5 Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Book Editor or Designer
Before You Hire: How to Vet the People Who Help Bring Your Book to Life
A few weeks ago, an author reached out to me looking for a proofreader. I don’t offer proofreading, but I asked if we could meet anyway—I wanted to understand what they were really trying to accomplish before pointing them in any direction. I’m glad we did.
Here’s something I see all the time, and I want to say up front that it’s completely understandable: many writers use “proofreading” and “copyediting” as if they’re the same thing. That’s not a failing. There is so much information out there—much of it conflicting—that the lines between publishing services blur fast. Helping untangle that is part of my job.
When I reviewed this author’s manuscript, it became clear pretty quickly that what they needed wasn’t a proofread at all. The manuscript had incorrect hyphenations, misplaced punctuation, acronyms that needed to be spelled out on first use, and a few titles/names that called for light fact-checking. The subject matter was fascinating and genuinely timely, which made me care even more about getting it right—because here’s the reality: without a proper copyedit, a book like this risked earning negative Amazon reviews. Not for its ideas, but for errors readers would notice on the very first pages. What’s more, those kind of simple mistakes could undermine the author’s credibility and their message.
So we started there. I did the copyedit and built a style sheet for the project—a single reference page documenting every decision we were making about spelling, capitalization, formatting, and terminology. A style sheet isn’t just for the editor. It’s for everyone who touches the book afterward: the proofreader, the graphic designer, the marketing team. It keeps the whole team speaking the same language.
Then, I sent the finished manuscript on to a graphic designer for formatting. That’s where things got complicated.
The designer returned the “formatted” book as a Microsoft Word document. That was my first red flag. A professional book designer typically delivers print-ready files—a typeset PDF built in software like Adobe InDesign—not a Word file. Then came this note: “Where you had bullet points and numbers, we removed the bullet points. It’s not common practice to use both.” That simply isn’t true. And when I asked which style guide they were following, the answer was APA—the American Psychological Association’s style—for a trade book. For a general-interest book like this one, the standard is the Chicago Manual of Style, currently in its 18th edition. APA has its place; a trade book is not it.
The problems multiplied from there—too many to list. The short version: this one hire set the project back at least three weeks, and we ultimately brought in a different designer, someone I’ve worked with for years and trusted to deliver exactly the files the author needed.
And that’s the whole point of this post. When you’re publishing a book, you’re trying to protect two things at once: your time and your money. The wrong service provider costs you both; the right one saves you both. The difference usually comes down to a few good questions asked before any money changes hands.
So, before you hire anyone—an editor, a proofreader, a translator, a graphic designer, a book packager, a marketing pro—here are five questions worth asking:
What exactly does your service include, and what does it not include? This is where the proofreading-versus-copyediting mix-up gets sorted out. Ask them to define the service in plain terms and describe what you’ll actually receive. If you’re unsure which service you need, a good provider will help you figure that out—not just sell you what you walked in asking for.
Which style guide do you work in, and why that one for my book? Different books call for different standards. Most trade books follow the Chicago Manual of Style; articles for the web most commonly use the Associated Press (AP) Stylebook, academic and scientific work (think medical journals) often use AMA. You want someone who can name the guide and explain why it fits your project, not someone applying a one-size-fits-all default.
3. Do you belong to any professional organizations, and which ones? Membership in groups like the Editorial Freelancers Association (EFA), IBPA (Independent Book Publishers Association), the Publishing Professionals Network or the equivalent bodies for designers and translators signals ongoing training, a professional network, and standards they’re accountable to. It’s not a guarantee, but it’s a strong signal.
Can I see samples of your work? Samples of finished projects show you the quality and range of what a provider delivers, and references (ask to speak/email with a past client or two) tell you what they're like to work with day to day. You can also ask whether they offer a sample edit—where an editor edits a page of your actual manuscript so you can see how they'd handle your specific book. Not every provider offers this, and that's perfectly fair; it's a real time commitment. I don't offer sample edits myself, simply because I'm usually at capacity with client work. What I'm always glad to share instead is a one-page example of an edit I've completed that the client has authorized me to show—proof of how I work in practice. If someone can't do a sample edit, an example like that, along with a solid portfolio and references, will tell you what you need to know
What will you deliver, in what file formats, and by when? Get specific. A book designer should be handing over print-ready files, not a Word document. And print-ready files are different, depending on what platform you will be publishing on. Knowing the formats and the timeline up front prevents the exact three-week detour I described. (Note: I prefer to have my book files created directly from Adobe InDesign or Affinity files. It's the only format that guarantees the printed book looks exactly as approved. A PDF embeds the fonts and locks the layout, so it doesn't depend on someone's software, printer, or installed fonts.)
Remember, none of these questions are rude. A seasoned professional will welcome them—they signal that you take your book seriously, and they give both of you a clear picture of whether you’re a good fit.
The people worth hiring want you to ask.
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Linda Ruggeri is a nonfiction bilingual editor and writer based out of Napa Valley, California who specializes in memoirs, biographies, cookbooks, and Spanish translation reviews. She’s the author of Networking for Writers which received an IBPA Gold Medal in 2025.
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