The Try-Before-You-Buy Sample Edit
Updated: 7 days ago
Let’s start with why a copyeditor wants to do a sample edit in the first place.
A copyeditor wants to assess your manuscript before having a conversation about working together. A lot of copyeditors offer a free sample edit of about 1,000 words of your manuscript, while some charge a minimal fee for their time. Both are common practice.
Why does a copyeditor want to assess your manuscript? Well, some manuscripts just need light copyediting:
grammar
punctuation
word choice
the occasional sentence rewrite
Some need more than that:
fact-checking
reorganizing some sentences and paragraphs
pointing out gaps and holes and suggesting ways to fill them
Basically, a copyeditor needs to determine how much editing your manuscript needs and how much time they’ll spend on it so they can give you an accurate quote and find space in their schedule for your project.
A copyeditor also wants to make sure they can engage with your story because you deserve someone who loves your manuscript (almost) as much as you do. Some copyeditors specialize in different genres based on their own tastes, and they have in-depth knowledge of the conventions and expectations of those genres. So a science-fiction copyeditor may not get into your romance novel, and a horror copyeditor may not connect with your high fantasy story.
Yes, any good copyeditor can clean up your text and fix your comma issues and get your manuscript ready for publication, but you want one who also feels an emotional connection to your story.
Now, why do you want a sample edit?
Well, for lots of the same reasons: You’ll find out just how much editing your manuscript needs, and you’ll weed out copyeditors who just don’t get your vibe. But there’s another reason you’ll want to see a copyeditor’s work on your own manuscript before you commit: You may not like their editing style.
And that’s okay.
Not all writers and copyeditors are compatible.
You may look at the sample edit and think, Wow, she really gets me! I like how she reworked that confusing paragraph and it still sounds like my voice. I had so much trouble trying to say what I meant, and she just understood!
Or you may think, Why on earth did he change that sentence? It already said exactly what I wanted it to say, and now it doesn’t make sense that the character does it this way instead of how I had it.
Remember, you can talk to your copyeditor if you don’t like—or have questions about—an edit. You can also review the style sheet or comments in your manuscript for the copyeditor’s reasoning. And of course, you’re under no obligation to accept every change a copyeditor suggests. It’s your manuscript, not theirs, and you get to keep the changes you want and reject the others.
But if you feel like the copyeditor’s style isn’t a good fit for any reason, this is the time to find out—before you sign a contract and pay a deposit.
