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Do I Need to Edit My Book?

by Sari Mathes

I need an editor?   My book needs…gulp…editing? 

Some writers absorb those words with the same enthusiasm they might exhibit when anticipating open-heart surgery without anesthesia.  A death sentence, a dire prognosis, a grim course of treatment for their word-baby.   Other writers view editors as healers and helpers, and can’t wait for to get their book under the expert’s microscope.  Whether it be to take scalpel to their manuscript, give it an injection, take its marketability temperature, or pronounce it healthy and fit for publication, these writers wouldn’t think of publishing their books without a complete physical examination by a book doctor. 

For all you edit-phobes out there, here’s a quote from a Datus C. Smith, Jr., publishing giant and author of A Guide to Book Publishing:

“The author or the translator is supposed to turn in the manuscript in a form ready for the printer.  But no author, in the history of printing, has been able to do that.”

So, if the superstars of writing don’t wince when disrobing in front of an editor, one would think that the rest of us writers would gladly drop our drawers to ensure that our manuscripts get a clean bill of literary health, no?  So, what are we afraid of? 

Many writers fear an editor will perform major surgery on their manuscript.  This is hardly ever the case.  Although some manuscripts do benefit from these life-saving measures, most don’t need more than a little first-aid to make their book hale and hearty enough to compete in the literary arena.  It is those unedited manuscripts that limp into the book market in need of splints and bandaids that fall on their face before they even get to the reviewers. 

Why?  Because as healthy as you think your book reads, an editor’s diagnostic expertise will make it better.  And, if by chance your book is fit to print, wouldn’t it be sweet news to get an expert’s agreement before sending it out to compete with the work of other writers?