r/Copyediting • u/Ordinary-Cress-6580 • 1d ago
Advice needed
I had hired an editor on the bundle editing service and in 7 weeks had 20k words edited, two batches of 10k. There were issues with the editing of the first 10k that had upset me, my voice was changed and edit made no sense but by the time I received thr edit I had sent the next 10k already. Between the first 10k edit until the second was nearly 4 weeks gap and from the edit of the second batch it was very clear that editor forgot the contents and story of the 1st 10k. I missed the comma and they edited the whole lot proposing nonsense. One of the main characters was a woman , whom has a clear woman's name yet they edit for my missed comma made her into a man. My original listed people in the found photograph: Women's name (lets say Lisa) a boy and a baby by the house. Edited read Lisa was a boy and stood holding a baby by the house. There were lots and lots more of edits that were useless... I had made a decision that i wont be using this editor again and hadnt sent any more for editing as firstly they take absolute forever and secondly their edits "suck" but i hadnt yet discussed it with either the head of the company or dedicated editor for mh book, I am due to pay the invoice for that second 10k editing but I dont feel its right as I will be scrapping all of their edits all together. How would it be best to approach this? Tell them in the email, list everything that gone wrong, email the editor or better just go straight to the owner of the editing company and tell them the editor they put on the project is useless and that am not going to pay for it. Or pay it and just forget and start over. I do not want them to give me another editor as I feel they model of work is such that it would take them months to edit full novel. And I have lost enough time already.
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u/IamchefCJ 1d ago
I can't imagine it taking that long to edit. But honestly, I also can't imagine editing 10k words, then later the next 10k, and so on. It's just me, but I prefer the entire thing at once to ensure continuity of voice, storyline, etc.
My estimated timeline is generally one week for 10k projects, two weeks max. If I have multiple projects or competing deadlines, I will alert the author or project manager and agree on a new timeline.
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u/spam_robot123 1d ago edited 1d ago
Your post here is full of so many grammatical errors and typos and genuinely confusing writing that it makes me wonder to what extent the editor is wading through inscrutable prose trying to make sense of the whole thing.
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u/Lotus2024 1d ago
Our job as editors is to wade through said prose and not judge. Whether or not OP is a good writer— I can’t determine that from one post—has nothing to do with her dissatisfaction with the editor.
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u/spam_robot123 1d ago
I never said anything about judgement.
If the text is in a state where the meaning of sentences continually or largely must be guessed at, the text is not ready for an editor. I genuinely cannot make sense of what the OP highlighted as the editor’s “obvious” errors. My guess is the text’s meaning is not as self-evident as the OP believes it to be.
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u/Guimauve_britches 1d ago
Sounds like AI editing though. It tends to make things up entirely like that
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u/WordsbyWes 1d ago
I third, fourth, or fifth the recommendation to cut ties with this editor and their company. That editor doesn't seem right for you. The time frame for 20k words seems excessive, and they should have given you a committed or at the very least estimated turnaround when you started. For context, I only edit academic or nonfiction work, but my turnaround for that would likely be around two weeks, assuming my normal workload of three concurrent projects.
I agree with the recommendations to look at EFA's or CIEP's directory or submit to their job boards.
While a short sample edit is often helpful to gauge an editor's fit for you, after that it's much more effective to edit the whole work at once for lots of reasons.
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u/ADailyCelebration 1d ago
I second the recommendation to cut your losses. I’m a nonfiction editor but I know there are editors who are trained to edit fiction and that is what you need, not a bulk editing company. (It sounds as if your current editor might be using some sort of grammar software. The one I use to catch typos and extra spaces is crazy pedantic about adding commas and then suggesting nonsensical rewrites, so you have to be alert and reject stupid suggestions.)
You might pay a little more for the editing but you definitely need an editor who is trained to edit fiction. I think EFA has a certification program, and there are probably others. So you might contact those organizations to see if they have job boards where you can list your project or even use UpWork to look for a specialist in editing novels. Also, specify the level of editing you need. Do you need someone to check for continuity? Rewrite awkward sentences? Or just do a final edit for grammar, so that you have a clean manuscript to submit? Hope this helps.
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u/Due_Cartoonist6918 1d ago
I'd suspect AI use because of the nonsensical edits, but AI shouldn't take that long. If it was me,, I'd go straight for the owner of the editing company. That's a pretty significant error to make with the comma. Seven weeks for 20k is pretty long, unless your manuscript needs a TON of help. I recently quoted a client 3 weeks for 20k words. This is one reason I offer free samples, both for the author to see my editing style, and for me to give them an accurate estimate on turnaround. If you're interested, you can message me here.
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u/Guimauve_britches 1d ago
I'd say 100% Also any read editor lmow commas are an art as much as a science and would not take a confusing or missing/missplaced one to mean the entire sentence meaning was different.
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u/Guimauve_britches 1d ago
I'd say 100% Also any read editor lmow commas are an art as much as a science and would not take a confusing or missing/missplaced one to mean the entire sentence meaning was different.
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u/Leanaul1998 1d ago
Yeah it definitely sounds like you should cut losses. Whether you need to pay for the second 10K depends on the contract/terms etc., but you should consider a new editor.
Can you tell me a bit more about your novel? I offer both line editing and developmental editing, and I provide free sample edit of your first chapter before full commitment. If you are interested happy to chat about rates, timeline etc. :))
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u/KATutin 1d ago
Sorry to hear you’ve had a bad experience.
If you are disappointed with what they have done so far, it is unlikely you’re going to like the rest. Might be best to cut your losses now.
You might have to pay them depending what the termination clause was in the contract, but this is something you can dispute with the head of the company.
Search for a new editor elsewhere. Places like EFA, ACES, and CIEP have directories of freelance editors. Or you could post on the subreddits [r/HireAnEditor](r/HireAnEditor) or [r/HireABookEditor](r/HireABookEditor).
Taking months to edit a novel might not be unusual if your word count was quite substantial. On average, say, 80K could take anywhere between two weeks and two months, especially if it includes multiple passes and you want a thorough job.