on Writers in the Storm:

Over the years, I’ve heard writers say, “I don’t need to learn grammar and punctuation. That’s why I have an editor.” When one student discovered he’d be editing his writing, he said, “I’ll be handing my correspondence to my secretary. She can fix my mistakes.” While he got a laugh from his peers, the problem with these kinds of responses is that these individuals don’t understand how they’re handicapping themselves by having to rely on others for a skill they could easily learn.

Before the internet and indie publishing, publishing houses had staff editors who would perform both developmental and line-editing, then submit galley (printed typeset) pages to the author who would perform a last read and approve the pages.

Today, the publishing landscape is entirely different. Because of rising costs, publishing houses are reducing staff numbers. Consequently, publishers want polished manuscripts, not drafts that require a hefty fix.

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