Do I need an editor or a publisher first for my book?

First you need to find a publisher. Then you need to do what ever they say to do as far as editing. More than likely, you will do your own editing as far as typo's are concerned. When that time comes, lock your door and don't let anyone bother you.

As most of you who read my hubs know, I'm a gate keeper for a literary agent, and this little hub will answer, at least in my mind three things: Should I have an editor? Should I get a publisher before an... keep reading →

How an author approaches this question depends on at least two different considerations: the level of experience of the author and the publisher the author intends to approach. For an author with years of... keep reading →

Well, published authors are not superior to unpublished stories but an editor will look at the writing of a published author, and if he sees nonsense, he will give it a chance will keep reading the book to see if it makes any sense. If the same thing happens with an unpublished author, the editor will toss it out immediately. If you will write a textbook, things are different and you almost certainly need to be a recognized researcher in your field. I have more on writing a textbook at

http://hubpages.com/hub/Tips-for-Writing-a-text-bo

and you can apply, at least some of the principles set out there to your book, whatever format it is going to be in.

If you would like to publish with a traditional publisher, a lot of times you need an invitation for them to spend money evaluating your book, unless its a new publisher company. They don't really like getting cold proposals, so I suggest you start small, with a relatively new company and work your way up up, unless you can get a good offer from an established company.

You need a qualifed editor first. Many offering their services today are simply not good at what they do. Do your research. Get referrals. See samples.

The publishing world is changing by the minute. Gone are the days when traditional publishing houses would edit your manuscript in-house for free. They expect your submission to arrive fully edited and formatted. Smaller, independent presses, offering publishing services for a fee, will either provide editing services as part of their package, outsource it, or leave it up to you to locate a quality editor. So, whichever way you choose to go, authors need to absorb the cost of editing today--or it will come back to haunt them.

Image credit: www.freewebs.com/awritestart/PIC-BookRedTable.jpg Every writer dreams of being published. Most secretly hope to ace that million dollar book deal that will make them celebrities as well as rich!... keep reading →