How to Prepare Your Manuscript Before Hiring an Editor

Before you spend money on professional editing, do these things first. A well-prepared manuscript saves you money, gets better results, and makes your editor's job easier.

Hiring a professional editor is one of the best investments a self-published author can make. But many authors make a costly mistake: they send their manuscript to an editor too soon, in a state that wastes both time and money. The better prepared your manuscript is before it reaches an editor, the more impactful — and affordable — the editing process will be.

Here's exactly what to do before you hire an editor.

Step 1 — Step Away From Your Manuscript First

This sounds counterintuitive, but it's one of the most important steps. After months of writing, you're too close to your own work to see it clearly. Your brain autocorrects mistakes, fills in missing logic, and reads what you intended to write rather than what's actually on the page.

Give yourself at least 2–4 weeks away from the manuscript before you begin self-editing. When you return, you'll see it with much fresher eyes — spotting inconsistencies, awkward phrasing, and weak scenes you would have missed otherwise.

Step 2 — Do a Structural Pass First

Before worrying about sentences and grammar, make sure your story's foundation is solid. Read your manuscript straight through and ask yourself:

  • Does every chapter advance the plot or develop a character?
  • Are there plot holes or unresolved storylines?
  • Does the pacing feel consistent, or are there sections that drag?
  • Do character arcs feel earned and believable?
  • Does your opening hook the reader immediately?

Fix these big-picture issues before anything else. There's no point polishing sentences in a scene you'll end up cutting. As one editor puts it, you wouldn't hire an interior designer before the architect confirms the foundation is solid.

Step 3 — Read Your Manuscript Aloud

This is one of the most effective self-editing techniques authors overlook. Reading aloud forces you to slow down and actually hear your writing. You'll immediately notice:

  • Sentences that are too long or awkward to read comfortably
  • Dialogue that doesn't sound like real speech
  • Words or phrases you've repeated too many times
  • Rhythm problems in your prose

If reading aloud feels tedious for a full manuscript, use the text-to-speech feature in Microsoft Word ("Read Aloud" under the Review tab) to listen while you follow along.

Step 4 — Get Beta Readers

Beta readers are people who read your manuscript and give you feedback from a reader's perspective — not as editors, but as your target audience. They'll tell you things like:

  • "I lost interest around chapter seven"
  • "I didn't understand why the main character made that decision"
  • "The ending felt rushed"

This kind of feedback is invaluable before you hire a professional editor, because it helps you identify big-picture issues that a line editor or proofreader won't address. Find beta readers in writing groups, online communities, or by asking fellow authors in your genre.

Step 5 — Do a Technical Cleanup

Once your story is structurally solid, do a pass focused purely on technical correctness. This is not about creative decisions — it's about cleaning up the mess so your editor can focus on what matters. Go through and:

  • Run a spelling and grammar check (Word, Grammarly, or ProWritingAid)
  • Remove double spaces after periods (standard is one space)
  • Make sure your font is consistent throughout (12pt Times New Roman is industry standard)
  • Use consistent paragraph indentation
  • Check that chapter headings are formatted the same way throughout
  • Remove any leftover notes or comments you've left yourself in the document

Submitting a technically clean manuscript means your editor spends their time improving your writing — not fixing formatting or hunting for typos you could have caught yourself.

Step 6 — Create a Simple Style Sheet

A style sheet is a document that lists any intentional style choices in your manuscript that you want your editor to preserve. It sounds formal but it can be as simple as a list. Include things like:

  • Character names and any unusual spellings
  • Place names and invented terminology (especially important for fantasy/sci-fi)
  • Whether you prefer the Oxford comma or not
  • Any dialect or intentional grammatical "errors" in dialogue that are part of a character's voice
  • Words you've deliberately spelled a certain way

This saves your editor from "correcting" things that are intentional choices, and helps maintain consistency across your manuscript.

Step 7 — Know What Type of Editing You Need

Before contacting an editor, be clear on what you're asking for. As we covered in our post on line editing vs proofreading, these are different services that happen at different stages:

  • Line editing — for improving prose quality, style, and flow
  • Copyediting — for grammar, consistency, and mechanics
  • Proofreading — the final error check before publishing

If your manuscript hasn't been professionally edited before, you likely need line editing or copyediting — not just proofreading. Being clear about this upfront avoids misunderstandings and wasted money.

Step 8 — Run an AI Pre-Edit

Before sending your manuscript to a professional editor — or as an affordable alternative if budget is tight — consider running your manuscript through an AI-assisted editing tool like ScribeGlow. You'll get a detailed .docx back with Track Changes showing line edits and proofreading corrections throughout your manuscript.

This serves two purposes: it cleans up a significant portion of surface-level issues before a human editor sees it (potentially lowering your editing quote), and for authors on tighter budgets, it provides a professional-quality edit on its own. ScribeGlow is free for manuscripts under 5,000 words — making it a risk-free way to see what your manuscript looks like after a proper edit before committing to anything.

The Bottom Line

The more work you put into your manuscript before it reaches an editor, the better your results and the lower your costs. Editors are not there to fix first drafts — they're there to take solid work and make it excellent.

Give them something worth polishing.

Want to see what your manuscript looks like after a professional edit — before spending thousands on a human editor? Try ScribeGlow free on your first 5,000 words. No account required. You'll get a polished .docx with Track Changes in minutes.