Race to the Store Shelf! Should I Pay a Professional Editor?

Your book is worthy to be invested in! So hire a professional editor.

I may be a Christian publishing company, but I’m a reader first and foremost. Getting my hands a an indie authors book (especially a black one) that hasn’t gone through proper editing is heartbreaking. We are artists through and through! And sometimes you’re too close to the trees to see that the forest is burning!

The point is simple. Your book is good. Great even! Your goal is to make sure it’s quality.

Having a professional set of eyes on your work as well as a set of beta readers that is aligned with your market audience is invaluable. Here’s a few tips to release a quality book.

Editing:

1. Once you get all of your words on the page, leave it alone for 30 days. Then, do at least 1 deep, good set of revisions and simple grammar edits. After that, put it in someone else’s hands.

   
   

2. Learn about the various kinds of editing. (Proofreading, copy editing, line editing, and developmental editing are the most common)

   
   

3. When looking for an editor, name the specific services you are wanting as listed above.

   
   

4. The typical going rate for editing services is about $0.005-$0.05 per word. 50k words may be around $2500. Don’t be discouraged. You should ask for a payment plan. Break it down the way you need to. More experienced editors charge more so take that into consideration.

   
   

5. Before paying an editor ask them to do a sample edit of a 1,000 words and see how they do.

Beta Readers

• Stop asking other authors to beta read for you. They aren’t the ones that are going to review, sell, and promote your book! Your beta readers should always be a pool of people that fit who you are marketing for. For example, as a Christian fiction company, I’m not getting atheist nonfiction lovers to read our titles.

• Platforms such as Booksprout, Bookfunnel, StoryOrigin, and Netgalley are set up for beta reading and/or ARC reviews. For as little as $10/month you can launch a 1-3 month campaign to get beta readers. You should also weaponize your socials to attract, nurture, and convert people who fit your market audience.

All that being said, even if you are a “pro” editor, it’s good to get other eyes on your work to see what you don’t see. Your book is worth it! And your audience deserves the quality! You got this beloved author!

Are there any other book writing, publishing, marketing, branding, or selling topics you’d like for me to cover in this group?