I think most people notice when there’s no editor present. At the very least, in the fandom, I wager more writers are reading our fiction than non-writers, and writers Do notice that.
I think the publishers think we need editors. So it doesn’t matter what those who don’t want editors think, the publishers need them.
Given that, I have to ask, how did you get better at editing? Did you get an English degree? What tools did you use to improve?
I should ask my two friends who both have editing businesses this question. Last time I asked, I believe the advice given to improve editing skills were:
- Read books on the topic (like the ones suggested earlier)
- Take an editing course or two at a college
- Study up on the technical writing rules
- Keep at it. There is a level of experience and learning.
The Twilight saga begs to differ with your first point. In the fandom there is a bit more of a chance that the reader will notice the issues, as I do agree with your second point here. The fandom also has a lower overall budget for publications and has a lot less sell-through than outside the fandom; we have a much more niche audience which causes titles to have a much lower sell-through rate.
I wasn’t talking about writers improving with mentorship (and I don’t think that’s a necessity, either). I was talking about finding mentors being part of the process of improving as an editor and/or finding ways to climb that ladder – networking, basically, with editors talking shop and sharing knowledge and experience the way writers do here.
See my previous post for my reply to your first line.
As for me, I’m mostly self-taught. I’ve taken a couple of online courses, but other than that, I’ve read through several books on editing and style. Besides other titles that have already been mentioned, one of the ones I found helpful on a lot of the more basic points is The Glamour of Grammar by Roy Peter Clark. After that, it’s been practice, practice, and more practice. I’ve been actively editing for over four years now, and I’m still trying to learn more as I go along.
And I do agree that a lot of the publishing business (including something like becoming an in-house editor) relies as much (if not more) on who you know rather than what you know. Then again, that’s a lot of jobs anymore.
This sounds the same as in the fandom.
I asked this question on a forum for mainstream professional writers/publishers/etc and the response I got was… less than positive. But I’ve gotten over that.
One book I saw Cyanni reading that I want to check out is Editors on Editing: What Writers Need to Know About What Editors Do.
So what can we do to help editors improve, as well as give potential editors a strong heads up?
I think someone else brought up this elsewhere in the thread, but one of the important things to remember about helping editors to improve is that editing is a skill like any other. Much like writing, the best way to improve is to do more of it. And much like writing again, the first editing work someone does is likely to be not so good.
I’m saying this in part as a response to Rechan’s FA journal. I completely disagree with the idea of not putting something out unless it is perfect, because if that philosophy were followed, nothing would ever be produced, from either a writing or editing side.
I also say this because the furry community has a really great way to help its editors. So many editors in the community are also writers. That editing practice I mentioned above does not always need to come from the editing side, it can also come from the writing side. Seeing what an editor focuses on in your own writing, learning from them how to properly punctuate, even just learning to take a critical eye towards your own work before you send a story out for publication – all of that can be really beneficial in training future editors.
So Rechan, Ashe, Ianus, Ryffnah, Ocean, Tim, Alo, Jeff, and all the other editors out there… keep up the good work. 
I'd also like to add that I think the number one-- perhaps _only_-- factor that seperates Sofawolf from the rest of the furry publishing world at this point in time is a qualified editing staff. I don't know who's doing the work but my hat is off to them whoever it is. They do truly excellent work, which I respect all the more for being unable to perform it myself. Those publishing houses who wish to emulate their succeses, in my opinion, should look at improved editing first and foremost.
The editing staff of Sofawolf is pretty large. I’ve been working with them for less than three years, and I don’t think I even know half of the people who edit for Sofawolf. Jeff, Alopex, myself, Teagan, Fred Patten, Tim, Tempe are the names that come to mind. It’s big, and I think part of what has helped Sofawolf is that we tend to have multiple layers of editing, making it easier for one editor to catch something that another editor might not.
Truth be told, and this is what I've observed, I don't believe that the casual reader (the target audience for most fiction) even notices a lot of the issues that come from a poorly-edited story.
Not quite sure I agree. When I’m talking with friends who aren’t writers, they see the same spelling errors, punctuation mistakes, and questionable plot decisions that I do. I think it’s more a business decision. Many people think that the additional effort/time/money required to edit the work isn’t going to make up the money gained by a better quality work. I would even think that in some cases, they are right, but long-term better quality wins out.
I've talked to small presses and others, and the response was "you have to work with them and get in with them". Get stories published with them. Get to know the editors personally. It's about networking and who you know. Also getting hired, etc.
To some extent, I get that, but that also does not describe my experience with Sofawolf at all. I think they just took a gamble on letting me edit.
I’m surprised no one has posted this:
http://www.fangsandfonts.com/2015/06/10/ep-42-the-answer-to-life-the-universe-and-editing/
Fangs and Fonts made an episode based a bit around this thread. Some good points on editing.
Also, thanks to Voice for a mention at the end and giving me one of the few confidence boosts I’ve had over the last few years.
Thanks! I bookmarked it… but there’s so times they something like “You could, and that would also be correct.”
This is going to require more study.
I generally agree with that “how to use commas”. I’m 74 years old, and I’ve noticed that people (including fan writers) don’t use commas nearly as much as they used to. It’s harder to parse a sentence; you have to consciously figure it out instead of the sentence flowing naturally.
Also on the topic of editing within the fandom, see discussion on Voice’s blog post here:
Would like to bump this with a quick suggestion:
Recently, I picked up The Editor’s Companion by Steve Dunham. About halfway through this, and it’s done a great job of going over a lot of things an editor should know, both technically and logically. Would highly recommend this book for anyone that needs some more work on their editorial skills.
Edit: After getting through more of this book, I’d like to recommend it even more, and I’d like to recommend it to everyone on this forum, reader, writer, editor, publisher, and anywhere in between. It’s awesome.