#241. Do You Really Need to Hire a Book Editor Before You Query?

#241. Do You Really Need to Hire a Book Editor Before You Query?

From Fiction Writing Made Easy with Savannah Gilbo | How to Write a Novel & Writing Advice by Savannah Gilbo

March 31, 2026 · 13 min · Episode 241

About this episode

The episode discusses the complexities of hiring a book editor before querying literary agents and emphasizes the importance of addressing the right issues in a manuscript.

Discover why the answer to hiring a book editor before querying isn’t a simple yes or no—and how to make the right call for your manuscript. If you've finished your draft and you're thinking about querying literary agents, you've probably seen this advice: don't hire an editor before you query. And while that's not wrong, it's also not the full picture. Because the real issue isn't whether you hire an editor. It's whether you're solving the right problem in your manuscript. In this episode, I...

People in this episode

Host: Savannah Gilbo

Topics covered

  • book editing
  • querying literary agents
  • manuscript problems
  • writing advice
  • fiction writing

Keywords

  • book editor
  • querying
  • literary agents
  • manuscript
  • writing tips

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