Written by Derek Smith | 17 May 2007

All writers who seek to have their work published suffer from rejection. Rejection takes many forms. Busy publishers often return manuscripts without comment. Others make throw away comments about grammar and spelling or style. It is unusual for publishers to accept manuscripts directly from writers, preferring to have an agent filter. In most cases, this is because agents will insist on professional editing, and may even provide the service themselves. Professional editing can't guarantee that the manuscript will be accepted but it can make it at least readable.

The need for editing is perhaps even greater for self-published authors.

Even before they publish, authors that choose to publish their own books are confronted with the history of the self-published book. Everyone 'knows' that these books suffer from three dread diseases – they are badly written, have poor grammar and are replete with spelling errors. Few critics ever praise any but the small minority, and only a few succeed in the same terms as those published by mainstream publishers. Success normally comes when a mainstream publisher 'picks up' the book. Each publisher who offers a service for self-publishing will tell you that their service somehow magically overcomes this history of poor quality. The successful ones will emphasise to the author at every opportunity the need for editing.

More and more publishers are restricting their marketing and promotional programs to those authors who choose, and are prepared to pay for, professional editing. In addition, professional editing is now turning around reviewers who habitually refuse to review self-published books.

Editing is not cheap. The services of a good editor will add to the already high cost of publishing and effective marketing. The editor is the one person who can make certain that all this money is not spent in vain.

Most editors, writers themselves, have a firm grasp of grammar and spelling. This is probably a self-evident statement but it is important to recognise a simple truth. The rises in sophistication of word processor software and related tools have created a false belief in many writers that spelling errors and even grammatical errors are history. This is not a theory any author seeking success should subscribe too. Even the books published by the largest publishing companies contain errors. I am sure you have found them and wondered how the staff could allow such errors to occur. No system is infallible; even the most professional fail, but the number and significance of these errors rises exponentially if the author relies solely on their own judgment.

There are alternatives to paid editing. Many of us belong to writers' groups and reading groups that review our work and support us. Editing by such groups can be invaluable, but some standards are not high. There is also the personal factor, the one where your friends may not be as critical as is necessary because they are familiar with your work or do not want you to be critical of their own. Whilst family and friends may be good for a first review of drafts, their closer familiarity leads to less severe scrutiny. You might obtain a fairer (though still biased) assessment from your enemies.

Many writers complain that editors want not only to correct their spelling but also to change the story and, worse, change their beloved writing style, a style that they have carefully cultivated and nurtured until a jealous editor sought to ruin it. This may well be partly true in some instances but more likely is the need for compromise. Competent editors will not hesitate to tell writers about all the errors they see. The writer must decide how many of these errors require correction. A common error in writing is the unexplained shift in POV (Point of View). If the writer cannot accept that the editor's perspective gives them a different and often useful perception of the written words, such errors can be compounded. If the writer has confidence in the editor, surely it makes sense to accept rather than reject criticism.

If you write in a particular genre then an editor who has experience in that genre can provide more than just grammar and spelling auditing. Such an editor can add value to your work. Editors can stand back from your words and see what is actually there. They can see what you wrote, not what you thought you meant to convey. They can ensure that errors do not happen to ruin your carefully laid plot. They can see technical errors like your virus found on an alien world with a thin argon-methane atmosphere that suddenly becomes a killer on Earth would not even survive in the oxygen rich air.

All writers can increase the chances of publishers reading their work by submitting to, and using the skills of, editors. Self-published authors can overcome the stigma of the past by seeking professional editing that not only corrects errors of grammar and spelling but also improves the quality of the their words.

If your self-confidence is such that you feel you, as a writer, do not need professional editing, I can only suggest that you test your abilities before your work is open to public scrutiny

Derek Smith's website is at http://members.optusnet.com.au/~clipstone