denise

Exactly, Debbie! And while you're at it, might as well minimize negative response from reviewers, right?

Hi C. K., thanks for your comment, which raises an interesting point. While some seasoned authors like the collaboration of working with developmental editors, I know many who would never dream of letting anyone but the contracted editor have a look at it. That acquiring editor might well want changes, even after an independent editor offered suggestions, because they want a top-notch product that fits within their business model.

Where an author ALWAYS needs to hire an independent editor, though, is when self-publishing. A publisher—which is the role this author has assumed, seasoned or not—would never think of going to press without an editor looking at the novel first. Why should an indie publisher's standards be any lower?

I think we need a certain naiveté when we start out on this crazy road. If we knew how high the learning curve ahead of us was, or how it was sprinkled with cinders that at times might cause us to slide back down, I'm not sure we'd make the climb. Many times, my job feels like I'm pushing way the cloud so people who thought they'd reached the pinnacle can see that they still have a ways to climb. I have great empathy for them, because I recall my discomfort at such moments!

That's so true, Julie. Knowing this, even editors hire other editors!

"...borne of financial limitations, nurtured by an unhealthy obsession with the brilliance of one’s early works..." Well put, Ann, and more palatable coming from a client than from me! The financial limitations I get. Many start to write in their retirement years, on a fixed income. Still, we must get our writing educations somewhere, and sitting in on a generic conference session, while a great place to start, is not the same as having someone focus solely on the specific challenges of your own work.