Fellow indie authors: read this tweet a few times.

And actually, Twitter isn't really the audience for this, because every time I talk about this, I get the "I ALWAYS DO SIX PASSES FROM FRESH EYES AT EVERY TURN." K, Hermoine, you get an A.

But for the lurkers who don't... https://twitter.com/kj_charles/status/1198854436468219904

Let's talk about when to shell out for a dev editor. Because if you are serious about building a lasting career, you will need to do this at some point (more often than your wallet might like).

Interestingly, I think it's the same decision making process about when should you pay for ads.

(Side note: decision making processes don't get enough chatter in publishing.)

I'm going to use rough, round numbers. Let's say a dev edit will cost you a $1000.

Shorter books cost less, longer books cost more, and there are editors that do this in more depth than others.

When should you make that investment?

1. When you are actually going to follow through and do the work that editor suggests to revise and rewrite your book

2. When the book needs it

3. When you can afford it

(And I'll get to how can you cut corners, too, just to annoy the Hermoines, don't worry)

Hermoines everywhere don't get point 1. Why wouldn't you do the work?

But often--OFTEN--a book feels done in our hearts. At this point, reckless marauders, you might as well go straight to a line edit. You aren't going to fully utilize that expensive opinion you got anyway.

Point 2 is so much harder to know. When we start writing, we're in the top left quadrant of this graphic on competence (Unconscious Incompetence, you don't know what you don't know).

But once you have written a few books, you move into Conscious Incompetence. This is where most people who previously haven't used a dev editor can start to see the need for it, rather than feeling like they should but secretly thinking their books are Done, capital D.

Hopefully this coincides with also being able to afford a more expensive editorial cycle on a new book! You've got some books out, you're building a fan base, you have an idea of where you want to head in the market.

NOW is when it makes sense to level up your craft.

Obviously, in an ideal world, we'd all get craft lessons for free and start with all the knowledge, our stories unfurling without barriers.

We don't live in that world. You gotta be scrappy? Be scrappy, my friends.

But if you aren't at that point, income wise, let's talk about cutting corners!

For the record, I have both cut corners, and paid a very fair top dollar for editorial revision.

I continue to do both. Both have their place.

A. Always get a sample. This isn't really cutting corners, but more about not wasting precious pennies. Honestly, you probably don't want to work with an editor who doesn't require a sample on their end, too.

Finding the right editorial relationship is like dating.

B. Look for editors who will do a single pass read through and write an editorial letter without any inline comments. This will be cheaper, and if you can do the hard work of making chapter notes and going back and forth to the letter yourself, this is a great investment.

Maybe I should step back and say what my (varied) experiences have been with first pass editorial notes, aka dev edits.

Some editors like to do all their work in line, with comments as they read through. Some like to write a letter. Some do both. Some do chapter analysis.

"Do all their work in line" means COMMENTS in a word doc, not LINE EDITS, although some (a lot of?) indie editors do line edits with some revision notes on a first pass edits, and honestly: that's probably just a line edit.

Which is fine, but stop pretending you do dev edits? It stresses people out when they can't afford an entirely different thing than you actually do?

Anyway. Moving on.

C. Synopsis assessment! I haven't ever actually done this, but I know some editors offer it. Again, cheaper.

And I think if you had a really exciting project that you want an editor's help on, and you send them an honest email saying, "I like your work, I value your work, but my budget is $400, what can you do with part of of my story/project for those pennies," they will let you know.

It might be nothing! That's okay. Being told no is actually fine. That lets you know that editor is not for you. Back to the dating pool. But I bet you CAN find someone who will work within your budget.

DO NOT SPEND MORE THAN YOU ARE COMFORTABLE WITH.

But once you know you could use that support to level up, make the investment with your whole heart. Follow your pennies with enthusiasm to really tear the project apart and make it better (and oh, I should have said this at the top: only work with an editor who wants that, too!)

Questions and confessions of not paying for dev edits are always welcome in my DMs, BTW. You are not alone.