Lean Publishing Tip of the Day: Should I pay for an editor to read my book manuscript?

Self-published authors often try do as much as they can independently.

Usually authors will seek feedback on their book manuscript from friends, family, and their colleagues or peers.

On Leanpub, since we encourage authors to "Publish Early, Publish Often", in accordance with our Lean Publishing philosophy, you'll also get feedback from early readers of your books - people who buy your book before it's completely finished, while you're serially adding new chapters to your published book.

This complicates the question of whether or not you should pay an editor to read your book manuscript.

Different Kinds Of Editing

There are different kinds of editing you can pay someone to do.

The most obvious is probably copy editing, which usually involves quite a bit more than just checking your spelling and grammar.

A copy editor will also look for continuity and consistency, for example.

A development editor will help you with the book as a whole, from concept to structure and content, with a view to your chosen audience.

The Boring Answer Is: It's Up To You, And It Depends

Like most things in life, working with an editor has upsides and downsides.

The downsides are obviously time and money: working with an editor may slow you down, at least during your writing process, delaying your publication date.

And of course, the editor will come with a cost, probably proportional to their experience and the amount of time they'll spend working with you.

The upsides are quality and also money. Hopefully working with an editor will improve the quality of your book and your audience targeting, making your book better than it otherwise would have been, and hopefully getting you a bigger audience and earning you more money over time.

But it really depends on what kind of book you're writing, what you want to accomplish with it, your budget, your personality, and timing.

Watch the recorded video of today's livestream for some of our thoughts on editors and whether or not hiring an editor is the right choice for self-published authors.

Clips From The Livestream