You have decided to hire an editor for your book, article, or other piece of writing. However, now that you have made the decision to hire an editor, you are probably wondering how to go about hiring one. Many authors and editors struggle when it comes to hiring an editor for the first time because they do not have experience with hiring an editor and thus are unsure of how to begin. The most common concerns are: knowing if the editor is legit, knowing the editor’s level of true experience, knowing when to pay the editor, and knowing how much to pay the editor.

Legit or Not

The best way to learn if the editor you are hiring is legit or not is to hire them through a service like Fiverr that has reviews left by previous clients, to hire them based on their resume, and to call previous clients to ask about the services provided by the editor, or to hire an editor based on the recommendation of a friend or colleague that has hired the editor in the past. These are the three best ways to find out if you are hiring a legit editor.

Level of Experience

There are two main ways to gauge the editor’s level of experience in order to determine if the editor has the type of experience you want. The first method is contacting the editor’s previous clients and asking about their experiences with the editor and the type of work the editor did for them. The second method is giving the editor a sample of what you are looking to have edited and ask him/her to edit it to provide proof of their editing ability. The second method has the benefit of showing the editor’s work and if their type of editing is compatible with your writing.

When to Pay

Many authors and writers struggle with knowing when to pay the editor because the editor will generally want payment upfront, but that can give the author/writer problems if the editor is slow to do the work or if the editor gives a low standard of work. For this reason the best way to pay is through PayPal because the person paying can apply for a refund if the work is not done. For the payment time, it is best to meet in the middle by paying either half upfront and half after or by paying per page or per chapter.

How Much to Pay

Choosing how much to pay the editor you are planning to hire will also influence your pool of editors that you can hire, as some editors will only work for a certain fee. The decision of how much to pay the editor should be based on how technical the writing is being edited, how long the writing is, and what editing services you want. The average editing fee is about $0.014 per word, $30 per hour, or $35 per ten pages of writing. This should serve as a rough guideline.