OLD POST ALERT! This is an older post and although you might find some useful tips, any technical or publishing information is likely to be out of date. Please click on Start Here on the menu bar above to find links to my most useful articles, videos and podcast. Thanks and happy writing! – Joanna Penn
If you want to have a self-published book that can sit in bookstores alongside those from top publishing houses, you need to do a professional job. You cannot get your Mum to edit it (although she is good as a first reader!), you can't get your husband to design the cover, and you can't be your own critic. You need professionals.
The internet is a fantastic place to find the best resources to help you with your self-published book.
Here are the best sites to find experienced and qualified editorial professionals, courtesy of Katharine O'Moore-Klopf, who is a freelance professional herself.
1. The membership directory of the Editorial Freelancers Association
(EFA): http://www.the-efa.org/dir/search.php
2. The EFA Job List, where you post a job description and get responses
sent to you: http://www.the-efa.org/job/joblist.php
3. The Directory of Copyediting-L Freelancers:
http://www.copyediting-l.info/freelance.html
4. The job board of _Copyediting_ newsletter, where you post a job
description and get responses sent to you:
http://jobs.copyeditor.com/home/index.cfm?site_id=502
5. The Manuscript Services page of the Web site of the Council of Science
Editors: http://www.councilscienceeditors.org/jobbank/services.cfm
6. The roster of the Board of Editors in the Life Sciences:
http://www.bels.org/findeditor/freelance_search.cfm
7. The Database of Editors of the Bay Area Forum:
http://www.editorsforum.org/search_editor.php
8. The directory of the San Diego Professional Editors Network:
http://www.sdpen.com/find/find.php
9. The job postings page of the Web site of the Society for Technical
Communication: http://jobs.stc.org/home/index.cfm?site_id=360
10. LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/
11. The Indexer Locator of the American Society for Indexing (ASI):
http://www.asindexing.org/custom/locator/
12. The ASI Jobs Hotline, where you post a job description and get
responses sent to you:
https://www.asindexing.org/i4a/forms/form.cfm?id=41
13. The membership directory and the job board of the Editors'
Association of Canada: http://www.editors.ca/hire/index.html
14. The membership directory of the Society for Editors and Proofreaders
(in the UK): http://www.sfep.org.uk/pub/dir/directory.asp
These are some common rates you should expect to pay for various kinds of
editorial services:
From the EFA: http://www.the-efa.org/res/rates.php (U.S.)
From the National Writers Union:
http://nwu.org/nwu/index.php?cmd=showPage&page_id=1.3.14.2.4 (U.S.)
From the National Union of Journalists:
http://www.londonfreelance.org/feesguide/index.html (UK)
While Katharine recommends the list above, there are also broader sites for finding editors and other professionals at:
Publish-L list of publishing related professionals
Elance.com – recommended by Tim Ferriss, from “The Four Hour Work Week” and the site I use for all sorts of outsourcing jobs.
Hire My Mom.com – recommended by Jim Donovan, from the Publish-L Google Group
More posts to come on the best places to find book cover designers, and other professionals.