Should You Hire an Editor? (And How to Choose One)

Most authors ask:

“Do I really need an editor?”

The better question is:

“What exactly is wrong with my book—and who do I need to help fix it?”

Because editing is not just one thing.

And hiring the wrong editor will waste your money and leave your book just as broken as it was before.

Should You Hire an Editor?

Yes. You should definitely hire an editor.

But not all editors are the same.

And just like with most freelancers, I’m going to argue that many of them aren’t worth the money. That’s not because they’re bad people. It’s because a lot of them either won’t do great work unless they’re paid a lot or charge a lot and still do the bare minimum.

There are also “editors” who just run your manuscript through Grammarly or ChatGPT and call that editing.

That’s not editing.

A good editor actually reads your book.

They care about the writing. They are reliable, reasonably timely, communicate clearly, and treat your work the way they would want their own writing treated.

This isn’t about undervaluing editors. It’s about understanding that their role is pivotal. They are shaping your manuscript.

And if they don’t actually care, it shows.

The Real Problem: Most Authors Don’t Know What They Need

Most authors don’t understand how editing works.

And because of that, they don’t know how to:

• Hire the right editor.

• Tell the editor what they actually need.

• or evaluate the quality of what they’re getting

That’s not their fault.

If you haven’t worked in publishing or as an editor, you’re not going to naturally know what to look for.

But this is where most mistakes happen.

Most manuscripts fall into one of two categories:

• The story itself has issues → it needs developmental editing or strong beta feedback.

• The story is solid, but the writing has errors → it needs copyediting or proofreading.

If you don’t know which one you need, you’re already at risk of wasting money.

Have an Editing Plan (Almost No One Does This)

Very few authors do this, but you should have an actual plan for your editing.

That means deciding in advance:

• Who is going to read your book?

• In what order

• What each person is looking for

• and what you’re trying to optimize for

Are you trying to make your book flawless at the sentence level?

Or are you trying to make sure the story actually works?

These are not the same goals.

You should also decide how many people you want reviewing at each stage.

Some people will say one great editor is enough.

The only way I would agree with that is if they are doing multiple passes, each focused on a specific type of error. Even then, one person can still miss things.

You don’t need to be paranoid, but having a structured process dramatically reduces the number of errors that make it through to publication.

What Kind of Editor Do You Actually Need?

There are three main types of editing:

1. Developmental Editing

This focuses on the story itself:

• structure

• pacing

• clarity

• character motivations

This is for when the story itself isn’t fully working yet.

2. Copy Editing

This focuses on the writing:

• sentence clarity

• grammar

• flow

3. Proofreading

This is the final pass:

• typos

• formatting issues

• small surface-level errors

Key Insight

Most books don’t need everything at once.

They need the right type of editing at the right time.

How Do You Know What You Need?

Look at your feedback.

Not from people who know you.

Not from people trying to be nice.

From people who:

• don’t know you

• Don’t care about your feelings.

• But do care about reading the book and giving honest feedback.

What are they consistently saying?

• Are they confused?

• Are they bored?

• Are they pointing out errors?

One opinion doesn’t matter.

Patterns do.

How to Tell If an Editor Is Legit

Good editors tend to show up in similar ways.

They:

• are willing to provide a sample edit

• Ask for specific instructions.

• are engaged and interested in your project

• and have a certain level of energy about the work

It feels like they actually want to do a good job.

And while money is part of the conversation, it doesn’t feel like the only thing driving it. It almost feels like they would still do this if they weren’t being paid.

That’s a very different experience than someone who is clearly optimizing for maximum money per job.

Red Flags

• No sample edit

• vague or generic feedback

• Everything is “good”

• Or the edits feel like they came straight from AI.

If it feels like something you could have gotten by pasting your manuscript into ChatGPT, they didn’t really read it.

Skill vs Care (This Matters More Than Price)

Skill does not equal care.

You can:

• pay a lot and still get poor work

• pay less and get excellent work

The difference is attention and effort.

In my experience, you can’t pay someone enough to truly make them care.

Money is an extrinsic motivator. It helps define the working relationship.

But intrinsic motivation—the desire to actually do a good job—is what determines quality.

That’s what you’re really looking for.

How to Not Get Screwed

If you want to protect yourself, do a few simple things:

• Always get a sample edit.

• Start with one chapter.

• Don’t commit to the full manuscript immediately.

• Ask specific questions about what they’re looking for

Also, pay attention to what they are optimizing for.

If an editor immediately starts talking about how “real editors charge at least $1,000,” I don’t respond.

That’s not a quality signal. That’s positioning.

The Biggest Mistakes Authors Make

Some of the most common mistakes:

• thinking one edit is enough

• paying for a service they don’t actually need

• starting with proofreading when the story isn’t ready

• rushing through the process

• Applying feedback too quickly without thinking

Stop rushing.

Good work takes time, and editing is one of the most important parts of the process.

You Can Direct the Quality of Editing

Editors can’t look for everything at once.

You need to tell them what to focus on.

For example, you might ask a copy editor to focus on:

• run-on sentences

• comma splices

• dialogue punctuation

• tense consistency

• Incorrect word usage

Or a developmental editor to focus on:

• confusing scenes

• pacing issues

• character motivation

The more specific you are, the better the results.

How Many People Should Review Your Book?

There’s no perfect number.

Statistically, you would need a massive sample size to be completely certain.

But practically, you’re looking for enough people to identify patterns.

Around 10–15 real readers is a strong benchmark.

You’re not trying to prove perfection.

You’re trying to reduce uncertainty.

AI vs Human Editing

AI tools are useful.

You should absolutely run your manuscript through Grammarly or similar tools before giving it to an editor.

That way you’re not paying someone to fix things you could have fixed yourself.

But AI has limitations.

It:

• can only process a limited amount of context

• misses wrong words that are technically correct

• doesn’t understand the deeper meaning or intent

Good editors catch what AI misses.

The Honest Test

Ask yourself this:

If I asked someone independent:

• Would they say my book is ready?

• Would a competent editor say it’s ready?

• Would honest readers say it works?

If the answer is unclear, it’s not ready.

In Conclusion

Most authors don’t have bad ideas.

They just haven’t taken their book through a real process.

Editing isn’t about perfection.

It’s about:

• clarity

• professionalism

• and respecting the reader’s time

Final Thought

If you’re unsure what your book actually needs, getting an objective evaluation is one of the fastest ways to figure it out.