Self-publishing is not really self-publishing. It’s like team-publishing. Writing. Editing. Book cover designing. Formatting. Marketing. You probably should acquire help with most, if not all, of these stages along the way. You need to work with an editor before your publish your books. Trust me. This is one of those “learn from my mistakes” things, so you don’t have to make the mistake yourself.
You could write a book as cheaply as possible then try to earn as much as possible from it. Hello passive income, right? Well, if you skimp on these stages along the way, you’re only hurting your potential revenue later.
I know lots of self-publishing authors who skimp on editing. They either do it themselves, get their mom/friend/Aunt Sue to “check it over,” or they go on sites like Upwork and find the cheapest person they can with a legit profile.
These are all costly mistakes.
When you work with professional book editors, your marketing later will be even easier. Editors can work magic on your book. Then you can proceed with confidence and sell your book with complete pride.
Once I got serious learning about editing services, I learned what I think most authors don’t know: there are many different editing services.
A Magical Story
An editor can turn an alright story into an amazing story. At the developmental stage of editing, they can help fill the gaps in your plot and story. Even nonfiction books have stories and a basic structure that readers will expect for enjoyment and learning. Investing in your story at this early phase of writing helps ensure you have a great story that readers will want to write rave reviews about and recommend to their friends, family, colleagues, and social media fans.
After you get feedback from a developmental editor, you probably have lots of work to do–aka rewriting. Expanding on this topic. Deleting that stuff. Rearranging those sections. It’s not easy–but it will be worth it when the story is powerful and the flow is seamless.
Work Magic on Each Line
After you revamp the story and structure of your book, it’s time to invest in line editing. Line editors are magicians with words. They choose the right words to get the point across. They say what you’re trying to say, but in a more clear, concise, and engaging way. Your audience will love your book if you invest in a line editor. They really smooth over your words and make it “sound good.” Your readers will thank you for this.
Grammar Magic
Believe it or not, if you’re serious about making the absolute best book you can, there’s still more editing to be done. This could be the same editor or a different editor, but now it’s time for your book to see a grammar doctor.
These are not just the people who consider themselves grammar nazis. These are people who know the difference between grammar rules and the bazillion style recommendations from different style guides. These are known as copy editors who perform copy editing.
Sometimes an editor will perform both book editing services as a package, which could give you the most bang for your buck. Copy editors fix grammar mistakes, spelling mistakes, inconsistencies, and word usage in your book.
These are the type of things that often lead to brutal reviews on Amazon, and I’ve been tempted to write my own reviews before. Like when I paid $12 for a book and found a handful of blatant typos and errors in the introduction!
And that was just the first of many throughout the book. I lost a chunk of respect for that author because although he was an author (he had a book on Amazon after all), he was far from a good writer. The least he could have done is invested in a good editor.
Proofreading Magic
Finally, after all that is said and done, you may invest in one more round of editing: proofreading.
A proofreader looks at the book to ensure perfection (or as close to as possible). They review things like spaces, page numbers, headings, and tables to ensure accuracy and consistency throughout the entire book. They check that there are no pages with only a single word on them.
There shouldn’t be much left for a proofreader to catch if you invested in the earlier levels of editing, but a proofreader can really take your book from great to damn near perfect.
And who doesn’t want their book from cover to cover to be damn near perfect?
Make sure you find and hire the right book editor to perform the editing services your manuscript needs. Don’t miss out on the magic editors could perform on your book.
Thanks to Dave Durden from amzprof.com
