I published my first book back in 2017 after I completed my Peace Corps China service.
The book was called It Depends: A Guide to Peace Corps. I wrote the book with the intention of helping future Peace Corp Volunteers prepare for their service as best as possible. It was a small book, about 100 pages or so, but like any good piece of writing, it needed a good editor.
I had my parents help me edit this book, and fortunately for me, they have an eye for editing because doing it on my own just wasn’t enough. But even looking back on it now, I probably could’ve had more rigorous edits.
Now that I’m publishing my first novel, The Lost Pleiad, I see the incredible reasons why an editor is so necessary for a successful book.
3 Ways to Make Sure People Take Your Book Seriously
In the past few years as I developed my marketing and design skills, I observed all things around me in the world of books learning the best to make them the most visually appealing both inside and out.
We don’t like to admit it, but people do really judge books by their cover, despite being told we shouldn’t.
There are three major ways you can get people to take your book seriously, and this is before the editing even starts.
1. Hire a Skilled Book Cover Designer
What is your book worth to you? Do you want it to be successful? If the answer is yes, you should be investing everything you can in it right?
A little investment upfront can go a long way down the road.
I’m part of a few Facebook groups for aspiring writers and constantly see posts come through showing cover designs people have tried to create themselves on Canva.
Let me just say, there is nothing wrong with creating your own book cover, but the caveat is you should have design experience. Plain and simple.
If you don’t have expert design experience, hire a graphic designer. Invest in an amazing, well-laid-out, well-designed, and captivating cover.
Your book may be amazing on the inside with the best story known to man, but If the cover isn’t beautiful or eye-catching you’ve basically wasted all your time with writing and marketing it. People are fickle and they like when things look good and look professional.
2. Format Your Book Correctly
I’ve seen some formatting nightmares in a lot of indie-published books.
Some of the mistakes I’ve seen include,
- Text pushed to the edge of the page
- Text too close to the center of the book
- Page numbers too high up in the footer margin
- Incorrect font and size
- Lack of name and book title in the header
- Incorrect format to match the book’s dimensions
If your book has a great cover, but a terribly laid-out interior, you’re in trouble.
Correct formatting can be the difference between a professional look and an amateur one. Don’t settle for a simple word doc.
Find a customizable document specifically for your book and start writing it correctly from the getgo.
3. Take Your Editing Very Seriously
I cannot stress this enough. Editing is so important for your book and editing it alone won’t be enough, which I’ll explain later.
I’ve read some indie books that have spelling errors within the first 10 pages and instantly found I was closing that book and moving on to something else.
The idea of indie publishing is definitely appealing, but make sure you are equipped to handle the work it takes to polish your book to perfection. if you’re not sure where to start, I’ll give you some tools later on in this post.
Why You Need An Editor For Your Book
Trying to be the sole editor for your book is not the way to go.
I’ve come to this conclusion on my own in the past, trying to save time and money by just editing my work on my own, but it’s not always the best case.
Everyone who thinks they’re a good editor will always think they can do it alone, but they can’t, and here’s why.
- When you are too close to your own work, there’s a lot of information you become numb to
- As a result, you might miss minor spelling and grammar edits
- They can edit for clarity
- They can provide another perspective on concepts
- As an outside perspective, they can ask questions or include ideas you may not have considered
- They are here to help you make your writing the very best
I edited my book three times before handing it off to my editors for review.
As they were halfway through review, I started running it through Grammarly (an action I should have taken before I handed it off to my editors).
I was absolutely APPALLED by the number of mistakes I missed in my own writing after editing it three times.
I was embarrassed by how much I missed before handing it off, which only told me how important it was to have an editor.
Unless you are reading your 160,000-word manuscript out loud, word by word, (a helpful and exhausting way to catch writing mistakes), you need an editor.
How Much Does a Book Editor Cost?
Depending on the word count and the editor’s systems, the price of book editing can vary.
If, however, you are fortunate enough to have friends or family with professional editing skills to help you edit your book (especially if this is your first book) by all means go for it.
For those who don’t have any friends with grand writing or editing experience on hand, you can expect to pay up to $800 for about 50,000 words, according to Editor World.
Make sure you shop around for editing services before committing to anything. Here are some things to be mindful of when searching:
- Cost per word, page, or hour
- Can they split up payments? (50% upfront and 50% when complete)
- Turn around time
- Editor reputation (Are they well-reviewed?)
- Ensure there is a contract in place so they won’t steal your work
Be very careful with who you choose to edit your book and make sure they are trustworthy and backed by a good reputation.
Places You Can Find Book Editors
If you’re not sure where to start your search and are on a budget, you can try looking at the following options:
- Fiverr
- Upwork
- Indie Editors (via Google Search)
You can also reach out to a hybrid publishing service provider to get the editing services you need. Write With Light Publications is an editing service provider I highly recommend.
Editing Tools To Help You Get Started
It’s a good idea to start the editing process on your own, just don’t try and do it all on your own with the help of Word’s Spelling and Grammer check. That won’t be enough.
There are some outstanding tools out there that are affordable for the work you are trying to do.
Below are my favorites and top picks:
Grammarly
Grammarly is my #1 go-to for all editing. It can be incorporated into your web browser, email, Google Docs, and Word to help you with your editing in all aspects of your life. Honestly, you should just use it on everything.
The best part about Grammarly is it has a free version, although I highly recommend purchasing the premium version.
Grammarly checks for everything from basic spelling and grammar errors to vocabulary checks and passive voice. The one downside for Grammarly is it doesn’t check documents with over 100,000 words, so if you have a big book that exceeds that word count, you’ll have to do it in pieces. The other drawback is that takes a while.
If you plan to use Grammarly, check all your work as you go to save yourself some time in the end.
Pro Writing Aid
Pro Writing Aid is another useful tool you can use to help edit and does essentially the same thing as Grammarly.
However, purchasing the premium option will allow you an unlimited word limit when checking your work, plus the option is much cheaper than Grammarly per year.
The free version, unlike Grammarly, will not afford you much in the way of checking your work and only allows you to check up to 500 words at a time, which sort of forces you to purchase their premium option if you want to cover a larger word limit.
There are many pros and cons to each and either one would be a good option, but Grammarly is my go-to for editing when I get the process started.
My Overall Opinion
I am so grateful for the editors I have had working on my pieces. Even with my writing with Elephant Journal, I have a dedicated editor who works on my pieces.
Having an editor only helps you, especially if that editor knows what they are doing. A good editor can be the difference between a mediocre book with potential for a good story and an outstanding book loved by millions.
Take the leap and find the right editor to help you on your journey!
