Services &

What Does a Book Editor Do—and What Can One Do for You?

Not so long ago I was at a medical appointment getting some stitches. Either because stitching is so routine, or simply he wanted to distract me from the fact that I was getting sewn back together, the doc asked me what I did for a living.

I’m a book editor, I said. And that prompted the inevitable question: “Oh, so does that mean you correct people’s grammar?” Generally speaking, it does not, not any more than being a hair stylist means combing hair. But the conversation got me trying to explain what it is I do, in fact, do, all in five minutes’ time.

Maybe it was the penicillin, but I think I figured it out.

It’s this: I help people write the books their ideas deserve. 

Now, of course, getting great ideas into a great book does sometimes involve helping people with grammar, but that’s a late-stage problem. Writing the book your ideas deserve is a process with many, bigger challenges that lay between you and a final read for clarity. 

In nonfiction land, where I live, the biggest challenge may be the first: how does someone take a great idea–perhaps something that can be jotted down in a journal in twenty-five words–or a life’s sprawling work, and begin to sketch the outlines of a 1,000-word overview? But there are more challenges to come: How does that become a proposal, one that’s a good enough read that an agent or acquisition editor doesn’t want to put it down? How does it become a piece of writing that delivers powerful insight, even in a proposal’s short form, so that a publicist knows they’ll have something to run with? Equally importantly, how does it become a proposal that doesn’t just serve up some pro-forma market analysis and a wishlist of world-famous figures who might eventually write an endorsement, but instead says to the jaundiced, jaded, or simply overworked book-publishing professional that, yes, this is a project you should risk time, treasure, and heartache on? And then, once you’ve done all that, how do you execute that vision, turning a 10,000-word proposal into an artfully constructed, provocative, gripping, and even entertaining book?

How, indeed? If you’ve thought about writing a book and found yourself stopped short at any of those stages, I don’t think anyone can blame you. Expecting a scientist, an historian, or a top-flight journalist to have also mastered the art of writing a great book proposal or a great book while doing an all-encompassing day job is about as reasonable as expecting someone to come out of graduate school both a mathematician and a master gardener. I’m sure some do. But it’s not very likely.

That’s where I come in. Yes, I can help you with your grammar. But I can also be your coach, your mentor, your guide; reading and talking about your work with you take precedence over any attempt at my rewriting your words. I can dive into the primary research and secondary literature alongside you, to help push your ideas to the limits and make your arguments as ironclad as can be. And I can shine your book, chapter by chapter, paragraph by paragraph, line by line–even with pencil on paper, if that’s how you’d like to do it (I have very neat copy-editor’s handwriting, earned the hard way, but I never use red ink).

If you want to write nonfiction–if you want to write a book that doesn’t simply inform people of what you think, but which transforms how they think–get in touch, at thomas@landleditorial.com. Write the book your ideas deserve. I’m ready to help you do it!

I offer a full range of work on nonfiction books, including big-idea business books, STEM, popular philosophy, and history titles: 

• brainstorming/ideation; 

• consulting on and editing of book proposals, as well as agency or publisher submissions;

• book coaching;

• manuscript consultation;

• developmental editing, with the option to include primary- and secondary-source research;

• line editing; and 

• publication consultation. 

I am open to working with publishers, literary agents, authors, and others. I am open to work by the hour, by flat fee, or by retainer. For all seven of the critical stages listed above, you can expect to be charged $125 per hour. Line editing is typically between $.05/word and $.10/word, depending on the complexity of the project. Contact me at thomas@landleditorial.com to discuss pricing and what I can do for you. I'm always willing to hear out a proposal.