Support for Indie Authors discussion

I've been frustrated with the last two "copy editors" I hired. Each did little more than proofread. My proofreader does a better job on typos and finds tense errors the "copy edit" missed. Neither editor rewrote a line or even suggested a line be re-written.
The last editor did attempt to re-write several lines, adding passives "was" constructions or adding "telling" phrases (could see, could hear) I didn't expect a developmental edit, but would have like to have had more line editing.
Am I expecting too much from a "copy editor"?

No, you're definitely not expecting too much from these copy editors. Sucks that you had poor results from them.

I agree with Peter. I've had similar experiences with a couple of editors, both of which cost me sizable amounts for little results (one even "disappeared" when I attempted to contact her afterwards.)

My only suggestion is to research future editors as much as possible; preferably settling on one that has the best recommendation from other writers.

Best of luck!

I agree that they vary hugely. On the novel I published 2 years ago, the proof reader post typesetting was more thorough than the initial editor. The same has happened with my current novel - indifferent editor then a brilliant proof reader who picked up on all sorts of things that really should have been the editor's area of responsibility. I will certainly use him again for both editing and proof reading, I think.

I found two good copy editors. If you want how to contact them, PM me and I'll share their contact information.

My copy-editor corrected grammar, punctuation, spelling/typos, and also she changed some sentences around to vary the sentence structure. She also let me know about issues like having too many chapters that start in a similar way. She also checked timeline issues in my story, and gave suggestions here and there about making certain sentences have more impact, or where more or less detail was needed.

I can't remember exactly how I found her now, but she's a professional member of an editing & proofreading society, so perhaps that could be something to look out for when considering editors :)

I can't remember exactly how I found her now, but she's a professional member of an editing & proofreading society, so perhaps that could be something to look out for when considering editors

That's the key feature.

L.K. I expected a finished edit more along the lines you described. Do you remember the name of the Society. There are several.
BTW I always use separate editor and proofreader to have fresh eyes on the final check.
Thanks to all that commented.

Frank wrote: "L.K. I expected a finished edit more along the lines you described. Do you remember the name of the Society. There are several."

It's the Society for Editors and Proofreaders, which is based in the UK.

Kelly wrote: "Frank, I'm sorry..."

Our rule against self-promotion doesn't stop at authors. If we aren't going to allow authors to self-promote, then we won't allow editors or anyone else. And the no links rule applies for everyone, too.

Thanks.