To give myself the best chance of attracting the attention of an agent, I have decided to look in to possibly hiring an editor. Two of my writer friends have already tapped in to the talents of two different literary editors. It seems that with all of the well documented changes in the publishing world, there is another one to add to the mix: Less editing done by agents and publishers; more editing done by the writer prior to submission. (Including hiring a personal editor.) Since I am a pre-published writer, I have very little knowledge of the "good old days" in publishing. However, it seems that in the present book market the traditional publishing house demands a near market-ready manuscript; with the explosion in the number of would-be authors, they can afford to be extremely selective. Most agents are inundated with submissions and are all too familiar with the demands of the publishers; they too can afford to be very selective. Consequently, the writer must somehow set herself apart from the other enthusiastic and talented writers; having her manuscript edited prior to submission is one possible way to rise to the top of the agent's stack of submissions.
Have you ever employed, or would you employ, a literary editor?
