Yep, the editori apparently is needed, and I'm starting to work with one. But in my specific case, with my programming background, I wanted to reach the editor

Yep, the editori apparently is needed, and I'm starting to work with one. But in my specific case, with my programming background, I wanted to reach the editor only with a novel that was already very readable and already targeted by N passes of reviews and corrections done on my own. Others decide to work with an editor at a much early stage. Depends on many things I guess.