Self-Editing vs. Hiring a Professional

First, let’s talk about the elephant in the room: editing is EXPENSIVE.

Why is editing expensive? Because it takes a lot of time.

For an editor to successfully edit your manuscript, they must read every word. It doesn’t matter if they can speed read on a normal day, editing is the opposite. Each word, each sentence, each paragraph and chapter, is combed through, so your 80,000 words will likely take days of their time, not the few hours that some of your readers take.

As an indie author, especially if you are working on publishing your debut novel, you will likely be tempted to skip professional editing to save money.

If this is the case for you, I recommend downloading my Steps of Self-Editing Checklist.

Traditionally, the steps a manuscript would take before publishing are:
Developmental Editing – a look at your plot and broad overview of the manuscript
Line Editing – stylistic editing to the overall flow and tone of the manuscript
Copy Editing – checks for inconsistencies, minor fact checking, and grammar
Final Proofread – the last read through for spelling, grammar, and punctuation issues

The manuscript is sent back to the author between each stage for rewrites, corrections, and acceptance or rejection of any suggestions made by the editor.

It can be a hard decision to spend money on editing, however, I think you will find that your readers will be grateful, the reviews of your book will shine, and return readership will be higher overall.