Because this post at Writer Beware spent more time telling you what to beware of in editors, I thought I would post a few pointers for what you should look for in a competent editor:
1. Naturally, you want to know something about their body of published work.
2. Are they published writers as well as editors?
3. It is absolutely NOT necessary to be a published writer in order to be a good editor.
4. However, it can help an editor be more understanding of the writers’ challenges and obstacles.
5. However, sometimes the best editor has no writerly sensibilities and can do a crack job from the outside in.
6. How can you figure this out? References, word of mouth, reputation all help.
7. Reputable editors all have websites these days. If they don’t, that’s a red flag.
8. You could google their name and see what comes up. That will tell you a lot. Or nothing. If nothing, move on.
9. Their published works should be at Amazon.
10. Don’t bother with Amazon customer reviews—most editors and publishers totally ignore them, unless the sheer quantity is noteworthy.
11. Through Amazon.com you can find out if published work is self published or not.
12. If the former, do beware.
13. Beware of an editor whose first comments are related to grammar, spelling, typos—they’re too focused on the trees. (They might make a good proofreader, though)
14. You want a “developmental” editor, one who looks at the forest or the big picture.
15. A good editor should first consider your voice, structure, and the proverbial “narrative arc.”
16. The small stuff in #13 IS important.
17. But, your first concern is that an editor have a form of professional “empathy” for your work.
18. You gather this by listening to what the editor reads/writes back to you about your work.
19. You don’t want to be friends with your editor.
20. You want something more brutally meaningful.
Find competent professional editors through Bay Area Editors Forum.
When you have found your perfect editor, let me know. I’ll give you pointers on how to work with her/him in terms of when to push back (and how) and when to not push back. It’s another skill set, involving emotions and attitude.