Some toil into the wee hours of the night: some manage to steal a few hours here and there from their busy lives. For the most part, though, few writers are blessed with the opportunity to create their works on a full-time basis.
You slave to find language with the exact nuances to convey your meaning; you use Spell Check; you almost wear out your thesaurus, your dictionary and your style manual. You do have a style manual, don't you?
You cajole friends and family into reading your work to give you feedback. If you are very lucky, you have a trusted and, hopefully, knowledgeable colleague willing to critique your efforts. Whatever your situation, you do your very best to ensure that you submit the best, most polished MS possible to a prospective publisher.
A harsh fact of life for any aspiring author is having your MS rejected. The best content in the world can be discounted because of typo's, poor spelling or grammatical errors. You owe it to yourself to secure the services of a professional proofreader, at the very least. Those trained eyes could save you that unnecessary turn-down.
A good editor can do much more. A good editor will work with you to ensure plot points are clear and your story line flows smoothly. A good editor can keep an eye out for any inconsistent characterization. A good editor will develop a sense of your style, your ideas, your ethic, and work with you to help you shine.
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