I was recently chatting with an author searching for an editor for her debut novel. One of the questions she asked was what she could expect an average turnaround time to be for her manuscript. I thought sharing some of what I told her could be helpful to other new authors who may have never worked with an editor before and are curious about this topic.
Word count might be the biggest factor in determining turnaround. Obviously the higher the word count the longer it’s going to take to edit. Some editors work faster than other editors, so it can also largely depend on who you’ve hired. The type of editing being done also affects how long it should take. For example, a heavy line edit is probably going to take a lot longer than a final proofread.
The amount of editing that has been previously done to a manuscript is also a factor. A copyedit is probably going to go a lot faster if the manuscript has already been touched by a developmental editor. An author who is an editor themself or has published books in the past will also tend to produce a more polished manuscript from the get-go, so by the time it’s passed on there is much less work that needs to be done. Additionally, subsequent edits for repeat clients typically take less time once you become familiar with their style and expectations.
All this being said, I generally allow one month per moderate-sized manuscript, which seems to be on par with what I’ve seen others suggest. I know editors who do the same, and some of the publishers I freelance for generally expect a 3-4 week turnaround unless a particular manuscript is extra long.
As with most things, planning ahead helps tremendously. The sooner an author reaches out to their editor and schedules them, the more smoothly the rest of the editing process should go. It’s also good to clearly communicate your expectations to your editor. Doing so will alleviate stress for both parties. Once the scope of the project is clearly defined and the editor gets the manuscript, they can simply get to work.
These are just some of the things to keep in mind when thinking about editing turnaround. I hope anyone reading this has found it helpful. If you’re looking for an editor, I copyedit and proofread primarily fiction and would love to chat with you. Feel free to get in touch.
Timothy