Authors who intend to self-publish their own work absolutely need to hire a professional editor; it just makes good sense. Why? What you DON’T want to do is be responsible for publishing your masterpiece full of spelling, grammatical, or punctuation errors, etc. It will not reflect well to your audience, regardless if you have the best idea ever presented to mankind or not. Mistakes and errors stick in the minds of avid readers, much more so than your message will if not delivered in a professional manner.
ANOTHER SET OF EYES (OR MORE!)
It never, ever hurts to have your work reviewed by colleagues, friends, or otherwise interested professionals before publication. Doing so, you get other views and perspectives. Who knows what might come from another interested party’s questions or comments? It can only serve to make your manuscript better. Likewise, before you submit your final material for the publication process, a professional editor should be consulted to ensure you don’t have any glaring errors that will come back to haunt you. Professionals are trained to spot these common mistakes and correct them before the finished work is complete.
A PROFESSIONAL EDITOR SAVES TIME AND FRUSTRATION
Hiring a professional editor can also save you time and endless frustration. A writer writes; an editor edits. After your initial ideas and thoughts have been formed and saved to a file, and after you’ve read and re-read your work countless times to adjust the words and phrasing, you are not the best person to then edit your manuscript as well. You need a fresh set of eyes. Writers are interested primarily in the content, in telling the story. However, spelling, grammar, and punctuation rules must be followed as well or story will get lost. A professional editor can help ensure these rules are interpreted correctly and adhered to.
LANGUAGE USE HELPS PERFECT THE WRITTEN WORD
Many times, a professional editor is also able to improve language use, style, and even tone; therefore, it might be possible to communicate your ideas and thoughts even more effectively than your initial efforts. There can be many concerns related to language use, as well as style usage. Professional editors can help prevent common mistakes and also, at times, improve word choices.
An experienced author realizes he/she can use all the help available. You want the best publication possible, right? You want it to be not only rich in content, but professional in language use, style, and tone as well. A professional editor is a must; even if you consider yourself to be a good editor, one typically should not edit one’s own work.