Everyone Needs an Editor

The reading public has no time for badly edited, error-ridden books.

That's true in the traditional publishing world, of course-but it's even more relevant for indie authors. Sloppy work tars everyone.

Every time a badly edited book is published, it chips away at the reputation of the self-published writers who aren't producing rubbish," says Gary Smailes, cofounder of BubbleCow, a U.K.-based company that provides editing and proofreading services to indie authors around the world. "But readers are more forgiving of self-published writers if they appear to have taken a real effort."

Indeed, a book with no errors is a rare thing. Mistakes frequently even make their way into the thoroughly vetted books that come out of big, traditional publishing houses, where professional editors and proofreaders rake manuscripts with the finest of fine-tooth combs. And that's despite the fact that most manuscripts go through an intensive editing process before they're even accepted by a literary agent and shopped around.