Why indie authors need an editor

As indie authors, we have a few disadvantages one of them being editors. We have to find, hirer, and pay our own editors. Some of us get lucky and have connections others not so much. Some may be able to get by with an extra pair of eyes (or five...) however, some authors think that they don't need editors. At all. I attended an editor's group for a year and it was a joke. Everyone would set deadlines to have projects finished by and no one would stick to them. I started to feel like an over achiever and then I brought my editor with me to check out the group and hopefully show them why it was important to have an editor. These are the two responses that stuck with me. RM: I do all my own editing so I don't need an editor. I don't want anyone messing with my style. T: There isn't an editor who understands my work, so I don't give it to one.

Now...there are very few authors who can self edit to the point of not needing, at the very least, extra eyes. My editor almost passed out, she was so shocked at the response. So, why do we need editors and/or extra eyes? Take a look:

See all that purple, that's grammar and typos that my editor found in a work (under my other personality.) That's after I read through it for the ARCs. Now, I will admit that grammar is not my strong point, but there were a lot of typos that I missed. (Some very obvious ones, sweatpants pants, the his townhome, yeah....) My eyes scanned right over them because I knew what it was supposed to say. So my advice to you, get an editor, get an extra pair of eyes at the very least. I know that just starting authors can't always afford an editor, but use your resources. My editor is a college student in school for editing, she just finished an advanced grammar class (only person I know who says it's fun to diagram books. Seriously...) we exchange coffee for edits and so she can use my books on her resume when she needs to.

Mia used a combination of people to polish up WUIB. It can be done, but when you can, spend the money on a good editor. Look for their credentials, ask them to edit a section for you so you can get the feel on if they are a good match. Put some effort into it people, because nothing is worse than a bunch of bad reviews do to an unprofessional book. Also...pass it through some beta readers first. Your editor shouldn't deal with a first draft...that's just mean.