The editing mistake that cost me thousands in book sales

When I published my first book in 2015, I’d no idea what I was doing.

I thought I could handle everything myself.

Come up with the idea, write the manuscript, format the book, design the cover, and of course… edit the first draft.

Big mistake.

After releasing that first book, the Amazon reviews trickled in. “Great advice, but riddled with errors.” “Needed a good editor.” “Couldn’t get past the typos.”

Ouch.

Those two-star reviews taught me the hard way that a good book editor isn’t a luxury; it’s a necessity. They cost me thousands in lost sales before I pulled the book, hired a professional editor, and relaunched it. Oh, the time wasted!

When I finally invested in a real editor (after my DIY disaster), I discovered something surprising. The best editors don’t just fix grammar and spelling mistakes. They ruthlessly cut the fluff and help you clarify your big ideas.

My editor slashed 15,000 words from my manuscript and proposed a few key rewrites. The book read better, sold more copies, and finally started getting the reviews it deserved.

Since then, I’ve spent thousands on editors for my books and content websites. At one point, I even employed a team of editors for my business. A good editor starts at $30 per hour.

Here’s what I’ve learned about hiring and working with editors since that $5,000 mistake:

• Never hire based solely on price - the cheapest editor will cost you more in the long run (ahem, Fiverr!)
• Ask for a sample edit of your actual work before committing (say 500 words)
• Look for editors who specialize in your niche (a fiction editor won’t cut it for your business book)
• Check their references and previous work (anyone can call themselves an editor)
• Ask how long it’ll take to get feedback from them and in what format
• Don’t mix up editing with proofreading: the former addresses structural issues, the latter fixes typos and spelling mistakes

At the start of my online writing career, I viewed editors as an expense. Now I see them as an investment with measurable ROI.

If you’re creating long-form content, like say a book, you NEED a human editor.

But…

An editor will slow you down if you’re writing and publishing short—to—medium—form content, say 100–2000 words.

It can take a few days to get meaningful editorial feedback and work on it. And it’ll cost you a chunk of change, too. For short to medium form content, you’re far better off pressing publish as fast as possible. Your biggest problem is attracting eyeballs, not immaculate prose. The online publishing game isn’t like college!

Fixing a mistake in a piece of content is relatively easy after publishing.

You can even use AI as an editorial assistant, which will get you 90% of the way to DONE.

The right AI prompt will provide the same level of feedback you can expect from a human editor if you train it properly. You don’t have to wade through a feed of Google Docs comments and suggestions.

I created a dedicated prompt called The Editorial Assistant that does just that. It’s one of dozens of frameworks I teach inside PromptWritingStudio, which you can read about here.