First Editing - Professional Editing Services - Orlando, Florida

Only Flans

What a brilliant service. Jefferson's understanding of my work and the central character was amazing. More than that his encouragement makes me want to write more and better.

Alexandru Czimbor

Joanne's line editing was professional, careful, and skillful. She provided many helpful comments as she was editing, which allowed me to see the development of the narrative through her eyes. She suggested I reword the text in a few places for clarity. Great job!

A G

Super professional & 100% reliable company. They turn my manuscript into a book and then I got signed. To resume in 2 words: Highly Recommended. And for the rest, practice Morning Zen.

Tony Damian

The First Editing staff, and especially Jefferson have been a joy to work with! Not only did he do an amazing job with my manuscript, but he also gave me great feedback on the content itself. Which was more than just getting everything spelled right. He assisted me in word-smithing to make my non-fiction book more dynamic and powerful. Which also gave me the confidence boost I needed to know that I not only got my message across, but that I was an author, not just a writer!

Lori Dudas

The editing is done quickly and correctly. The customer service staff are helpful and friendly. My editor gave me thorough editing and commentary that not only improved my manuscript, but also helped me learn where I was making consistent mistakes so I can improve my writing in the future.

Willetta M.

UPDATE (See Original Review below)

I am encouraged to report that the First Editing team reached out relatively quickly seeking to turn this situation around. A new editor (Jefferson) provided quality edits and feedback. His critiques were clear and actionable, and his proofreading, especially as it relates to American Standard style rules, was head and shoulders above my initial experience. Had they taken this action when first contacted, 4 stars.

What this first-time novelist has learned:

- Find out all you can about your editor before turning over your credit card. Not sure if that's possible with this type of service, but a sample edit just wasn't enough to make an informed decision.

- Train yourself to root out word choice errors. Even after such an obviously thorough review, my new editor missed one: "fuzzy" vs. "fussy."

- Don't stew in silence. Your feedback helps conscientious companies be better.

ORIGINAL REVIEW
Full disclosure: I'm a first-time novelist but 30+ year marketing copywriter/editor with a tendency to write and rewrite to perfection. I needed a strong editor to help me "say when." My plan was to only address suggested changes (or not), then submit my manuscript to publishers with confidence, no umteenth read of the entire work. I did my research, reviewing sample edits from three companies before settling on FirstEditing's Level 3 package.
The good: friendly staff, specific, thoughtful initial feedback (which I now believe was a ploy to hook first-timers hungry for professional attention), responsive leadership team.
The bad: Buggy online form, especially if you save and come back (I eventually had to send my manuscript via email); deceptive billing practices (apparently the company exists under several names, i.e., Professional Editing Services, each running different promotions of the same service with slightly different descriptions, at different prices. My credit card was initially charged 3 different amounts); abysmal proofreading (after noticing a couple of unmarked typos on the first page, I reached out to my contact to confirm I was reviewing the correct version. They assured me the mistakes were a fluke so I stayed on plan, fixed only their edits, and began submitting to publishers, only to later discover ~5 pages worth of additional typos, inconsistent word tenses, conflicting descriptions of the same character, etc. After withdrawing my submissions, I shared the list of issues with Kathy (you were warned :(, only to be told the "guarantee" plastered all over their marketing materials did not include a refund. Their only remedy is to re-edit for free, which made no sense to me--I had already done that. (My platinum credit card company eventually withdrew payment and secured a refund.)
My hypothesis: Assuming their online reviews are legit, my guess is First Editing practices bait-and-switch: Seasoned writers get quality service, but when you check the "first-timer" box, you get short shrift. Your sample edit request is addressed by an experienced pro who lures you in with praise, gentle critique, and sound, actionable feedback then passes the full project to a lower paid, inexperienced staff person. To be fair, my editor Max did offer several helpful tips, but consistently missed the obvious, i.e., "ceased" vs. "seized." Buyer beware.

Brittany Hoza

Thank you for your extremely professional book editing services. I received amazing personal service via the numerous phone calls, chat and emails I received each step of the way. No other editor responded to my original enquiries. My editor did a great job with all my citations and foot notes. Thanks for making my life so much easier.

a greenstein

In all the years that I've been using FirstEditing, never once have they failed me in any way. I regret that it's taking me so long to post this but I'm almost afraid that too many people will start using them and they won't have as much time for all the work I give them! They've consistently transformed all of my technical writing into works of word art that all of my readers have called AWESOME!! I can't be thankful enough!!!!!!