Should You Hire An Editor For Your Book?

Bill, I love the Mark Twain quote and think I'll use that one on all my work. Good one. Your ideas here are important points to remember.

This is really spot on Bill. I would think everyone would do this. I go back to review old hubs and no matter what, I usually find a mistake or two. A book is an entirely other matter. I would not feel right not hiring an editor. I have also always thought it would be fun to edit. I find when I read a book that I am silently correcting or rearranging some things.

Billy-you bet your time is valuable. Why would you do a job and not ask for what it's worth. Good for you! Hope your having a good start to the week.

Well I am a pretty good story teller, so I know I shall do well. Friends keep asking: when will the novel be done. Soon, but there is art and other interests to also work on. Those of us with a myriad of interests are just stretch thin.

I think a lot of bad stuff gets in the mainstream popularity market, and the editing is not always the best. I do know of publishers who offer editing, but sometimes this means going to a smaller press. I guess I know my writing has touched people, and I will be alright in the end. One thing I know is I have very certain tastes, and I want to publish my writing for a like-minded audience. This might not always have mass market appeal, but it is quite doable.

Agreed. Editing yourself is so, so hard. Hope yer having a good day!

Good publishers will edit your book. If I am ever going to publish my novel, I expect they offer editing services.

Wise words, Bill. I have done editing on the side for my friend's books, and she was most pleased with my efforts. Yes, I check not only spelling and grammar, but as you pointed out, also tense, verb/subject agreement, flow, consistency, and sequence. Sometimes writers get carried away, get ahead of themselves, and some event in the story is out of place in time.

However, I did not charge her, as I am just venturing into that sideline, and she was tight on money. My pay was the ability to list that job in my portfolio. ;-)

For my own writing, I do find that here on HP, I sometimes miss things, especially when I'm writing on the site instead of doing a draft in MS Word first.

Most of the time, however, I find all the mistakes after the work has been allowed to sit for a period; that is the same thing I do with my book of poems on which I'm currently working. I let it sit for a couple of months, and when I re-read it, I'm a bit more distanced, and can see with an objective eye and say, "Why on earth would I have put that phrase there?" or "Uh-oh--a major typo over here."

For me, in our current situation being in merely 'tight' financial circumstances would be in improvement. There is no extra money at all, so I must do it myself.

Voted up, useful and interesting.

You give great information here Bill. I was surprised to see what it costs to get a book edited but I think it's worth it if you want to get it published. I agree that it's hard to edit your own work. I'm sharing this informative hub.

"A writer becomes too close to their book." Amen! i wish I could carry an editor around with me in my pocket whenever I write as I often miss what is right there in front of me. I then think, "Sheesh, girl...wake up!" I truly believe that good editors are worth every penny. Excellent hub, Billy.

I would surely like to higher an editor if I want to publish a book. The reason is that English is not my first language, and only an editor can correct the mistakes in my writings.

Thanks for the info. These are things that I didn't fully consider, as I had no idea what to expect from an editor, much less how much one cost. Thanks, Billy.

Thanks for the useful tips, Bill!

Bill, this is why you have so many avid follows. You generously share a wealth of very practical and valuable information free of charge. This will help many writers here, unfortunately, I'm not there yet, but it's still good information for the future. I hope you and your family enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving day, take care and my best to you.

Great information here Bill, especially the cost of Editor's time. Helpful as usual.

Graham.

I personally would have to say that hiring an editor would be a great choice and an overall good investment especially someone who has been editing for a long time. Voted up and shared.

Ah yes, the editor. I think having someone to look over your manuscript prior to publishing it, or prior to sending it to a publisher for reading, is essential. You give a great intro to anyone wondering if they need an editor. Keep up the great work, my friend!

Yep, you get what you pay for, as in so many walks of life. I know what you mean about becoming attached to your work. It's also easy to read what you want to read or what you know should be there - you don't notice your own mistakes! I find I notice a lot if I go back to it having left it a few days; not only spelling and grammatical mistakes but also phraseology, sense and flow.

Great advice. I think it depends on how well you want to do your job; if you want the perfect product then you have to put in maximum effort and maximum funds, at least that's my opinion. Then, how exciting it is to find you've produced something worthwhile! By the way, how's the elbow power?! Ann

I think hiring a good editor is wothwhile as editing is about much more than punctuation and grammar, as you pointed out. My son recently had a book published and it was edited by two different editors. The result was well worthwhile. I paid someone (who is well known on Hybpages) to edit and help me write my first book and my mother found numerous mistakes! All editors are not created equal. I ended up re-writing much of the book. Your hub is very useful for those us that are new at getting a book published.

Another wonderful read Billy. Voted up ,across and sharing. As I repeat myself once again ou are an amazing teacher and by the amount of your comments many many more agree with me. Wishing you a great day billy.

Sound advice here a well approached subject informative and useful indeed.

I appreciate that you chose this valuable topic to write on and found your advice most helpful. It unnerves me to no end to pay good money for published books and catch grammatical mistakes, spelling errors, plot and character inconsistencies and redundancies, etc. A thorough editor would have noticed.

Great hub and a lot of great advices, Bill! I worked for a little while for a publishing company in Ottawa (educational material) and we were 4 of us proof reading every document. As a proof reader, it's easy to get caught up in the content and then miss some of the mistakes and for that reason they had 4 different people going through each document. It was an interesting job because one day I would read something in music, the next day something in chemistry, etc.

They are so many steps to accomplish to have a book ready to be published. A lot of people don't realize it! So your article will help a lot of people!

Have a nice Thanksgiving!

From personal experience, I'd say hiring an editor is a must if you are going to be selling your book. When I first began writing, I thought I could "get away" with editing my own book, read it probably 100 times and still missed mistakes. Not so much spelling or grammar, but more with content and timelines. If it is a book for personal use, however, I wouldn't hire an editor- I'd simply do the best I could with editing.

Always a pleasure to read your hubs Bill. This one was no exception. The topic is a good one. Most of the manuscripts we see are indeed edited, but often by friends or family members. We use several editors depending on the topic of the book. We only use editors that are very clued up about esoteric subjects. There is a lot more to it that just grammar. If the author is from the UK, her or his book will be edited with a UK dictionary, the same applies for the USA. Then a style sheet is prepared. Each book needs a different layout, fonts and or illustrations...etc... I’ve asked my partner – my publisher, to write some hubs with the topic: From the publishers desk, and am hoping that he gets around to it soon.

I think getting a Editor is a great idea, I know my writing would definitely be better after being polished up and cleaned so to speak! lol! I am sure we all have the best editor here.....um....bill any thoughts on erm editing my erm.....book? Haha!

Excellent advice, Bill. I kould eazily get a job as an editer, Bill, because my grammer and speling is perfekt. Butt I preferr to rite instede.

I don't get editing jobs very often. When I do I charge $5.00 for 500 words as measured by my Microsoft Word. I was pretty good in English and Grammar in high school and college so I actually enjoy it. I didn't know that real editors did so much. I usually read for consistency just because it bothers me if a story or paper is disjointed. Anyway, love this information.

You know it, Bill ... having an editor is oh so important, for we, as the writer, are so close to our work, that the obvious may not jump out at us, when it does someone else! Up and more and sharing

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours,

Faith Reaper

Having a husband and son interested in my writings when I started (a children's book) they both read it as I wrote it and were my editors so I was really lucky. They did find things even after I was sure it was good so you know what you are talking about. ^

Bill,

This is - as usual - important information. It is difficult for some to realize just how difficult it is to edit one's own work, but writers are just too close to their hard work. If someone is planning on publishing, I believe the same as you. Get it edited. If you can't hire someone, find a close friend who is willing to do it for you. I recently finished an editing project for a professor. Not only did I edit hard copy and digital, I created a poster board presentation so he could see (visual learner) how major aspects of his plot flowed. I suppose you can take the teacher out of the classroom, but not the teaching out of the teacher. Smiles.

Many Blessings and Happy Thanksgiving,

Kim

It's easy to see that we all need editors. I read and re-read everything I publish online, yet so many times I've gone back and found obvious errors. I imagine this happens even more often if you write a book.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and Bev too, Bill!

Jaye

Some damn good tips, billybuc! (Love that Mark Twain quote.) As an editor myself, I often suffer from the "doctor treating herself" malady, but hoping to recover soon. :) Just talked with a friend who went through the editorial process with her book (done by a big publisher) last year. She said she found the editor's advice helpful. But I have to say that I can tell the parts which were edited. They totally lost the author's voice and appeared "sanitized." So I guess I'd say be an editor with your editor! Happy Thanksgiving! So grateful to have you in my writers network!

you have left me with a lot to digest. i have had a completed manuscript sitting on the back shelf of a of a dark closet for some time now. i originally wrote it for me but now i am thinking of sharing. thanks for the info as well as the heads-up.

I think one of the truest things you said is that we get close to our own work, so it's hard to really see it anymore. An outside pair of eyes is important, I think. Great hub.

I can only hope to one day publish. I never believed I have enough materials to do so. This is great advise though. It is a great hub.

The credibility of any author lies with the quality of the finished product. In this age of self-publishing, the writer who is either extremely accomplished at editing his or her own work (and by this I mean accomplished at a professional level) or hires a professional editor to ensure not only grammatical accuracy, but consistency and structure, is the writer who will be taken seriously.

It requires more than knowledge and a message to produce a non-fiction book that sells, more than a terrific story and the ability to tell it to do the same for fiction. Professional editing is a must if you want your book to sell to a broader audience than friends and family, to possibly even become a bestseller. (Yes, there are self-published books hitting The New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller lists these days, but they don't get there by chance.)

Your writing must grasp the reader by the nape of the neck, pull him or her into your message or story and ensure there is no distraction to prevent pages from continuing to turn (or the screen from scrolling) until the end of the book is reached.

That's why editing is so important. Thanks for explaining this so well, Bill.

Voted Up++

Jaye

Very interesting and informative hub for any writer out there, thank you very much for sharing your knowledge on this one Billy!

Very interesting! I guess I haven't gotten quite that far yet, but its good to know your options. I know you say you get what you pay for, but what do you think about having it reviewed on-line? There are so many websites where writers gather and read each others work and give feedback. Does any website take it further and provide editing for eachother? As you said, you get what you pay for...but money can be tight and I was just wondering if this option was out there?

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you take the day off and enjoy it with your family!

Billy, you always give us such great advice and information. I had no idea that editing costs so much! I may have to re-think whether I want to write or edit! Have an awesome holiday, my friend ;) Pearl

I hired an editor for my last book. I thought she did a great job..but the publisher did not. I went over the book and made many changes..Not so much grammar and spelling but some stuff did not make sense..As we know when we write..we often can ramble .....The first book which was a Business book..we edited and re-edited.. I was not concerned about perfection as it helped so many people..SO half sentences etc worked. However Someone who was going to buy my book offered to edit for a free book..Why argue with success ..I sold thousands.

Excellent as usual. When the computers and faxes made it quick and without absolute need for secretaries editing common business correspondence took a real hit. In my office we had to make a rule. Nobody could send out anything without another person proofreading. Oh my -- some of the stuff I write now is just horrible. But I am learning.

Thanks

Another paving stone on the road to publishing. What would we do without you? Your advice always covers all bases and leaves no questions in our mind.

Nothing comes cheap in this world and I know, as you said, you get what you pay for!

Voted up, useful, awesome, and interesting.

Bill, I've had a couple of copyediting jobs fall my way recently and I must say, I enjoy it. I'd like to do more editing on the business side of my writing, rather than write copy for businesses. That way I can concentrate on my creative writing, which is much more enjoyable to me.

I recently had a rather disturbing experience. A woman on LinkedIn put out a plea to have her short story edited for verb tense. The caveat is she's not able to pay. I offered to do it for her in exchange for a recommendation. She sent me her story, I made the appropriate corrections and gave her some feedback regarding several inconsistencies in the story, repetitive phrases, grammar errors, etc.. (She confided that the story was to be entered in a contest. I felt the 'free' feedback I offered would increase her chances of winning). She became absolutely incensed and copped a major attitude towards me. Nevertheless, she got what she wanted but refused to write a recommendation for me. Maybe she'll think back on what I suggested when her piece doesn't win the prize!

As always, great information!

You answered many question that I was wondering about.

As you have taught us, writing is a process with many stages of growth.

And, with most growth, there will be growing pains.

Editing sounds like it is a must and an expensive must.

Thankfully, the need for an editor is in my distant future.

Bill, thanks for this article. Hope you and Bev and family

have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

DJ.

Good morning, Bill!

This came as a new learning experience for me. I'm still in the dark ages. LOL! You know...send it in to the editor, he marks it all up in red, sends it back to you for a rewrite, etc. Thanks for sharing this vital piece of information.

Have a wonderful Wednesday, my friend! Aloha!

~Joe

Very good article, Bill. I know for myself when I read through my work, I miss simple grammar and spelling errors and I could kick myself for it. I know why I miss them - because I'm so concerned with looking for WHAT (content) I want to say is in my text, that I don't look for errors in HOW (spelling, punctuation, etc) I want to say it. It is like my eye just doesn't see it, I'm blind to it. I know this to be true for me because I'll put something away for a couple of months, come back to it and find errors and say to myself, now why didn't I see that and fix it when I was editing it before? You can edit your work 20 times in a week and your eye will miss errors because it is subconsciously looking for too many other things that need correcting - content being uppermost.

For me, hiring an editor is foolish money to spend if I am nowhere near submitting to a publisher and the manuscript was not stamped with FINAL COPY on my end. In recent years, agents often steer authors to editors they trust, so choosing and hiring an agent was a bigger decision for me than hiring an editor. You have good info here for all of us, no matter where we are in our writing journey.

I learned the hard way that I needed an editor for my books. I didn't have the money to do it at the time that I needed the editing done, but I managed to find someone who did an excellent job.