Lion's Tooth Editing

The short answer? No.

If you are looking for traditional publication, either through an agent or through direct, open submissions, they will provide at least one round of editing. The bare minimum to expect before publication is a proofread. Longer works will usually go through at least one round of revision. Some of them may ask if your work has been through an editor, but you should not be disqualified if it has not.

If you are self-publishing, no one is going to stop you from uploading your manuscript without a single pass from an editor.

Professional editing, whether billed as ‘affordable’ or not, is an expense. Sometimes even a small expense is too much. So, if it isn’t NECESSARY for publication, why shell out that money?

Well, because you know your work too well. You know what you meant when you wrote that wonky sentence, so it makes sense to you. You can’t read it without understanding it, no matter how hard you try. You know what’s coming, so you read more quickly. Your brain is familiar with all these words in this order, so it can just run right along with just a little bit of a reminder, skimming right over those mistakes. The whole story is out of your head, so the pacing and development is something you are inherently comfortable, and familiar, with. You simply can’t read it as an outsider, which means it might get too slow or go too fast in places for the average reader. Someone who does not know the world inside out, the characters inside out, might get confused in places you think are fine because you have the background.

A lot of this can be helped by friends and strangers willing to read for free. They can let you know where it gets knotted up, where they get bored, what doesn’t make sense. Some of them can be really great at catching the typos. If you have an arrangement that works for you, you may not need a developmental (which I don’t offer), substantial, or even line edit. You might be able to do well with only a copy edit or even proofread.

Critique partners, if you have one, are amazing. Someone willing to read your earliest drafts, brainstorm with you on development, and read revisions is the dream! But, then, they know it as well as you. Beta readers are wonderful, invaluable. They provide feedback as your target audience. I don’t think an editor should, or even could, replace them.

And, sometimes, like I said, that’s all you can afford. You have no choice, it’s off to the slush piles with your best effort. Honestly, that’s all anyone can do. Your best is your best. If you can’t afford an editor, you can’t.

I understand that.

But.

A professional editor offers a few things your beta readers and even critique partners don’t.

The first is dedicated time with a reputation on the line. We shouldn’t be distracted while we work on your manuscripts. This is our business. Your friends have your best interests at heart and want to see you succeed. Our success depends on your satisfaction with our performance. A good editor will absolutely have your best interests at heart, as well, and should absolutely communicate kindly and with compassion, but the nature of the relationship does effect our ability. Personal relationships create a bias that can absolutely lead a reader to overlook a fault. Our distance affords us a valuable neutrality.

The second is advanced education. You may have among your support a professional educator or a grammar enthusiast, and that certainly gives you an advantage. You may have at your disposal someone who keeps up with publishing and reader trends. You yourself may be well versed in ‘style.’ It is the editor’s job to be not only familiar but an expert in all three.

The third is that we work for you. Do you have a timeline to keep? You are our priority. We have a contract to get it done in the timeframe agreed upon. If you are frustrated with the manner of our feedback, if you don’t feel that we’ve delivered what you were led to expect, you are within your rights to address this. In fact, a good editor will expect you to communicate any disappointment so that it can be discussed, so that it can either rectified or reconciled to your satisfaction.

So, can you do it all on your own, writing and editing, without help from anyone? Technically. Many have. But it’s a lot harder that way. Can you do it all with only the free help you can get from your friends and acquaintances? Sure. Many have. But it’s still more difficult and a bit more risky than it needs to be.