You don't need a professional editor to prepare your book for publication

I just read this interesting article on Listverse about the top ten worst dreams to chase and number two was writing a novel. To be honest I was surprised it was not number one. The article said that it's very hard to get published and even then your chances of being successful is very slim as well. All true. But then they said that you have added expenses like a professional editor among things. You don't need to hire a professional editor to get your book up to publishable standards. If you have the money and want to do it and save yourself the time, sure, do it. But they charge through the roof to do something that you can do yourself. As a writer it is YOUR JOB to learn how to write creatively, to learn grammer and spelling, and what makes a manuscript publishable.

You should be able to do the job of an editor yourself. Read editing books, talk to other writers, do research on the internet, even take a class. But you should be able to do it yourself. It bugs me so much when people tell writers that getting an editor is an expense that they would have to endure because it's NOT. A decent writing teacher or person with experience in the industry would encourage their students to do their research and learn how to prepare a manuscript themselves. You are a writer. Write. Learn your trade. Don't spend money on services that you can do yourself if you can teach yourself.

Now if you are going to self publish there is one thing I do recommend that you go ahead and do and that is get a professional looking cover made. If you have the skills to do it yourself then save yourself the money but if you're like me and do not have the skills or equipment to do it then look around on the net and pay between $50 and $100 for a good cover. I would spend good money on a cover because people really do judge a book by its cover. I've seen far too many shitty ebooks out there that have covers that look like they were made in MS paint. Get something that looks so good it would not look out of place in a real life bookstore. Get something you can be proud of.

As for the rest of the expenses of being a writer all you need is a computer and an internet connection.