Quick Note: This article focuses on developmental editing specifically. Some of this advice may apply to other types of editing, but not all of it.

Finding a developmental editor you can trust is an important step in turning your draft into a polished book. But as the world of editing grows, so do scams and questionable practices, making it challenging to identify quality editor. This guide will help you recognize red flags, understand the necessary qualifications for a skilled editor, and learn what questions to ask when vetting potential editors.

Red Flag #1 – Empty Promises

The biggest red flag to watch out for is empty promises. No one can guarantee that you will land an agent, secure a publishing deal, become a bestseller, or make a certain amount of money from your writing. It is impossible to guarantee any specific outcome of that nature in the highly subjective world of publishing. If an editor’s website promises these things, run for the hills; they are either delusional or purposefully lying to attract clients.

Red Flag #2 – No Website

If you have found an editor on social media, check to see if they have their own website, not just a social media profile. While it’s possible for an editor without a website to offer helpful edits, it doesn’t give the impression that they are treating editing as a serious, professional job. A professional editor will have a website with some form of Terms of Service or Contract that will include expectations for working with them, refund policies, confidentiality policies, and more. These policies protect both you and the editor. It also shows that this is their professional career, not a money grab. Unfortunately, there are a lot of frauds on social media pretending to be competent editors.  

Red Flag #3 – Lack of Training

There are many avenues through which an editor can be trained. They might have a degree in English, an MFA, or a degree in a related field, but this isn’t required. It’s less important for a developmental editor to have an advanced understanding of English grammar and more important for them to know what makes a story work. An editor has a deep knowledge of story craft, while a beta reader may only provide feedback on whether the book “felt right” to them. Look for an editor who has either worked in publishing or has successfully completed a reputable training program.

Training Programs and Associations:

• Story Grid has a list of certified editors they’ve trained on their website. Their training requires a significant investment of time and money, and their standards are high. They only open their certification program at certain times. Their editors are certified to use The Story Grid Diagnostic with clients.

• Author Accelerator has a directory of certified coaches. Similar to Story Grid, their standards are high, and their training program requires a significant investment of time and money. I am Author Accelerator certified, so I can speak specifically about their training. The program takes around nine months to complete and includes a rigorous self-paced curriculum. There are three practicums to complete, each with a real-life client that the student must find independently. These practicums cover coaching a writer through story conception and construction, developmentally editing a full manuscript, and developing a pitch package and agent list. A certification team reviews all practicum materials, including recordings of Zoom calls with each client. They’ve certified more than 260 book coaches, with only 73% earning certification on first submission. All Author Accelerator coaches are certified to provide and coach Jennie Nash’s Blueprint for a Book.  

• Editorial Freelancers Association has a searchable database of accredited editors for various types of projects.

Disclaimer: This is not an exhaustive list of programs. There may be other reputable training programs that I’m not personally familiar with. If you see someone with a certification that you don’t recognize, take the time to look up the program and understand what the training entails.

Red Flag #4: No Specialties or Limits

Technically, I could developmentally edit any book in the fiction genre, but the quality of those edits would vary, and I wouldn’t enjoy every project because I don’t love every genre. Developmental editing requires knowledge of tropes, obligatory scenes, genre conventions, and reader expectations. If I rarely or never read a certain genre, I’m not going to be an ideal editor for books in that genre because I don’t intimately know its conventions. Personally, I specialize in thriller, romance, magical realism, and women’s literature, as those are the genres I primarily read. I’m open to other genres depending on the project, which is why I have every potential client complete an intake form before agreeing to work together. I want to ensure I’m the right fit for their book. I also have genres I never work with—horror, steampunk, sci-fi, and epic fantasy—because I know I’m not the best editor for those books. Most professional editors have an intake questionnaire, a free discovery call, or both so that the editor and the writer can ensure they are a good fit.

How to Find the Right Fit:

Check out any potential editor’s social media to get a feel for their personality. Trusting someone with your work and receiving feedback is a big decision. Your personalities need to fit. Social media is a good way to get an initial sense of an editor before contacting them with questions or a scheduling a discovery call. Afterward, I highly recommend booking a discovery call or having an email conversation to learn more. During this conversation, ask about their feedback style: are they to-the-point, or do they approach editing more like teaching? Also, find out about their communication process—do they touch base while they are editing, or only when they are done? And what communication medium do they use (email, text, phone, Zoom, etc.)?

Final Note:

Trust your intuition. If you get a bad feeling about an editor or experience an uneasy feeling you can’t quite pinpoint, find someone else. If an editor expresses a desire to change your vision for your story or seems to push their voice or ideas onto your work, keep looking! Editors and writers should be on the same team, working toward the same goal. An editor’s job is to identify problems and make suggestions for fixing them. Their job is not to reshape your project into something it’s not. I always explain why I make a suggestion, but I’m not offended if a writer chooses not to follow it. At the end of the day, a writer should only make changes that resonate with them.

I hope this helps you find the right editor for your book!