Beta reader or editor? And when to use?

[Steven]

Hi Nina,
You asked for comments from indie authors, and, because you admitted that your plan is expensive, let me outline mine, which works on a shoestring budget:
- write and content edit as you go (or what's cut and paste for?). You might be an exception, but many editors and critique groups destroy an author's voice. I've learned to not let them touch my prose.
- copyedit yourself. After a few books, you'll know where you go wrong, so jot that all down and look for those errors--you know yourself better than any editor (or you should). Print out a hard copy (OK, paper is expensive, but you're already saving trees by releasing ebooks, right?), but that will look different than seeing your MS on the screen. Read dialog viva voce. Etc.
-send copyedited MS to beta-readers who look for logical inconsistencies, mostly name changes and timeline issues, and remaining errors (mine occasionally find the first while the second occur because I've dropped words by backspacing too much in the first two steps).
- pay for formatting, proofreading after formatting (that's where it counts), and cover art work. That allows you to start the next ebook.
- any book budget left should be spent on PR and marketing, but be careful. Anyone that promises you a NY Times bestseller is suspect (that's a general statement, of course).
This is what works for me. My efficient process allows for tremendous savings that I can pass on to my readers. Other indie authors might find this too DIY. To each his own.
Yours in reading and writing,
r/Steve
PS. I have 18 ebooks and three to be released (one in the next to last stage and two more in copyediting, where I spend more time than in writing/content editing).

[Sue]

A couple of years ago I attended a panel on self publishing at a science fiction convention. One of the panellists was a self publisher whose take on the matter was that it was a waste of money to hire an editor when she had a perfectly good on line critique group. But this author self publishes as a business, she doesn't have to; she has made enough professional story sales in the U.S. to be allowed to join the SFWA, which at the time was not for self publishers. So she knows what she is doing. A lot of newbies don't. The other panellists were freelance editors. One of them said she had advised a potential client, after reading the MS, to spend their money on writing lessons instead of wasting it on her. She was honest! As a reviewer I am always receiving promos with samples from authors who have clearly not bothered to get an editor. I say no thank you, politely.

Nina admits her services aren't cheap); after all, she has to make a living. But she also says she can negotiate, and offers a free sample - I think that's fair. And there are plenty of good freelancers out there if one doesn't suit you.

So, Steven, if you can manage it yourself - and clearly you can, with all those books under your belt - that's fine. A lot can't. As a small press person I hear from them all the time - "would you consider republishing my book, I only made five sales, to my family?"

Investing in a decent editor and cover artist is a good idea.