This page explains why all writers need an editor and/or proof-reader. If you are on this page it is probable that you have decided you need an editor. This is a hugely important step in your writing journey because an editor is crucial. Somewhere along the line, an editor will need to view your work if you want it to leave your computer screen. Many professional authors use external editors before sending their work to their publishers, even if they have a personal editor within the publishing house. The reason for this is that the more eyes that see the work the better, and each editor may stop something or suggest something that the other(s) overlooked.

The editorial process can range from quite cheap to expensive, depending on the length of the work. However, it should be viewed as an investment rather than expenditure because the chances of publishing companies accepting work is incredibly low - 98% of submitted manuscripts are rejected. Having a professional offer feedback or undertake work on your document makes it much more likely to be accepted. Moreover, an increasing number of publishing companies are refusing to accept manuscripts that is not passed to them by a literary agent; this has led to agents being harder to secure than a publishing contract! A literary agent will be far more likely to accept an edited, professionally formatted document that is logically laid out with perfect grammar, punctuation and content development. A raw manuscript is unlikely to get taken by a publishing professional. These are the reasons why employing an editor is an investment. 

 Below is some information specific to the main documents an editor will receive. The first half focuses on authors, the second half on articles and reports.

Books

When a prospective author completes their manuscript they are often so excited and optimistic that the idea of an editor does not occur. Many think that the publishing company deals with that side of things - and they do, but the fact of the matter is that they receive many submissions each and every day and reject 98% of them. The vast majority of these are raw manuscripts and as such contain errors.

Of the 98% of rejections, some are incompatible with the genre(s) of a given publisher and for some they do not foresee a large enough market. However, there are also instances where a book is rejected because it needs so much editorial work that the company simply cannot afford the time it would take. Bear in mind that despite the large number of rejections, each and every publishing company releases a considerable amount of books annually. Accordingly, time is very precious as their duties include reading submissions, editing, proof-reading, cover designs, blurbs, press releases and release schedules. Then, of course, there is the dealing with the press to try to gain coverage of the books. This happens for each and every book that is released. So it stands to reason that if a publishing company is particularly busy they will not be able to take on some books that need a lot of work done - even if they like the content. In the instances when they do decide to add it to their list, it has a rather distant release date to allow for the necessary work to take place without disrupting the other projects.

Unfortunately, authors cannot fully edit their own work. Whilst they can, and indeed should, have a prominent role in the editing process and can edit it in part, fresh eyes need to read the work to observe where it does and does not make sense, what can be omitted and where the structure or grammar use is uncomfortable. By passing the work to an editor before approaching publishers, it can be 'cleaned' and made more professional. The text content can be made release-perfect before it reaches the publishers, which will drastically increase the chances of it being published for two reasons: 1) it will read in a more fluid manner and make the reading process easier and more enjoyable; and 2) the company will acknowledge that little to no editorial work needs to take place and so time will be saved. They may want to make some alterations based on their house-style, and circulate for a proof-read, but a lot of time will be saved on the editing side.

Submitting a complete, professional-looking manuscript to a publisher also makes them view the author more professionally. They can see that the author is serious about their work and has taken the time to find ways to improve it to increase the chance it gets published. When they notice a writer is professional, serious and easy to work with, they will be more likely to take future works from them.

For authors wanting to self-publish, having an editor is even more important than those trying the formal publication route. This is because the ability is there to release literally any document in any state to the world. If the initial raw manuscript is released then the best case scenario is no one reads it, while the worst case scenario is it is ridiculed and the author not taken seriously.

Articles, Proposals and Reports

Articles and reports that come to fruition in a professional environment, such as business proposals or end-of-year reports, are of the utmost importance to the writer - and the aim is to make this importance translate to the recipient. This is especially true in the case of business proposals. A report or proposal can make or break careers and, as with book authors, fresh eyes need to see it to find any weaknesses.

Information in a report or proposal needs to be relevant, succinct and appealing. A 300-page report of repetition and undeveloped ideas will get nowhere but the bin, while a five-page proposal of facts and information will be taken seriously and may have the desired effect.

Beyond the content, presentation is everything when pitching an idea or submitting a report. No one will take a messy publication seriously, yet the business person quite often has too much to do besides devoting time to making their report aesthetically pleasing.

Word Edit can take care of all of this. From 'trimming the fat' of the writing itself, to performing a structural edit to make sure the content order is correct and ensuring the layout and formatting is uncluttered and inviting.