Which comes first...?

Aussie. Going to port you to Ask the Agent, which is more appropriate for this question than MTS.

In the meantime, learn to edit yourself. Lots of good resources out there to help you learn how, and you'll save money.

This pretty much boils down to the age old question "Should I hire a professional editor?" If you search around AW a bit, you'll find at least a dozen threads examining this topic. Some folks will say yes, it's a good investment. Others will say learn to edit yourself.

In the end, it comes down to what you're able to afford, and what your level of self-editing skills are. Writers *need* to learn to self-edit, but we've had members say that they learned a great deal about editing by hiring a pro. You have to decide what will best benefit you.

And it's also worth noting that not all agents edit.

I won't speak to whether you should self-edit or hire a pro, but I can tell you that yes, the ms SHOULD be edited somehow before querying.

Agents want to see a work that's as close to perfect as you can get it. Of course you'll do more edits if you sign one, most likely with both the agency and then again with a publisher, but sending in something that's not as polished as you can get it on your own is a no-no. Not all agents will do line edits with their authors. Not all agents have the TIME to do something like that.

From what I've read on agent blogs, you wouldn't mention that it's been professionally edited if that's the way you go. Some won't care, but others will be put off by it. Can't really speak to why but my hunch is that those folks feel you should be a pro enough to at least attempt it.

Forgive me if the answer is obvious, but I'm relatively new to this:

If a publisher and/or agent is interested in your book, will they be providing an editor? For example, if they want to publish, do they have an in-house department that takes over the editing?

OohLaLaura said:

Forgive me if the answer is obvious, but I'm relatively new to this:

If a publisher and/or agent is interested in your book, will they be providing an editor? For example, if they want to publish, do they have an in-house department that takes over the editing?

Click to expand...

The person you deal with at a publisher is an editor. They look at the overall work. There will also be a copyeditor who checks for grammar, spelling and the like. If necessary, there will be a fact checker (historical fiction, non- fiction, etc.)

Some agents edit as well, but not all have an editorial bent.