5 ms·

90% self-edit, 10% friend with English degree. In hindsight, an editor is absolutely worth it having worked with them on commercial projects.

• bredren 4y ago
  What are the most important things an editor brings to someone considering self publishing?
  • beezlebroxxxxxx 4y ago
    Outside perspective. Market knowledge. Experience with the structure and requirements of a story, especially a long story. Contacts. An indifference to the 'darlings' of your sentences. They'll kill without mercy. Self-editing is completely doable, and some are very capable, but a professional editor is just that: a professional.
  • andirk 4y ago
    I used a copyright editor (she was getting her Masters at that time), whose last name was Wright :) , and it was invaluable to the point of embarrassment. Simple things like using singular and plural correctly throughout a sentence to things I didn't know like where commas should go where littered all over each page. We used Github for copy edits. It works pretty darn well.
    • ghaff 4y ago
      Even if you legitimately don't need a developmental editor--and very little that I write gets substantially changed in the editing process--you absolutely need a copyeditor. They don't even necessarily need to be a "pro" but you do need someone who can write and will go through a careful word by word read. Most people won't take that type of care and you will end up with spelling errors, case mismatches, inconsistencies in how you handle names, etc.