Belinda Pollard has laid out the process and time commitment very well for an editor such as myself, along with the angst of having to pay for one myself, as a writer.
But it’s a very necessary part of the process if you’re serious about being taken seriously as a writer.
My daughter – an avid reader and very good student – recently agree to read a book for an author that contacted me for a review (I didn’t have time but my daughter did). My daughter has come up with a very long list of things this author missed including words misspelled and a error in a reference to the battle of Troy. This author said she did an edit swap with a fellow writer, which obviously didn’t cost her anything except her reputation as a writer. A pretty high cost in my book (pun intended). Unfortunately, she published the book before she asked for reviews. Hopefully not many people have seen it yet because it needs a lot of work, work an editor would have picked up on before potential readers had seen it.
I know it’s an expense, but it is one of those things that you get what you pay for.
CKBooks Publishing 