[marissa_lopez]

If I was a rich indie I might give hiring a dev editor a try. But, since I'm not, I can't justify the expense.

If I was a self published author who was already making money from selling books, but my latest book or series did not do so well, I could totally understand why they would invest in hiring a dev editor. I'm a new writer, and for my personal financial situation I don't think it's worth the risk wasting money unless my dad was Stephen King

 

[Crystal_]

If I was a self published author who was already making money from selling books, but my latest book or series did not do so well, I could totally understand why they would invest in hiring a dev editor. I'm a new writer, and for my personal financial situation I don't think it's worth the risk wasting money unless my dad was Stephen King

It's an investment in your skills as a writer.

It's only a waste of money the way taking a class is.

It's not necessarily going to make you more money directly. It's not supposed to make you more money.

It will help make your book better and it will help make you a better writer, which will help make you more money, but only if you do everything else right too.

But really, if you're strapped, do a few critique swaps. You'll pay more in sweat but you'll learn a lot from both giving and receiving feedback.

 

[marissa_lopez]

Thanks for the video! Very helpful, I heard of these editing tips before but it's different having it spelled out for you

 

[marissa_lopez]

It's an investment in your skills as a writer.

It's only a waste of money the way taking a class is.

It's not necessarily going to make you more money directly. It's not supposed to make you more money.

It will help make your book better and it will help make you a better writer, which will help make you more money, but only if you do everything else right too.

But really, if you're strapped, do a few critique swaps. You'll pay more in sweat but you'll learn a lot from both giving and receiving feedback.

After a lot of thought and considering the replies to this post, I have decided that I will have someone look at it, I can't say for sure if they will be a dev editor because of my budget, but as you said, I do believe that on top of doing everything else right(in my case that would be marketing, self edits, mailing lists, etc) having a polished book will increase my odds. I would rather have someone not like my book because it wasn't their preference, not because of unprofessionalism. It's really all about finding a balance between getting things published and perfecting it enough so that it's not stuck in limbo

 

[Sierra Glass]

Say you think your guy is funny, but he is coming off in some line as insulting or obnoxious. Or you think this paragraph is a subtle clue to your mystery, but it is either too subtle and nobody will get it, or not nearly subtle enough.

THIS. The readers can't get in my head. My developmental editor has helped so much I am horrified that I almost didn't use one for this debut book. She started when I was about half way through and the second half has gone so much better just from having her feedback from the first half. Now when I go back to edit, I have guidance and new ideas and know what I need to do to get each character on their arc so they all move smoothly through the book.