Thread: manuscript editing services

Originally Posted by Bigfella

This is a favourite of mine.

As someone who has always had a problem with spelling and grammar ( As I'm sure you will find out.) I always thought it a barrier to success. No way. If your story is good enough, then the publishers aren't going to care about either of these issues. It's what THEY hire editors to do! Keep your cash in your pocket.

^^
This.

Thank you Captain!

It is not necessary to have a developmental edit to obtain an agent or get a publishing contract. Under certain circumstances, it can help. If you want an extra polishing to increase your chances a little bit, you might consider it.

But:

1. This is an area where scamming is endemic and unqualified people overcharge and take advantage of those eager to be traditionally published. If you want to do it, get a reputable developmental editor, with a resume of publishing experience. Go with someone recognized as non-scamming, by being listed in Jeff Herman, or something similar.

2. Recognize that if making money is your writing goal, this choice is more likely to bear negative than positive fruit. A decent one will charge $1,500 or more, should know your genre, and should give a lot of service for the money. But given the odds of being published, this money should not be spent unless you are willing to write it off, and don't need to divert it from necessities.

3. There is no way to measure, let alone guarantee, whether a dev. edit will make your book more marketable.

I wouldn't pay that much for an editing service but then again I couldn't.