I am often astonished when I hear of people who believe they can write and publish a full-length book without the aid of an editor. In my experience, editors are more essential than publishers. After all, nowadays, it is possible to self-publish a book. But no one can self-edit. Editors are not only essential, they should also be your friends, your fans and your harshest critics. Let me explain.
No one, absolutely no one, is capable of complete objectivity when looking at their own creations. Nor should they be! The same object drawn by different artists will always look different and that is that subjectivity that makes art so intriguing, exciting and inspiring.
Yet our subjectivity also makes us blind both to outright errors and features that might offend, bore, irritate, or outrage some viewers/readers. Thus, editors have two broad purposes and help an author at two levels.
First, at the pedestrian and most obvious level, editors help by catching unintentional errors. No matter what our message, poor grammar, bad spelling, incorrect formatting, missing words or misplaced punctuation will not help get the message across. It doesn't matter how brilliant an author is, or how nit-picking and good he/she is at finding the mistakes of others. No one sees all their own errors all the time. You see, as authors, we know our own text so well that we are inclined to see what we meant to write rather than what we wrote. E.g. since an author knows that the text should read "she was not there,” but in haste writes "she was there," the author will literally see "she was not there" when proofing the manuscript.
On a higher level, however, a good editor can also guide an author to develop a book to its greatest potential. A good editor challenges the author's original concept, asks provocative questions about structure, character development, setting, back-story, pacing, plausibility, historical context, themes and more. Receiving negative feedback before a manuscript is published, gives an author the chance to correct and revise before investing in printing, ebook formatting and marketing — and then seeing those crushing reviews on amazon and from important review sites like Kirkus.
No editors aren't cheap. They shouldn't be. They are professionals providing a valuable service. The question is: what will cost more? A good editor or bad reviews?
When I first started publishing, I expected my publishers to provide detailed feedback on the content of my books. I thought the publisher would point out apparent contradictions, areas that needed 'tightening up' or more explanation, etc. It didn't happen. All I ever received from a publisher was proof-reading, and that only up to a point. I continued to find errors in the sixth and seventh proof.
When I first started self-publishing and hired free-lance editors, I was pleased by the meticulous proof-reading they did, but it took me three editors before I found one that was willing to be critical of the content. Finally! At last, I had a reader who was willing to challenge me, question me, and make me justify my writing decisions. Critically, I was having this discussion at a point when I still had the chance to re-write, refine, and so improve the manuscript. Furthermore, I was having this discussion with someone who cared about the book.
A good editor doesn’t take money for services, they invest their time, skills and reputation into your book. They get absorbed in the story. They care about the characters. They want to see the book published and praised. They want the book to succeed. They are the authors' first fan and the more critical they are, the more they help make the book the best that it can be. Never underestimate them and never, never try to do without them!
Helena P. Schrader earned a PhD in History from the University of Hamburg with a ground-breaking biography of a leading member of the German Resistance to Hitler. She served in the financial service industry before joining the U.S. diplomatic corps, where she served in a variety of posts in Africa and Europe. She retired in 2018. She has since published numerous works of fiction and non-fiction, several of which have won one or more literary awards.