Fogel and I have been debating how e-books will affect freelance editors. I’m guessing that people who want to indie e-publish will be swamping freelancers’ in-boxes with edit requests. Fogel argues that freelance cover artists will get a lot of business, but freelance editors won’t. She says:
“Most self-published e-books will fall into the same categories paper books do. There’ll be the professional writers who rerelease books that are out of print, and haven’t the rights to the original cover, or hated it. Then there’ll be the rank amateurs who have no business calling themselves writers and self-publish because no legitimate publisher will take them on. The former don’t need editors because the book’s finished; the latter won’t use them because they think they can write, but know they can’t draw.”
I’m sure some indie authors will fall into the Howett category, writers who simply can’t believe they need a substantive editor let alone a copy editor. But Joe Konrath keeps pointing out that indie writers need two things: a good editor and a good cover artist. I’m not the only indie author reading his blog.
Perhaps it’s because I’ve gone through the editing process so many times with my short stories, but I can’t imagine publishing without an editor. So I’ve sent Fogel my other baby, the vampire novel, and I’ve got my fingers crossed that she won’t totally gut my heart out.
The good news is that she’s already read the first two chapters and written back that there are “no show-stoppers.” From Fogel that’s high praise.
Fogel’s launched a website, but don’t hire her if you’re looking for the sort of praise you’d expect from a mother, cause you won’t be getting it. You’ll be getting the unvarnished truth. She doesn’t care about your feelings. It’s why I chose her for my editor.
