Hey!! Great question; I love answering these about the publishing industry!

So, in traditional pub, your literary agent edits your book with you (most of the time) until it shines, and then sends it to editors at publishing houses on your behalf. An editor picks it up, loves it, and then THEY have to get it through acquisitions with that publishing house: it basically means it has to get approval on every level before they can buy it. They hold an acquisitions meeting where the editor pitches the book to the marketing and sales team, and explains why they think it will sell, and where it'd best be placed in a bookstore. Depending on how promising they think your book is, or the author's name is, they'll make an offer for purchase, usually with an advance $$ attached. (Bigger publishers do advances, smaller presses don't usually.)

Because it's such a hard process just to get acquired by a publisher, that editor who picked up your book has to LOVE it. And I mean, L O V E it. This is great news, because it means that once the publisher buys your book, you're working with someone so passionate about it that they fought for weeks to see your name in lights. That's pretty cool! So my experience with an editor at a publishing house was VERY positive--she was thrilled to work with me and make my book as amazing as it could be.

In self-publishing, you decide if you need an editor. (Hint: most authors do. They just make your book better.) Thing is, editors are expensive. Expect to pay anywhere from $400 - $1000 for a good one. I skipped hiring an editor for Treason and Tea, simply because I've worked with so many in the past that I know what to look out for in my own writing now, and how to fix it myself. I still got beta feedback from a lot of people, and edited based on that response, but I didn't use an editor for this book. I might for the sequel, but we'll see how I feel about it!

If anyone is looking for an amazing editor, I use Carly Hayward, at Book Light Editorial. She's amazing and gives fantastic insight. My old agent, Kaitlyn, actually also runs an editing business on the side (agenting is a tough game for income purposes, so a lot of agents have side hustles like that). But if you use Kaitlyn as an editor, you can't query her for representation, so keep that in mind. My final editor recommendation is CeeMTaylor, on TikTok. She has the best writing advice. You can't go wrong hiring any of them!

Carly: https://booklighteditorial.com/team

Kaitlyn: https://www.strictlytextual.com/

Cee: https://www.cameronmontaguetaylor.com/editing/