of days, and each found issues he had missed. Formatting and cover design come next in the series.

Key takeaways

• Roberts defines editing as clarifying message, ambiguity, syntax, and voice, while proofreading is the final polish for typos, small grammar errors, and missing pieces.
• He says writers should not rely on self-editing alone because they gloss over their own mistakes and need an unbiased outside party.
• Find editors by referrals first, then freelance sites; for a lengthy manuscript he recommends test-driving an editor on 5,000 to no more than about 10,000 words.
• Before sending a manuscript out, do a quick edit with Word’s spelling/grammar checker and Grammarly, then line edit — he favors Microsoft’s read aloud feature to hear errors.
• On Fiverr he looks for Level Two or Top Rated sellers, checking reviews, star rating, and orders in queue; his editor Cindy and proofreader Amanda each returned annotated and corrected versions and found issues he missed.

Episode details: published April 2, 2020 · 10:45 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. Business results and any income figures mentioned are Dale L. Roberts’s own claims, shared for education — they are not typical or guaranteed.

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