To use professional editing - or not?

[Ray McCarthy]

There is Editing and editing.

Well of course I edit. But I think I need final edit by 3rd party.

 

[psychotick]

Hi,

Yes - you need to edit. But you don't need to outsource to a professional - especially if you're subbing to an agent. That means your outsource editor can be someone whose opinion you respect with good language / grammar skills.

If you're self pubbing, you need to up your game. What is good enough for an agent to read is not good enough for a final product. So now you need beta's and probably several edits - especially for the first book. You can still probably do most of the work through friends - English teachers are good friends - but you need to be confident of their skills.

Cheers, Greg.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

There is Editing and editing.

Well of course I edit. But I think I need final edit by 3rd party.

A final copy edit is a good idea.

 

[Ray McCarthy]

final copy edit

Or do you mean Line Edit.

Where is that chrons article explaining the three main flavours of editing again?

 

[Brian G Turner]

I can teach them what it would otherwise take them many years to learn

For people like me, I found that invaluable.

And apologies for not catching your post before creating this thread.

As to costs - if anyone's worried about the price of an editor, you could simply seek to get your first couple of chapters edited. Ask for an estimate before submitting to ensure it'll work to your budget.