Should I get book I plan to self-publish professionally edited?

Many self-publishing authors decide to dispense with the professional editing stage because they view it as too expensive "for what it is".

Why? Largely economics. The bitter truth is that many self-publishing authors won't fully recoup the expense that a round of professional editing will entail.

To copyedit a reasonably well-written novel of an average length of 50,000 words might take a proficient fiction editor between 20-25 hours. Average minimum suggested rates for editors in Ireland are €35 an hour (source: AFEPI recommended minimum rates), so most editors would probably charge something in the region of €700-800. This is reflective of the time it takes to read a manuscript, correct the mechanical errors (punctuation, spelling, wrong word usage, homophones etc), assess other copy-editing problems like inappropriate language, factual errors, consistency faults, plot holes and so on...