An editor can bring out the best in a book or manuscript, but for this to happen, you must choose the right type of editor for the job. Although there is some overlap in the specialties, many editors have a specific focus. As you search the NAIWE database, you’ll want to look for a specialist whose experience matches your needs. For example:
- If you want an editor to help you develop a nonfiction book and coach you through the writing process, you will need to look for a writing coach with experience in nonfiction.
- If you are a graduate student looking for an editor to fact-check a master’s thesis in physics, you will need an academic evaluator with an advanced degree in physics.
- If you have written a how-to book and you’re not sure if it’s organized well enough for a lay reader, you will need a developmental editor with experience in nonfiction editing.
- If you are a fiction writer, it’s very important to choose an editor, often a writing coach, with extensive experience and credentials in editing the kind of fiction — literary, genre, juvenile — you are writing.
- If you have a completed manuscript and you need to have it edited for clarity and conventions (mechanics), you will need a copyeditor.
- If you and your writing coach are happy with the content of your book but you need to double-check the mechanics, a proofreader will help to ensure that your copy is error-free.
- If you’re a homeschool parent looking for a writing mentor for your student, you’ll want to start with academic evaluators and coaches who specialize in your student’s grade level.
- If you’re a self-publisher, consider using a project editor to guide your project from start to finish or assemble a team of editors.
No matter what type of writing project you are working on, there is an editor who can help you. The primary specialties include the following:
- Academic evaluator
- Copyeditor
- Copywriter
- Developmental editor
- Fiction editor
- Ghostwriter
- Multimedia editor
- Newsletter editor
- Nonfiction editor
- Project editor
- Proofreader
- Writing coach
- Writing tutor
Many experienced editors specialize in one type of service or a single genre, such as the following:
- Abstracting
- Academic evaluation
- Copyediting
- Critique
- Curriculum development
- Developmental/substantive editing
- Editorial consulting
- ESL/translation editing
- Fact checking
- Ghostwriting
- Line editing
- Literary coaching
- Manuscript evaluation
- Multimedia editing
- Newsletter editing
- On-screen editing
- Permissions
- Project editing
- Project management
- Proofreading
- Public speaking/teaching
- Reference checking
- Reporting
- Research
- Self-publishing assistance
- Sensitivity reading
- SEO
- Structural editing
- Stylistic editing
- Submission letter preparation
- Transcribing
- Translating
- Website text editing
To help simplify the process of selecting the editor that is right for you, be sure to pay attention to the experience and specialties of any editor you are considering.
Janice Campbell is the former executive director of the National Association of Independent Writers and Editors. She has been a freelance writer, editor, coach, and speaker since the late 1980s.
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