What role does collaboration play in your editing process, and how do you foster a productive working relationship with authors?

Collaboration is a key aspect of my editing process. I communicate with my clients by providing detailed comments on their manuscripts using tracked changes, where I share my thoughts on their strengths, weaknesses, and necessary corrections. Additionally, I make myself available 24/7 through Fiverr so clients can reach out with any questions or concerns. I always respond promptly, typically within a few hours.

This approach ensures an open line of communication at all times, fostering a productive and supportive partnership. I understand that some authors have dedicated years to their manuscripts and may feel apprehensive about the editing process. My goal is to create a comfortable and encouraging environment that puts them at ease while we work together to enhance their work.

Collaboration is really important to maintain an authentic author voice, and ensure you don't stray too far from the author's original vision for the work. It also helps with enhancing clarity and impact. When you work together, you can problem-solve together as a team, and it helps build confidence with author and editor. 

I like to work with Track Changes feature on, so the author can see live as I am making changes. This also allows me to suggest edits or leave notes that the author can read and respond to. 

Collaboration is a vital part of the editing process, as it ensures the author’s vision and voice are preserved while enhancing the overall quality of the text. I approach the relationship with clear communication, starting by understanding the author’s goals, audience, and intentions for their work. I encourage an open dialogue where feedback flows both ways, offering suggestions while respecting the author’s creative choices. Regular check-ins and a transparent workflow build trust, allowing us to refine the text together while maintaining a cohesive and authentic result. This collaborative approach fosters not only a productive partnership but also a shared sense of accomplishment.

As a fiction, script, and comic editor, the amount of collaboration in a service really depends on the service provided. There are several types of editing, and some require a lot of collaboration, and others require little to no collaboration. If you're looking for a straight copyedit or proofread/light copyedit, there's really very little to collaborate on as it's just correcting errors and making style choices. I leave comments where I need to, offering suggestions or explanations. Clients are free to accept or reject anything they don't agree with, but I always recommend authors check with their editor before rejecting as people tend to have an idea of what they think is right that isn't always in line with style guides, grammar rules, or language evolution. But on any edit, I always encourage authors to contact me to review edits if there are questions or concerns, because it's their work, their words, and they have to take ownership of the final product. It's always better to discuss anything that might give them pause for any reason. We can discuss my reasons for my choices, and they can discuss their concerns, and we can work out what the best solution is for them.

When working on things like developmental edits or line edits, these require more collaboration. Typically the edit happens first, then we meet to review the edits. Explanations often can only go so far, so discussing them can really give the author clarity, and it allows the author a chance to discuss their intentions to see if perhaps I misunderstood something, which in itself can also be indicative of a problem that I may not have caught because it was misunderstood. It allows me the opportunity to make suggestions or give the author more to think about too. When the author can explain something or ask their questions, we can work together to come up with solutions, which is really all either of us want. And yeah, sometimes it really is better the way the author had it. But we don't know that if we don't talk about it. 

Reviewing the edits at the end is how we both learn things. I get to learn what the author likes and doesn't like, and the author gets to learn what I bring to the table as an editor without feeling like they have to accept everything I do as some kind of gospel. It's not. I bring experience, editorial knowledge, and an understanding of the industry that they may not have, but issues in a manuscript are rarely so cut and dry as to have any kind of gospel.

I'm not there to take over an author's book and change it to what I want. I'm there to help the author tell their story. That means I don't rewrite anything. I offer examples when necessary or offer suggestions based on my understanding of the situation, but I don't rewrite it or expect authors to take my example and use it. I will recast a sentence, meaning I'll use the words the author used and change the order to provide clarity, or I'll correct misused words, but I won't create whole new sentences that change the meaning of what the author wrote. Preserving the author's voice and ideas are key to a successful edit. I do my best to explain why things work or don't work to give the author the tools to find the solution they need without me taking over their story. Every edit comes with a discussion session to review it. I'm always open to having those conversations as nothing is ever set in stone. The beautiful thing about writing is that anything can be fixed. It's not like surgery, where someone's life is on the line with one wrong delete. We can fix anything together. Communication is what makes it work. I also find that keeping all discussions in a text chat is better than a phone call because there's a transcript that can be referred to and searched easily. These discussion almost always end up having way more information than one can possibly hope to remember, so it's nice to have something to refer back to. 

My style of editing is to make suggestions and comments on the text but to leave any changes up to the author themselves to make.  I have a lot of repeat clients so I can often go back and forth on a text several times helping the author to shape it as they learn from my advice.  I am always available if the author has any further questions about anything I've said or if they don't understand something.  My aim is to give people the sort of advice I would have found helpful when I was first starting out.  So often the feedback I got back just said something wasn't working without explaining in too much depth as to WHY, so I hope I am able explain more clearly to my clients why things aren't working and how they can fix them.  I hope having so many repeat clients means they found working with me was a positive experience!

Collaboration is a critical part of my workflow process. I'm a full-service editor, and as such, I work closely with my clients from start to finish. That means exploring the ideas, developing drafts, and working closely with the author to ensure that their writing is representative of their ideas. Text is a blunt instrument, and when used poorly, the intention can get lost. Luckily, this can be avoided with proper communication.

And that is where collaboration fits into my editing process. I encourage all my clients to get on the phone with me after every round of feedback to discuss the feedback. Why do I flag certain sections? What were my concerns/interpretations? And, crucially, what was your intention with the lines that got flagged? Did I understand it? Why, why not?

I recently had a call where I said a sentence and saw immediate confusion in the author's eyes. Yet, a quick rephrasing and we solved it. What was the sentence? 'Your USPs are hidden in the description.' Horrible sentence, isn't it? Not my finest moment. Yet, if I repeat it as "your description should represent your USPs', suddenly the purpose becomes much clearer.

I foster collaborative play with my clients by encouraging them to talk to me. Even if it's just a muttering of ah's and um's, with each moment together, we get closer and closer to your goals.