Process of finding a book editor

I am one of those who used to believe that there are enough book editors out there. All a writer needs is to pick one and give them their book to edit.

No!

It took me five months to give my book to an editor.

Why?

My search started by contacting professional editors listed by other writers, especially indie authors. I read their bios and liked what they had written, how they would refine the language, so my readers would enjoy the story.

I contacted some of the editors after which I did quick calculations on what they charged and realized it was beyond my budget. I went online, to social media and asked for suggestions. I received a few, that too did not work.

I started the search for an editor all over again. I wrote to some, called few recommendations, but all in vain. The competitive editors were busy.

Finally, I contacted an editor friend specialized in non-fiction books and convinced them to edit my fiction books.

How did we proceed?

I gave a chapter from my novel for sample edits. The editor provided a thorough edit, separating the edits into three levels by colour. Level one involved basic edits and proofreading, level two was copy/language editing, while level three was developmental editing. I settled on level two editing.

The editor emailed me a contract with details on editorial issues they would focus on in level two editing. The contract spelt out the start and finish dates, and the payment schedule. After some email and telephone communication, we held a face-to-face meeting, signed the contract, and editing started.

The editor divided the novel into sections, each made up of four chapters. The agreement was that they would edit a section, forward to me to review (accept/reject edits) the tracked changes and comments. My my review of their edits would inform them on how to approach editing in the next section.

What steps do you go through to find and work with an editor. What procedures are similar or different to my experience?

(To be continued for section 2 and 3)

2. Lessons from the editing process

3. My approach on next and future books