3 Reasons Not to Hire a Book Editor

Editing is a huge part of the publishing process, but sometimes, it doesn’t make sense to hire an editor.

Photo by Kashawn Hernandez on Unsplash

Here are 3 reasons you shouldn’t hire an editor.

1) Your manuscript isn’t ready yet

Your first draft is not ready to be published.

So many first-time authors come to me and say, “I’ve written a first draft and want to publish in two months. Let’s edit this!” And every time, I have to break their hearts.

Your first draft, as Terry Pratchett says, is you telling yourself the story. Even if you were the kid who handed a last-minute paper and got an A, you’re still not ready.

You need to let your story sit, go through self-edits, and get someone else you trust to read the book first.

Otherwise, you’re paying a book editor to find plot holes you could have found by rereading it.

If you need guidance with self-editing, check out my downloadable guidebook here.

2) You don’t know what kind of editing you need

If a book editor asks you what kind of editing you need and your answer is “a bit of everything,” you shouldn’t be hiring an editor yet.

It’s important to know what kinds of editing books typically go through and when so that you can get the most out of your money.

Most books go through at least these two kinds of editing:

• a developmental edit, which focuses on story elements like plot, structure, characters etc.

• copyedit, which is a language edit that also ensures timeline and plot details are consistent

The thing is you can’t do both at the same time (and any book editor offering to do that shouldn’t be trusted!) because you might have to cut a whole scene and then you’ll have wasted time and money perfecting that scene’s grammar.

It’s okay if you don’t know exactly what you need, but make sure you know the broad strokes of each kind of editing. (Click here for my free download on the subject.) That way you’ll understand what you need and what the editor is offering.

3) You’re querying agents

Generally speaking, if you’re looking for an agent, you probably don’t want to spend money on a professional book editor.

The goal of getting an agent is to get a book deal from a traditional publisher like Penguin or HarperCollins. Once your book goes to the publisher, they pay for your book to be edited. So it seems silly to pay out of pocket for a professional editor to edit your book first.

You’ll probably want to invest your resources in craft books and courses about writing so that your skills good enough to stand out in a competitive market.

I’d suggest paying an editor when you’re querying only if you’ve gone through several rounds of querying with no bites, have the funds to get your manuscript edited, and see the process as your own personal writing workshop.

Otherwise, soak up all the craft knowledge you can through resources like Save the Cat! Writes a Novel and The Shit No One Tells You About Writing, self-edit like a pro (get my guide here), and get beta reader feedback (grab my guide here) before querying an agent.

Good luck!

In conclusion…

Every single book has to go through the editing process, but you might not need to hire a professional editor (yet) depending on where you’re at in the writing process.

If you’ve just finished a first draft, congrats!

Make sure you read up on the next steps in the process. You can do that by downloading I Finished Writing my Book. Now What? (It’s free!) That way you’ll know exactly where you are and what your next steps are.

Once you know what kind of editing you’re going to need, you can reach out to editors to get sample edits. (Click here to inquire with me!)

But until then, happy writing!