Skip to content 
There comes a time in every writer’s life when they must face an undeniable truth: their manuscript, their baby, their magnum opus… just might, mayyybe, be riddled with errors that need editing. They may be hidden, lurking in plain sight, but they are there nevertheless.
I call these OPPs—Other People’s Problems—because it’s always other people who point them out to you. It takes you from elated to deflated in one foul strike of a pen or social media comment. It’s a lot like the SEPs of Douglas Adam’s fame—Somebody Else’s Problems—that are, naturally, invisible to everyone else.
At Republican Press, on the Your Family magazine back in the early 90s, where I worked as a sub-editor, we had no less than five sub-editors, a managing editor, and then the queen of the magazine look over each and every word. Even on the final read, our queen, Angela Waller-Paton at that time, would still find offending errors to strike through with her busy red pen.
Mistakes happen and the simple fact is a writer of words is in no way set up—neurologically, egoically, or energetically—to be able to best edit what they write. Neither, for that matter, is their old college bestie, nor their momma, the best choice for editorial excellence.
The question remains: How much egg would you like on your face when those words go to print?
Let’s walk you through it…
It starts innocently enough. You finish the final chapter, sit back with a self-satisfied sigh, and think, This is it. This is the next great literary masterpiece. Dickens who?
You give it a quick once-over and—miracle of miracles—you find barely a thing wrong. A misplaced comma here, a rogue typo there, but overall, it’s perfect. Glorious. Ready for the world.
Of course, being a responsible author, you acknowledge that perhaps a second pair of eyes should glance over it. But hiring a professional editor? Ha! Unnecessary. You have a mate, don’t you? Your old school friend, Susan, who once got an A in English. She reads a lot of books. She’s got opinions. What could go wrong?
Step One: The Friend Edit
Susan is delighted to be entrusted with your masterpiece. She gives it the old college try, skimming through while sipping her third glass of shiraz. A week later, she returns the manuscript, beaming.
“Loved it! Just a few teeny changes.”
Teeny, indeed. She has helpfully adjusted your main character’s name from Elijah to Steve, for reasons unknown. She’s removed all your beloved semicolons and replaced them with dashes—lots of dashes—so now it reads like the narrator has a persistent cough.
But the best part? She has rewritten your climactic scene because she thought it needed more pizzazz. Where once there was a tense, emotional confrontation, there is now an unexpected alien invasion.
And still, somehow, three entire paragraphs contain the phrase pubic relations instead of public relations.
You sigh, thank Susan politely, and decide to give it another go yourself. After all, your own eyes are just as good as anyone else’s, right?
Step Two: The Self-Edit
Determined, you dive back in. This time, you will catch every mistake. You will eradicate typos with the precision of a literary ninja.
Five hours pass. You are staring at the same paragraph.
You swear it used to make sense.
You tweak a sentence. Then you tweak it back. You delete an entire page in a fit of frustration, then rewrite it almost exactly the same, convinced you’ve improved it. The words blur together. Your brain helpfully auto-corrects every mistake before your eyes can register it.
By midnight, you are 98% certain your protagonist has changed names midway through, and you have started questioning whether necessary has one ‘C’ or two. You check. You check again. You forget what words are.
Step Three: The Professional Editor
Finally, after much wailing and gnashing of teeth, you concede defeat and hire a professional editor.
They return your manuscript with a polite but firm cover note explaining that, while the story is promising, there are some areas that need work. And by some, they mean all.
You open the document and recoil in horror. There are highlights. Comments. Tracked changes. So many tracked changes. Your pristine manuscript looks like it has been savaged by an over-caffeinated professor with a grudge.
But then… you start reading.
And something incredible happens.
The words flow better. The pacing improves. That scene you thought was genius but secretly had doubts about? They’ve helped you make it actually work. The missing words, the clunky phrasing, the accidental shift from past to present tense halfway through the book—all caught. And as for pubic relations? Thankfully, that particular disaster has been discreetly corrected.
You take a deep breath. You nod. You send the editor a thank-you email, possibly containing a marriage proposal.
And when your book finally hits the shelves, clean, polished, and actually readable, you realise—editing isn’t just about fixing typos. It’s about making your book the best version of itself. And that, dear writer, is worth every penny.
The Moral of the Story?
Your eyes will betray you. Your best mate will get distracted, has a limited understanding of your genre or readership, and does not have a trained editor’s eagle eye or the very advanced level of language proficiency needed. And no one needs an alien invasion in a Regency romance novel.
Hire a professional editor. Your manuscript—and your readers—will thank you.
A Few Tips for Picking an Editor
- Ask for a small sample edit. A couple of pages will do.
- See what reviews and references they can provide.
- Expect to pay anything from $0.02–$0.05 per word. Proper editing takes an advanced skill level and time that requires commensurate compensation. Editing fees vary based on experience, expertise, and the complexity of the manuscript. You may be able to negotiate a package deal or a lesser fee for ongoing or substantial work sent their way.
- Make sure they have some experience and understanding of your genre or writing category. Editing government legislative texts takes a different skill set, as does doing a developmental edit on an epic fantasy book.
- Get clear on the type of edit you need:
a) Structural/Developmental Editing—Focuses on big-picture elements like plot, pacing, character development, and overall story flow. Ideal if your book needs stronger structure or deeper storytelling.
b) Line & Copy Editing—Enhances sentence-level clarity, flow, and readability while correcting grammar, punctuation, and inconsistencies. Perfect for refining prose and ensuring smooth, polished writing.
c) Proofreading—The final polish! Catches typos, formatting errors, and minor mistakes before publishing, making it best for manuscripts already professionally edited. A good editor will not attempt to do all three in one go, nor will they line/copy and then proofread in the same editing pass.
Your book deserves better than missed typos and well-meaning mates with a red pen. At Harvard Ink, we don’t just edit—we refine, polish, and perfect. Get a full set of professional eyes on your manuscript (we have three editors on full-time staff and we all read everything for each other) and make every word shine. Because great writing deserves great editing. Let’s make your book the best it can be!
Contact us at info@harvardink.com for a personalised quote, and to discuss your editing needs. Or visit our homepage at www.harvardink.com for more information.
Photo by KS Kyung, 2018, Unsplash.
