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How an Editor Can Help You Avoid Embarrassing Mistakes

2020-04-06T15:32:27+00:00 By |Writing/Editing|

I always say that a second set of eyes is critical for your business. They will catch things that you overlooked or didn’t even think of. Today I’m going to share how to hire a professional editor and how they can help you avoid any embarrassing mistakes!

First let me explain the difference between 2 main types of editing:

  • Copyediting: A copyeditor helps with not only the spelling and grammar, but also can help restructure content to help with flow and to ensure your message is as clear as possible.
  • Proofreading: I like to call this the last line of defence. It’s when you have a proofreader check for spelling, grammar, and embarrassing mistakes only. This type of editor may make minor changes to sentence structure, but their main job is to make sure you don’t write anything embarrassing!

Importance of a second set of eyes

Even the best of us goof up! When we’re madly typing away our brain is probably thinking faster than our fingers are moving so we’re likely to inadvertently skip over words. Often these are not critical, but they’re enough to make a reader stop and stumble over your words.

When someone stumbles over your words, you’ve lost them!

Hiring a professional editor or profreader can help you catch most of these errors.

What can an editor edit?

If you hire a good editor, they can edit virtually anything you need. Here are some common examples you might hire an editor for:

  • Blog content
  • Website content
  • Marketing materials
  • E-books
  • Books
  • Powerpoints
  • Social media posts
  • Email newsletters
  • PDF lead magnets
  • Online course material
  • Handouts

How to hire a professional editor

What should you look for when hiring a professional editor? Here are a few things to ask them:

  • How long have you been an editor? (often the more experience the better)
  • What types of content have you edited? (it doesn’t have to be the same as you need, but this gives you an idea of their experience)
  • What’s your typical turn-around time
  • How do you invoice (ask about frequency and payment methods)

How much to pay a professional editor

You can hire an editor for $5 an hour on Fiver or up to $100 or more per hour for someone local. Obviously I suggest avoiding Fiver because I firmly believe in supporting local as much as possible, even if it costs a little more. Keep in mind you will most often get what you paid for.

The average rate for a North American based copyeditor or proofreader with 10-15 years experience is about $50-80 per hour. Then there is the matter of pay structure when you hire a professional editor. Many editors will offer different packages:

  • Pay-as-you-go: You pay for ONLY what you use. This will often be a higher rate.
  • Hourly Retainer: This is where you essentially guarantee for a set amount of hours for the editor per month, but you pay whether you use them or not (sometimes you can rollover unused hours). This is often a lower rate.
  • Pay per word or page: This is generally the middle ground, price-wise.

If you’re considering hiring a professional editor or proofreader for your business, I would be happy to chat with you. I have over 14 years editing and writing experience and I’m accepting new editing contracts right now. Send me an email about your professional editing needs need and we’ll chat!

About the Author:

I'm WriterGal of WriterGal Marketing Services and I help small-medium sized businesses execute writing and online marketing projects so they can focus on other ways of growing their business. I'm also the mother of 2 munchkins and 1 Jack Russell Terrier, love baking and cooking, and enjoy travelling the world (when I have time) with my family. I'm also passionate about organization and time management (a must for busy moms and business owners). I enjoy sharing my business and organization tips and processes with others.