In [Part One](https://independentpublishing.com/developmental-editing-part-one), I broke down what developmental editing is, what a professional edit should include, and how to sanity-check pricing and scope. That part is comforting because it is mostly definitions and math.
This part is different. Now you have to choose a person. You are about to hand over your draft and a meaningful chunk of money, and you want to be sure the feedback will actually be usable.
The right hire is the editor whose genre instincts, process, and deliverables match your draft and the way you revise. When the fit is right, the money hurts less and the revision goes faster.
This part shows you where to look, how to test fit, and how to compare editors without getting distracted by shiny marketing. Treat it like a professional hire, because it is one.
In this series
- Part One: What developmental editing is and what you should receive (read Part One)
- Part Two (this article): Where to find developmental editors and how to vet them
- Part Three: Red flags, contracts, and what to do if the edit falls short (read Part Three)
Where to Look: Trusted Directories and Marketplaces
If you want to reduce risk, start with sources that have either a curated roster (where professionals are screened) or a long-running professional directory (where editors list specialties and credentials in a consistent way).
None of these sources can guarantee fit for your book, but they can give you a stronger starting pool than a random web search.
Curated marketplace
- Reedsy: A marketplace of publishing professionals. You can filter for developmental editors by genre and category, review profiles and portfolios, and request multiple quotes so you can compare scope, deliverables, and pricing in one place. Explore: Reedsy Developmental Editing.
Professional association directories
- Editorial Freelancers Association (EFA): A long-running editorial association with a searchable directory you can filter by service type and specialty. Explore: EFA Member Directory Search. Prefer to post the project and let editors respond? Post a job: EFA Job Post Submission.
- Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP): A respected organization with a public directory and filters that help you locate editors by service and specialty (a strong option for UK and international searches). Search here: CIEP Directory of Editorial Services.
- Editors Canada: A national association with a directory searchable by specialty (including developmental editing), subject area, and location (useful for Canadian and North American searches). Search here: Editors Canada Online Directory of Editors.
- Institute of Professional Editors (IPEd): A professional association for editors in Australia and New Zealand with a directory you can filter by service, subject, and fiction genre. Search here: IPEd Find an Editor.
- ACES: The Society for Editing: A broad editing organization with a “for hire” directory. It can expand your search across editorial specialties, just be clear you’re looking for developmental work and confirm deliverables. Search here: ACES Editors for Hire.
Indie publishing directory (useful when you want self-publishing fluency)
- Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi): A services directory of approved Partner Members, including editors, positioned for indie authors. It can be a helpful complement to the association directories, particularly when you want someone who understands self-publishing workflows and expectations. Explore: ALLi Self-Publishing Services Directory.
Publisher-oriented vendor directory
- Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA): A vendor directory used by independent publishers and author-publishers to source service providers, including editors. Treat it as a sourcing list and vet individual providers carefully. Browse: IBPA Supplier & Services Discovery Database.
Regional guild directories (solid supplemental pools)
- Northwest Editors Guild: A searchable member directory with filters for service type and specialties. Browse: Northwest Editors Guild Member Directory.
- Bay Area Editors’ Forum (BAEF): A long-running editors’ association with a searchable database of editors and specialties. Browse: BAEF Search Database of Editors.
No matter where you find candidates, treat the next step the same way: compare sample edits and verify deliverables.
Before You Contact Editors: Prepare a One-Page Project Brief
You will get better quotes, and a clearer sense of fit, if every editor is responding to the same brief. This isn’t busywork. It’s how you avoid comparing apples to oranges.
Keep it to one page. Include your genre/subgenre (and whether it’s a series), current word count, and draft stage. State what you want the edit to accomplish in plain language. Add two or three comparable titles so the editor understands the reader promise you are aiming for.
Then list any known concerns (pacing, structure, argument clarity), your timeline, and what materials you’re sending for evaluation (often a synopsis plus a chapter, or a representative 1,500 to 2,000-word excerpt).
If you send five editors five different descriptions of the project, you will get five different services quoted. A consistent brief keeps the scope comparable, which makes your hiring decision easier.
Step 1: Request a Sample Edit and Compare Side by Side
Jane Friedman puts it plainly: the most decisive factor is the quality of the edit itself, and nothing beats comparing sample edits side by side. She also offers a strong list of practical questions in Before You Hire a Developmental Editor.
A short paid sample (often 1,000 to 2,000 words) is a normal industry practice, and a small price to pay to avoid a much larger mistake. A $100 sample can save you a $3,000 regret.
Not every strong editor offers sample edits. Some prefer to evaluate fit through an intake call, a synopsis, and a review of comparable titles, then share redacted examples of deliverables or references instead.
If an editor does not offer a sample, ask to see an anonymized excerpt of an editorial letter or manuscript notes, and ask what their developmental deliverables look like in practice.
If you want more background on why samples are useful and how to compare them, Louise Harnby has a helpful explainer on what a sample edit is and who it helps.
How to run a fair sample edit
Make the comparison fair. Send the same excerpt to each editor, and choose something representative, not your most polished scene.
If you can, include a passage that is structurally challenging, a turning point, a chapter transition, a high-tension scene, something that will reveal how the editor thinks.
In the email, include one short paragraph with genre, target reader, and what you want feedback on.
The goal is not to “impress” the editor. The goal is to see whether their notes are specific, practical, and aligned with your category.
What to look for in the sample edit
You are not looking for the editor who “likes” your writing most.
One note: Part Three includes a quick rubric for judging whether an edit is truly usable once the work shows up, especially if everything looked good on paper but something feels off (Part Three).
You are looking for evidence of careful reading, craft competence, and a process that will help you revise effectively.
1) Specificity that is anchored to your text
Weak:
- “The pacing is slow here.”
Strong:
- “Chapters 7 to 9 repeat the same information. Consider combining Scene A and Scene B, and move the reveal in Scene C earlier so the midpoint turns on new information.”
Weak:
- “Your protagonist is unlikable.”
Strong:
- “The first 20 pages show the protagonist reacting defensively without giving the reader a reason to root for them. One fix is to add a clear early competency moment or a value they protect, then keep the defensive moments but contextualize them.”
2) The right level of focus for developmental work
A developmental sample may include line-level notes, but it should not be dominated by commas and wordsmithing.
If the sample is 90 percent line edits and 10 percent structure, you may be looking at a line editor who uses “developmental” as a label, or you may simply need to clarify scope before you proceed.
3) Diagnosis plus options
The best developmental editors identify root causes and give you options.
Weak:
- “This chapter doesn’t work.”
Strong:
- “This chapter is doing three jobs at once (worldbuilding, backstory, and conflict escalation). You could split it into two chapters, or keep it as one chapter but cut the backstory and distribute it across later scenes.”
4) Tone that is professional and useful under pressure
The editor does not need to be gentle. They do need to be respectful and clear. You want feedback you can work with on your worst day.
A common problem is tone: edits become demoralizing not because the editor found problems, but because the feedback is framed as judgment rather than craft.
Look for language that describes the effect on the reader and the mechanics of the story, not personal attacks.
A professional developmental editor critiques the manuscript and its effect on readers, not the author.
5) Evidence of genre fluency
In the sample, do they reference reader expectations that actually fit your category? Do they understand pacing norms, stakes, voice, and common structural patterns for your genre?
If you want a question list to guide the conversation, Writer’s Digest has a practical prompt set in Questions To Ask Before Hiring a Developmental Editor.
What you might see in the wild
Here are a few patterns authors report, and what they usually mean.
You get a polished, thoughtful memo, but almost no in-manuscript comments. That is often an editorial assessment rather than a full developmental edit.
If you revise best with scene-level guidance, confirm annotations are included, and ask for a quick example of what their manuscript comments look like.
The sample edit feels sharp and strategic, then the proposal downshifts into vague deliverables. Some editors do strong diagnostic work but describe deliverables loosely.
Ask for a one-page deliverables checklist: letter length range, whether you receive chapter or scene notes, and whether comments or Track Changes are included.
The editor rewrites your sentences to “fix voice.” A small amount of line-level suggestion can be helpful, but wholesale rewriting is a red flag unless you requested heavy line editing. In developmental work, you want explanations and options, not a replacement voice.
The editor is clearly competent, but keeps steering the book away from its genre promise. That usually signals a fit problem. If their notes consistently conflict with reader expectations for your category, you can respect their skill and still decide it’s not the right match.
The feedback sounds generic. If the advice could apply to almost any manuscript and rarely references your scenes, characters, or turning points, ask for three to five examples tied to specific chapters. If they cannot provide them, the work may not be manuscript-specific.
Speed is the main selling point. Fast turnaround is not automatically bad, but it should match the workload and deliverables.
If an editor offers a full developmental edit of a long manuscript on an unusually short timeline, ask how many hours they expect to spend and what the outputs will look like.
They ask unusually good questions up front. Editors who ask about your target reader, comparable titles, series plan, and what kind of feedback you prefer tend to have a repeatable process and fewer surprises later.
Their communication style raises risk. If messages are unclear, deadlines are slippery, or the proposal is hard to pin down, you may have project-management problems later. For a significant spend, clarity and reliability matter as much as taste.
Step 2: Confirm Genre Fit With Evidence, Not Claims
Broad experience can be real, but developmental editing is deeply tied to genre conventions and reader expectations.
Ask for proof:
- Recent titles they’ve worked on in your genre (or adjacent subgenres)
- What kind of work they did (developmental, line, copy)
- Optional but helpful: anonymized before-and-after examples or a brief case study
What “good fit” sounds like
When you ask, “What do readers expect from this genre?” a strong editor will answer with specifics.
Example (cozy mystery):
- Cozy mystery readers expect a fair puzzle, a consistent tone, a protagonist with a clear investigation spine, and a resolution that feels earned.
Example (romantic suspense):
- Romantic suspense readers expect two narrative engines working together: relationship progression and escalating external danger, with turning points that advance both.
If you’re writing fantasy and an editor’s core notes repeatedly push the book toward realism and away from the genre promise, you likely have a mismatch, even if the editor is talented.
Step 3: Ask What Their Process Looks Like and Request a Sample of Deliverables
A professional editor should be able to explain how they work in plain language:
- Do they do a full read first, then analyze?
- Do they map structure or argument?
- How do they document issues (chapter notes, scene map, editorial memo)?
- What will you receive at the end?
Ask to see an anonymized example
If the editor is willing, ask for one of the following:
- A redacted editorial letter outline
- A one-page excerpt of chapter notes
- A screenshot of how they annotate (with client text removed)
You are not looking for secrets. You are looking for evidence that they have a repeatable system and that their deliverables match what you need.
Many authors assume “developmental edit” includes in-manuscript comments, then learn later they purchased an editorial assessment. If you are unsure, ask directly and confirm in writing.
(For a quick overview of how editorial assessments differ from developmental edits, Reedsy’s editing guide explains the difference between an assessment and a developmental edit in practical terms: Types of Editing: An Inside Look at What Editors Do.)
Step 4: Validate Experience Claims Without Turning It Into an Interrogation
It is reasonable to ask what “edited bestsellers” means.
- Which titles?
- What role did they play (developmental edit, line edit, copyedit)?
- Were they the sole editor or part of a team?
A good editor will answer professionally. They may not be able to share everything due to NDAs, but they should be able to describe the type of work and the level of responsibility.
It’s common to see editors list “bestsellers” they proofread for a publisher as if they were the developmental editor. That is not necessarily dishonest, but it is not the same service. Clarify what you are buying.
Step 5: Check References and Ask Questions That Reveal How the Work Felt in Practice
If possible, speak to one or two past clients.
Ask:
- “Were the deliverables what you expected, and were they on time?”
- “Was the feedback specific enough to revise without guessing?”
- “What did you do differently in revision because of that edit?”
- “If you hired them again, what would you do the same, and what would you do differently?”
Testimonials often focus on personality. References can tell you whether the editor’s feedback was usable, whether deadlines were met, and whether communication was professional under stress.
Step 6: Compare Proposals Using a Simple Decision Matrix
e timeline is realistic, and whether the price makes sense for the scope.
A quick reality check: the cheapest proposal is often the most expensive once you account for lost time. The most expensive proposal is only worth it if it comes with deeper deliverables you can actually use.
If you missed Part One, start there for definitions, deliverables, and pricing ranges. Next: Part Three covers red flags and how to protect the project if things go sideways.
