When selecting a professional editor on the Internet, the results you find can be overwhelming and confusing. Hundreds of editorial companies exist. Not to mention the number of freelance editors advertising their services online. It’s difficult to determine whether you want to work with an editorial company or an individual freelancer. After you decide between those two choices, you’ll have to choose which editorial company or which editor is right for you.

First, know some differences between working with an editorial company and working with a freelance individual. The first advantage of working with an editorial company is the reliability. Editorial companies have a managerial system in place overseeing the work of its editors. Hence, your satisfaction is guaranteed. Editorial companies like FirstEditing.com provide firm deadlines and fixed prices on which you can rely.

If an editor assigned to your project becomes unavailable, one of the other, equally qualified, editors on staff will take over your project. Also, if you have questions or you would like additional feedback or other services, an editorial company can place you with the editor best suited to meet your needs. Editorial companies employ many well-qualified, professional editors, with a wealth of different backgrounds and experience areas, and will find the editor who is right for you and your project.

Working With a Freelancer

Working with a freelance independent editor puts you, the writer, at the mercy of that one individual’s schedule. Life interruptions happen to us all (family emergencies, illness, distractions, etc.). However, when you’re reliant on just one person to complete your editing project, you don’t want to take a chance that your project will be “bumped” when issues arise for the editor.

It might delay deadlines when working with an independent freelancer, and prices can shift and change. Most freelance editors charge by the hour, which can be subjective and dubious. After all, how can you (or the editor) predict how many hours’ worth of editing a project will entail? It’s no wonder that prices and deadlines can shift and change.

As you can see, there are significant advantages to working with an editorial company as opposed to working with an individual freelance editor.

But again, how can you decide which editorial company to select?

Hundreds of companies claiming to provide professional editorial services exist. When you’re choosing a company, you need to know that the person providing the service is a well-trained expert. Many companies purport to hire a professional staff of editors, but many of these enterprises are predators, with little or no official training.

Working with untrained freelancers can drain your resources and leave your project lacking the editorial advantage you sought. After all, you want to spend your hard-earned money well. You want your project to be cared for and edited by someone with the technical ability and experience necessary.

Selecting a Professional Editor

FirstEditing.com is one of the few editorial companies around to provide you with a free sample edit. This way, you can ensure that the service will meet your needs before you spend any money. Their editors are well-qualified, highly skilled professionals. That is why they offer this service. The sample you receive represents the editing you’ll receive, taking the guesswork out of just blindly selecting a company or an editor.

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