How to Prepare Your Manuscript Before Hiring an Editor

You’ve finished your manuscript. You’ve revised it—probably more than once—and you’re ready for a professional set of eyes.

Or are you?

Before you hire an editor, spending a little more time preparing your manuscript can make the editing process more productive and, in some cases, save you money. An editor should help you take your book beyond what you can accomplish on your own—not spend valuable editing time addressing problems you already know how to fix. So take some time to do that.

If you’re getting ready to prepare your manuscript for editing, here are some steps to take before handing it over.

1. Finish the Manuscript

Sounds like a no-brainer, but hear me out: Unless you’re specifically hiring an editor to work with you as you write, finish your manuscript before sending it for a full edit.

This includes filling in those sections marked TK (publishing-speak for “to come”), resolving notes you’ve left for yourself, and writing that section you’ve been avoiding. Your editor needs to see the manuscript as a whole. This is particularly important for developmental editing, where decisions about one chapter or scene may depend on what happens elsewhere in the book.

There are exceptions, of course. An author might hire an editor for a partial manuscript evaluation or seek developmental guidance before proceeding. But if you’re paying for a complete manuscript edit, give your editor a complete manuscript.

2. Revise It Yourself First

Your editor should not be your first reader.

With my own writing, I like to set the manuscript aside for a while (days or weeks, depending on your timetable), then return to it with fresh eyes. Read it from beginning to end and look for issues you can address yourself.

For nonfiction, ask yourself:

• Is the book organized logically?

• Have I adequately explained my main ideas?

• Am I repeating myself?

• Does every chapter contribute to the book’s purpose?

• Have I included information that doesn’t really belong?

For fiction, look at questions such as:

• Does the plot hold together?

• Are the characters’ motivations believable?

• Are there scenes that drag?

• Are there inconsistencies in the timeline?

• Does every scene move the story forward in some way?

You don’t need to solve every problem. After all, that’s one reason you’re hiring an editor. But don’t pay someone else to make changes you already know you need to make.

3. Get Feedback From Other Readers

Before investing in professional editing, consider getting feedback from a few trusted readers. Called “beta readers,” they can be particularly useful at this stage. They may identify places where they became confused, lost interest, or wanted more information. If several readers stumble over the same chapter, character, or explanation, pay attention.

Just remember that beta readers and editors serve different purposes. Your bestie who reads three romance novels a week may have valuable reactions to your story, but that doesn’t necessarily make her qualified to perform a developmental edit. Use reader feedback to strengthen the manuscript before it reaches your editor—not as a replacement for professional editing.

4. Clean Up What You Can

You don’t need to deliver a perfectly polished manuscript. If it were perfect, you wouldn’t need an editor. (Trust me—perfection is impossible!) But you should clean up obvious issues before submitting it.

Run spellcheck. Remove accidental double spaces (Yes, I know many Gen Xers who are still texting with double spaces—but these have been unnecessary for decades.) Fix typos you notice. Make chapter headings consistent. Search for placeholder text. If you know you have a habit of overusing a particular word or phrase (hand raised! This is a serious problem for me.), do a search for it.

You can also use tools such as spellcheckers and grammar checkers like Grammarly to catch basic errors, although you shouldn’t automatically accept every suggested change.

The goal isn’t perfection. It’s to eliminate distractions so your editor can concentrate on the work that requires editorial judgment.

5. Don’t Obsess Over Manuscript Formatting

Unless your editor has provided specific submission guidelines, keep the manuscript simple.

A readable font, reasonable margins, double-spaced text, and clearly identified chapters are usually sufficient. You don’t need to design the pages to look like a finished book. If your book is nonfiction with multiple heading levels, try to differentiate these consistently.

In fact, elaborate formatting can make editing more difficult—and will probably have to be deleted before page layout anyway. Book design comes later. At this stage, you’re preparing a working manuscript, not a finished product.

If your editor provides formatting or file requirements, however, follow them. And when in doubt, ask.

6. Know What Kind of Help You’re Looking For

Before contacting an editor, think about what concerns you most. Maybe you know the middle of your novel isn’t working but can’t figure out why. Perhaps your nonfiction manuscript includes all the information you want, but you’re unsure whether it’s organized effectively. Maybe you’re confident about the content and simply need a careful copyedit.

You don’t have to diagnose your manuscript yourself. A good editor can help you determine what level of editing you need. But telling an editor what you’re worried about—and what you hope to accomplish—provides useful context.

It also helps prevent one of the most common mistakes authors make: Paying for the wrong kind of editing, and then being disappointed with the result.

7. Be Ready to Receive Feedback

I’m not going to lie: Editing can be uncomfortable. You’ve spent months or perhaps years working on your book. Then someone you’ve hired starts pointing out everything that isn’t working. I admit to bristling a bit at some of the editorial comments on my own book, but ultimately, I realized they were right. And it wasn’t criticism. It was the genuine desire to improve the work.

You don’t have to agree with every suggestion an editor makes (I didn’t!). The manuscript remains yours. But if you’re hiring a professional for their expertise, approach the process with enough openness to seriously consider what they tell you.

8. Stop Revising Eventually

There is another side to preparing a manuscript for editing: knowing when to stop.

There are two paths many authors take: Some authors rush to professional editing before they’ve done enough revision. Others revise indefinitely because they’re convinced the manuscript needs to be perfect before anyone else sees it.

It doesn’t. At some point, you’re simply too close to the work to see it clearly. That’s when an objective editorial perspective becomes valuable.

If you’re moving commas around, rewriting the same sentences repeatedly, or making changes and then changing them back, you may have reached that point.

Your Manuscript Doesn’t Have to Be Perfect

Preparing your manuscript before hiring an editor isn’t about eliminating every flaw. Finding and addressing those flaws is part of the editor’s job.

It’s about taking the manuscript as far as you reasonably can on your own so that you’re paying a professional to provide the expertise you can’t provide yourself.

And if you’re not sure whether you’ve reached that point, that’s okay too.

Not sure what kind of editing your manuscript needs—or whether it’s ready for professional editing at all? Author Allies can help you determine the right next step.