I am an unknown writer and I’m currently writing a novel. I want to ask if it’s the job of a publisher to proofread the work or the author and I don’t know if there are publishers out there who have confidence in unknown authors. Thank you.
Before you start worrying about commas and whatnot, you want to focus on whether you have a solid, exciting, unputdownable story. Find people to read it and give you their honest opinions — especially people who aren’t family and friends. If you aren’t already part of a writing group, find one you click with in person or online and trade manuscripts with as many people as possible.
If you’re getting feedback that your story isn’t as gripping as you’d hoped, do a little reading on your own. A client recently loaned me this book by Theodora Taylor that I think is enormously helpful (and only $4.99 on Kindle!). She writes about packing your story with metaphorical butter, like the French do with their cooking.
Once you’re confident that the story is solid, you can worry about the fine polish. Now we get to your question about who pays for editing.
The answer is, it depends. If your manuscript is absolutely riddled with errors, then publishers and literary agents who skim your sample chapters might find it so distracting that they write you off without much consideration. They might not even get past your cover letter.
This may sound unfair, but put yourself in their shoes. They may get thousands of unsolicited submissions per year — and reading submissions may only be a small part of their total job. You have a very brief chance to capture their attention and stand out as something special.
This isn’t to say that any serious writer absolutely must invest thousands of dollars in editing just to have a shot at landing an agent or a contract. There are no guarantees in this business: most manuscripts never get published (or are self-published), and few that do make any real money. So don’t use the rent money to hire an editor.
Full disclosure, I’m an editor, so I obviously think it’s a good idea to have a professional tune up your writing before you submit it anywhere. But if your budget simply won’t accommodate paying someone for a complete overhaul, at least consider having a professional editor work on your submission package (query letter, synopsis, sample chapters).
After that, it’s possible that you might get an agent or contract and wind up with someone else paying for the remaining edits.
Want to read more on this topic? Check out “Everything Wrong with Your Novel in 15 Minutes” and “What Kind of Editing Do I Need?”
Utopian Editing provides editing services from concept through proofreading. Click here to request a free sample edit and quote.
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