which comes first; editor or agent

AussieBilly

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Going on the assumption my ms has gone through a series of beta-readers, a string of rewrites and corrections, even spell-checked (joke!), would it be advisable to present it to a qualified, and often expensive, editor before submitting to one or more agents? OR, submit the deathlessly wonderful prose directly to one or more agents knowing it will likely have go through an editing process before being passed on to publishers?
 

Cyia

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You should be able to edit your own MS to a high enough standard that it's worthy of submission. You're not going to want to have to go back to the editor every time an agent or editor (from your future publisher) asks for revisions, nor will they expect you to. So, if you're going for commercial publication, I'd say no editor.

However, if you're also considering self-publishing, then seek out an editor - both for content and grammar.
 

blacbird

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Neither, in my experience. I think both are mythical beings, akin to unicorns and griffins and manticores, and have no evidence to the contrary.

caw
 
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waylander

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I would start subbing the manuscript.
IF you start getting full requests and personalised rejections that suggest the manuscript is 'almost there but not quite' then I would consider an editor, otherwise not.
 

Cathy C

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The question you need to ask yourself is whether you feel confident with your writing. Let's say you hire an editor, they make lots of changes and then the book gets accepted. What's next? Do you send the publisher-requested edits to the hired editor too? How much of your royalties will you have to spend on each book?

Now, if you're just wanting a trained eye to look it over to see if the betas you're using are seeing all the issues, then it might be worth it for your peace of mind. But what if there ARE a bunch of suggestions? Then you're back in the same quandry.

My suggestion is the same as waylander's. Give it a try first and go with an editor second if you get specific comments that are similar. Or, if you get several form rejections, it might be worth it to you. :)