One of the most common questions that authors ask themselves after completing their manuscript is whether they need the services of a professional editor or not. While it is always a good thing to trust your writing skills as an aspiring author, there must be some reasons why even the best authors hire professional book editors.
A book editor is a professional who keenly observes every aspect of your book’s creation. They read your manuscript thoroughly to improve it in every possible aspect.
Their industry knowledge, expertise, and attention to the target audience make them very important in ensuring the success of your book.
Here is all you must know about improving your book with a professional editor by your side.
- Enhance the Readability
Every author puts their best efforts into improving their manuscript. One of their most prominent goals is to increase the readability of their work.
While self-editing is a great practice, it is always a good idea to consider hiring the best book editors to help you improve your manuscript by boosting its readability, among other things.
A professional book editor ensures grammatical aptness, correct punctuation, and correct spelling to boost a book’s readability and establish authority in its niche.
In addition, they can also assist you with formatting, layout, and overall presentation of the manuscript to meet industry standards. These factors can also contribute to the added readability of your book, making it a popular choice among the readers of your niche.
- Gain Comprehensive Feedback
Beta readers, your friends, and family members are the ones you can always rely on to read your work and provide their feedback. Of course, their feedback can help you make significant improvements to your work but are they reliable enough?
Every smart author can agree that nothing matches the expertise of a professional editor. Their feedback on the overall structure and organization of the manuscript can help you make improvements beyond correcting your spelling or fixing grammatical issues.
Their feedback is not just limited to one aspect of your book. They look at your work holistically and recommend changes accordingly. You can rely on their experience and expertise to feel confident about trusting their feedback.
- Look at the Bigger Picture
You may think that your work needs developmental editing or its plot is more vulnerable. As someone who has written the manuscript being discussed, you may be too lenient or harsh while editing your work. You need someone to look at the bigger picture with fresh eyes.
Professional editors offer suggestions for refining the language and style of writing to engage readers effectively. Instead of focusing on one aspect of a manuscript, they consider it a bigger project and improve it accordingly.
It means that if a book lacks consistency, an editor will improve that aspect, not only through a chapter but throughout the manuscript. This way, they ensure that a reader will not be bothered by inconsistency after a professional editor has improved it.
- Maintain Consistency
Consistency is an important aspect of ensuring a book’s readability. If a problem with consistency of tone or writing style exists, a reader will feel uneasy reading your book. While you may think that your book is consistent in every way, a fresh set of eyes can help you realize otherwise.
An editor is the only professional you need by your side to ensure consistency in your work. They have years of experience and the right expertise to ensure consistency in tone, voice, and writing style throughout your manuscript.
There will be inconsistent parts in your manuscript that you may never see or remain persistent about. Your editor will not just point out these parts. They will also offer explanations and help you understand why making a change is necessary.
- Address Plot Holes
Many authors regret not hiring an editor to help polish their manuscripts. One of the biggest reasons for this regret may be getting their work published with plot holes. You may not be able to see these plot holes while writing your manuscript but readers are quick to notice such problems.
It is better to let an editor tell you about plot holes rather than being criticized by your readers.
An editor can help you identify and address any plot holes, inconsistencies, or logic issues within the storyline.
Having a tight-knit plot establishes your authority as an author and makes your fan base confident about relying on your books.
- Develop Your Characters
Characters are undoubtedly the most important factor of a book. They are the point of connection between your plot and the reader. If the reader feels connected with the characters, they will be drawn to your work.
Your editor can assist you in character development through their expertise. They focus on making characters more authentic, relatable, and compelling for the readers. It means if the characters are not up to par, they will let you know without any hesitation.
In addition to improving your characters, they also add more weight to your dialogues. Strong characters, along with natural and impactful dialogues, can make a long-lasting impact on your readers.
- Check for Factual Accuracy
One of the most embarrassing things you may have to face as an author is to be corrected by your audience. Unfortunately, it is not a rare occurrence. Many authors have been criticized and corrected by their readers on several occasions. When you publish a book with factual inconsistencies, there is no way to take it back.
Instead of having regrets later, it is better to hire someone who can help you ensure the factual accuracy of your work. These professionals have the most reliable research skills for you to rectify any inaccuracies or inconsistencies in the manuscript.
An editor can ensure that all facts are correct in non-fiction words so that they can uphold credibility while strengthening themes and motifs present in the manuscript. Even for fiction works, you can rely on them to make information accurate in that specific fictional world.
