Gut Feelings.

I go with my gut on everything. Sometimes I choose wrong, and that’s okay.

I have an impulse issue and I want everything now.
Just ask my husband, patience is not my strong point.

First impressions mean everything to me. If I have an off feeling when I meet you, I always try to give people the benefit of the doubt. Mostly, because I will always doubt myself first. Maybe it was me. Maybe I’m just being off. And if that doesn’t settle the uncertainty, then maybe you were having an off day and I need to give people grace. Not everyone is going to put their best foot forward in every situation.

But nine times out of ten, trust. your. gut.

If you are talking to someone who you could potentially hire to be your editor and something feels fishy, don’t do it.

From the beginning, I knew I wanted to hire an editor. I wanted a professional to go over my story with a fine tooth comb because at the end of the day, in my opinion, you need a good editor. Some readers won’t notice or they won’t mind spelling and grammar errors in a book. Especially, in an indie author’s book.

Our brains are amazing things and typically they fix the on page errors in your head, so you don’t notice. I do know that if there are too many mistakes in a book, it pulls me out of the story and that was not something I wanted for mine.

Now, can everyone do this? Understandably, no. Not everyone can. Publishing a book costs money. The editor, depending on what service you are needing, costing the most. Sometimes we don’t have money to throw at this and the fact is, when you are getting started, at least for most of us, you aren’t going to see a return anytime soon.

When I was searching for my editor, I was nervous. I had heard about so many people getting scammed that I was scared. It really wasn’t about money for me. I wasn’t worried about losing the money, I was worried about having my story stolen.

If you haven’t read Falling Too Late, ahead are some spoilers. You have been warned.

Within the first eight pages of Chapter One, there is rape of a minor in my story. It’s not an easy read. It made me nauseous to write, but it is there and I needed someone to consent to editing a book with this kind of content in it. I had an editor in mind. I had been following her on TikTok for a few years and watched her start her editorial business. I really liked her and I wanted to work with her.

When it got to the point that I needed to start scheduling something, I was just going to message her in the app and chat with her. We were mutuals and had commented under each others videos every now and then. But I wanted to start my author career by being professional. So, I went to her website and I read everything on her webpage.

Then I came to her FAQ’s. Where she explicitly says, she will not work on any content with sexual abuse. It was completely understandable, but I was devastated. I had been watching her for the last year or so and I felt like I could trust her with my story.

I had no idea how to go about finding an editor at that point.

I had reached out to an author friend who also write’s very dark romance and asked them to read the first chapter (thank you so much Santana) and they did, gave me advice and encouragement.

I could have asked them and other author friends for advice and suggestions, but in my head, I knew an editor, for me, would be a personal thing. I had to have good communication with them. I had to feel like we could be friends.

How did I find my amazing editor? Facebook.

Do I suggest the way I did it? Absolutely not, but I’ll tell you about it anyways.

I joined an editor wanted Facebook group and made a post with the details of my story.

I need someone who would be okay editing dark romance with child SA, and I needed someone who could accept payment plans.

When I tell you I was inundated with messages and comments, I mean I had over 100 comments and messages within twenty minutes. People even went so far as to find my Instagram page to send me a message. At first glance, a lot of them felt scammy. A few felt real, but the conversation didn’t flow very well or I didn’t feel comfortable.

Having someone read over your story is a very person thing.

I was scared, and then there was Hannah.

Hannah was encouraging, kind and forthcoming. She asked all the right questions and made me feel like she would enjoy editing my book.

Now, does your editor have to enjoy your book? I really don’t know. I think that’s a personal question, but I knew I needed someone who made me feel like they were enjoying my words. I typed up an excerpt of Falling Too Late, explained the plot line and sent her a chapter with about 2K-ish words that she read over and gave me a sample edit.

Her response was everything and it solidified my decision in hiring her.

As I said before, go with your gut.

What’s meant to be will always be.

You can read through mine and others testimonials on Hannah’s website here.