Why you need an editor for your book

[nesaauthor]

I recently came across an article that, in a nutshell, offered a “step by step guide” on how to edit and publish your own book. I glanced through the article briefly, not because I was interested in editing my own books, but because I was rather curious as to what the author of the article would suggest.
After going through the article, I decided to check out the author’s work on Amazon. I am not going to name the author because I do not feel the need to bash a fellow author’s work, but I will say that what I read was really not to my liking. The story itself had good enough structure, but it was rather obvious that “proper editing” took a back seat in order to get the book published….which leads me to the point of this article you are reading now.
We, as authors, tend to think that we know what is best for our books. I, myself, even wondered why my own novel would have needed an editor. After all, it was perfect just the way I wrote it, wasn’t it?
As I began my own editing process – with a qualified editor – I kept thinking “what could she possible find that I didn’t already think about?” The answer to that question came crashing down on me like a ton of bricks. I knew my book was not in fact perfect as I handed the manuscript over to her, regardless of how good I thought it was, but I also would have never caught certain things on my own.
Little things like conversation flow between the characters, adding maybe a paragraph more of backstory on a certain character so the reader can relate more to that character, or even commas in certain places. These are all things I would have let slide if I had edited my own book. And my book would have suffered tremendously because of it.
No author should ever edit their own work, even if they are in fact an editor. We need an outside set of eyes for a fresh perspective. Test readers can offer many tips and suggestions on the overall structure of the book when it comes to plot flow, character development, and so forth, but test readers cannot give you the insight that a good editor can when it comes to tightening up those problem areas. I have recently read a few books that have been independently published without the use of a qualified editor, and while the stories may have been great in concept, it is so hard to get past bad editing. If you have to stop and go back to check something because you are sure it said something different earlier, then that stops the flow of the book. If you have to read a sentence three times in order for it to make sense, then that stops the flow of the book. These are things that can seriously hinder your reader’s decision to purchase your next book. A good editor can help to eliminate some minor mistakes (and more importantly, the major ones) that can turn a mediocre book into a great one for the reader.
On another note, there seems to be about a hundred “editors” for every indie author that wants to publish a book. So let’s clarify what a “good editor” is. Being a teacher, friend of the author, family member, or even an author with a published book does not make someone a qualified editor. Doing a little research on an editor once you have decided to use them can save you months of headaches, as well as heartache down the road and can drastically improve the chances of you putting out the best possible book you can.
My editor and I grappled on a few things that I thought made perfect sense. After going back now and reading the final product, I wonder what the hell I was thinking about arguing those points. She helped to make it a much better book and I couldn’t be happier with the results. If I had decided to edit my novel on my own, I can only imagine what people would think of my work. I can imagine that because I have seen the results of not having a good editor go through a book. It’s not something I would want to subject my work to, and neither should you.
We all write so that our voices will be heard in a series of words on paper. If you put out an inferior product, no one will ever care what you have to say.

[moderntimes]

Interesting topic. Answer in a nutshell: Yes of course you need an editor.

First of all, you can't publish your own book without an editor, unless perhaps your great uncle willed you a publishing firm (ha ha).

Apparently, what you're speaking about re. Amazon is a self-published book. Hey, I could do the same -- write a book in MS-Word, run it through a PDF converter, slap some sort of selfie cover on the text, and lo and behold, published! Yeah, right.

Speaking from my modest experience (2 novels sold and published, both ebook and trade paperback), my novels went through 1- a simple proofread/basic edit, 2- a read and edit by an assistant editor, and 3- final review and edit by a senior editor. That's three passes minimum.

And as you described, each review produced many constructive changes in the book. There were some mechanical errors found and fixed, and then general suggestions for style and composition. Most of these were "strong" suggestions and I accepted most of the recommendations, some I said "no" to and stuck with my original text. I was allowed free reign for the most part. But the editing suggestions were mostly helpful.

It's not a question of "why" you need an editor -- you HAVE to have an editor, unless of course you own Random House. All authors have editors.

[nesaauthor]

Thanks for the comment, modern!