Editorial Expectations: Yours and Theirs

Assuring successful author/editor collaborations depends on meeting expectations regarding process, changes, money, contracts, deadlines, communications and trust. This EFA Booklet, written for both freelance editors and writers who plan to hire an editor, highlights how to set up transparent expectations so they can be met by both parties in the relationship.

The collaboration between the author and editor should be rewarding, and if handled properly, will continue through the years as the author grows in their own experience. Establishing a successful relationship between the author and the editor depends on transparency between both parties. And what does "transparency" mean? Both parties should ask the questions that will affect their relationship, and the answers should be clear and concise.

An author should have some idea of what questions to ask when they approach an editor. They should ask pertinent questions about how the writer's work will be handled by the editor and what they will get back at the end of the process (the deliverables). When hiring a freelance editor, a writer can help negotiation get off on the right foot by attending to the following: Defining your goals for the project
Taking stock of where you are in the creative/publishing process
Researching the market for independent editorial services
Determining a rough budget for your project.

The freelance editor should be professional and transparent about their work: what they do, how they do it, and what they will return to the author at the end of the process.

Negotiating a price for editorial work and the means and expectations for communication back and forth, whether there will be a formal contract for author and editor, or a no less binding but less formal agreement, these and other concepts for working in an author/editor relationship are touched on in this booklet.

This booklet and the many other informational booklets published by the EFA provide information for editors, authors, and writers. Some booklets dive deep into a narrow topic, while others touch more shallowly on a broader scope. This booklet is of the latter type. The EFA is a national nonprofit volunteer association of professionals who provide freelance editorial services to the publishing and communications industries. EFA members live in the United States and abroad and are experienced in a wide range of professional skills, subject areas, and media.