5 Reasons You Need an Editor Before you Self-Publish

Hi friends! It's been a while since I've posted here. But I'm stopping in now to share 5 reasons why every writer needs to get their manuscript professionally edited before they self-publish.

5 Reasons You Need an Editor!

Half-Blood Mage and The Lady Thief (the first two books in my YA Romantic Portal Fantasy series) are now officially out! Woo hoo!

Does that mean it's time to rest? Goodness, no! It means that it's time to get my butt in gear and start getting my third manuscript ready. Despite the virus-that-shall-not-be-named,  Haven of Smoke and Shadows is coming out this July. I'm currently in the midst of going through the suggestions that my awesome editor gave me... months ago... (but better late than never, right?)

Editing Sample:

The image above shows an edited section from my first chapter.

• Do you see the red squares on the left side? They're all comments for me. 
• Do you see the blue highlighted portions? Those are repeated words. 
• And do you see the bits in red? They're suggested changes. (Word choice and grammar changes)

Yup.

It's covered in red. I'll admit it, folks. I stink at writing.

Ehhh... maybe I should be a little more gracious to myself. I stink at grammar. And apparently, I like using the same words. Again. And again. And again.

(And again.)

I'm taking a break now and I decided to write this post. If you are thinking about self-publishing a book and you only have a little bit of cash to make your dream happen, spend your money on

1. An amazing cover that fits the genre
2. An amazing editor.

Why do you need a nice cover?

You want to be seen as a professional, so you need to present yourself as a professional. Unless you have graphic design/book cover design skills, you should really let the pros handle it. People definitely judge books by their covers and that's why you want to make sure yours looks AMAZING. Plus, you can even think of it as putting money away into your first bit of advertisement too. A nice cover that clearly indicates what your book is about will attract the right readers who will enjoy your story.

Alright. Fine. So we can both agree that the cover is important. But what about the editing? Can't you just read REEEEEAAAALLLLLY carefully and consider your editing "done?" Or, better yet, can't you just ask a relative or a friend to reread your work?

No. And No. I mean, both are great places to start, but you also need to send your work to a professional.

Why?

Here are 5 Reasons you Need to get your Work Professionally Edited:

1. Editors make your message clear.

Clear and well-written prose will allow you to tell your story. Nobody wants to purposely lead their readers into confusing muckity-muck. We want our worlds and characters to come alive. And having good grammar, using the proper words, and writing clear sentences will help!

2. Editors make you look professional.

Want readers to take you seriously? Take your writing seriously. Don't give them poorly written work that's littered with spelling mistakes, repeated words, and bad grammar. A good editor will help you polish your sentences until they shine. Then you'll present yourself as the professional that you are! 

3. Editors make your story more coherent.

Yes, editors can just correct your grammar and give suggestions for word choice. But, they can also do so much more! There are different levels of editing offered. Some will just do the basics. Others will read your work with a keen eye and help you find plot holes in your story, places where your logic doesn't flow, or moments when your characters act... well, out of character! (Since I write fantasy, my editor even made a giant dictionary of all my character names and places so she could better keep track of all the details. Amazing, right?) Editors are extremely versatile. You just need to find the right one that will offer the services that you want.

4. Editors will make your prose shine!

We all write with a different voice. How I would describe a scene or character is probably very different than how you would. A good editor won't cut out every bit of personality from your writing. A good editor will be able to identify themes in your work, acknowledge your author "voice," and help you to reword sentences so that they better fit with your story arc and style. So don't worry about an editor cutting out all the bits that make your work specific to you. A good editor will help you while also respecting your individuality too.

And while we're on the topic of shining up prose, don't you want your work to be the very best? If you're thinking about getting editing, it probably means that you've written an entire story. You've put in hours of sweat, blood, and tears. Doesn't your work deserve the opportunity to shine?

5. Editors are SUPER readers.

If you're aspiring to be a published author, I'm guessing that you want others to read your work. You want people to care about your characters and immerse themselves in your story. Well, an editor is just that person. They are super readers. They're trained professionals. They know how to really study and care about your story.

Sure, your mom and best friend will probably volunteer to read your work. That's awesome. Use them! But will they care enough to plow through the nitty-gritty details? Will they spend time trying to connect all the dots? Will they examine your grammar, character development, and plot? I'm guessing probably not. Hire an editor and you'll get an amazing reader who will look at your work through fresh, objective, and trained eyes.  They'll provide thoughtful and helpful suggestions to improve your story.

Ok. Phew. I just wanted to let that all out. I'm so grateful for my editor. She really helped me to write clearly and coherently. And all her grammar notes about sentence structure and commas (oh, commas! How I hate you!!!) really do make my story better. 

So, what do you think? Do you use an editor?

Back to writing!

Ginger