Can a consulting editor help me find a publisher or literary agent?
If you consult a member of the Consulting Editors Alliance (CEA) on a book project, he or she can often draw on lengthy publishing experience and a good working knowledge of your manuscript to suggest appropriate potential literary agents and/or publishers. Please keep in mind, however, that no freelance or independent editor can ethically guarantee to secure you either representation by a literary agent or a contract with a publisher. Your editor may well be able to suggest likely agents and/or publishers for you to approach, but there is no way to promise that they ll be receptive. Book publishing is simply too idiosyncratic and unpredictable a business for that.
