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Comment by Dachande663 | Hacker News Reader

Several years ago now I self-published a collection of my own short stories after trying and failing to get published in a known magazine[0]. It was a great exercise in both the patience required to edit, and also the patience in just waiting between long- and short-list emails. Would definitely recommend to anyone who has “that book they want to write” just doing it, even if I do look back now and sigh at every poorly chosen adjective.

[0] https://www.amazon.com/dp/B082QT6XW7

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The good thing about self-publishing (in particular: ePublishing and/or print-on-demand publishing) is that you can go back and correct your work whenever you want to.

Another big thing, especially if your focus isn't on making money, is that you can choose the format and length that works for you. No need to pad a book out to 250+ pages just because that's what most publishers require.

I have decided to try and get something published this year, but the downside is that I can’t post anything I’ve written until after the submissions are processed. I’d like to share links to these stories, but my newsletter has been almost entirely about writing itself[0] while I want to be able to post the stories I’ve finished and submitted here or there.

I assume the first 10 I submit will get rejected, but I still have to wait for those rejections before I post them elsewhere.

Congrats on self publishing your work!

[0] link in my profile

It's a great path if you have a little bit of an entrepreneurial streak too -- it's a big marketing challenge.

Did you work with an editor or purely self-edit?

90% self-edit, 10% friend with English degree. In hindsight, an editor is absolutely worth it having worked with them on commercial projects.

What are the most important things an editor brings to someone considering self publishing?

Outside perspective.

Market knowledge.

Experience with the structure and requirements of a story, especially a long story.

Contacts.

An indifference to the 'darlings' of your sentences. They'll kill without mercy.

Self-editing is completely doable, and some are very capable, but a professional editor is just that: a professional.

I used a copyright editor (she was getting her Masters at that time), whose last name was Wright :) , and it was invaluable to the point of embarrassment. Simple things like using singular and plural correctly throughout a sentence to things I didn't know like where commas should go where littered all over each page.

We used Github for copy edits. It works pretty darn well.

Even if you legitimately don't need a developmental editor--and very little that I write gets substantially changed in the editing process--you absolutely need a copyeditor. They don't even necessarily need to be a "pro" but you do need someone who can write and will go through a careful word by word read. Most people won't take that type of care and you will end up with spelling errors, case mismatches, inconsistencies in how you handle names, etc.

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