Hire an editor too early, and you pay for work on pages you’ll end up cutting. Wait too long, and you spin your wheels. These signs will tell you which side of the line you’re on.

A prepared manuscript gets more out of every editing dollar. Learn how to finish, format, and introduce your draft so your editor can spend time on your writing instead of your file.

After nearly a decade of editing everything from memoirs to a white paper on land surveying, I see the same five mistakes in almost every manuscript. The good news is that you can learn to catch them yourself.

The cleaner your draft, the less you’ll spend on editing. Learn to self-edit like a pro, starting with structure and finishing with a read-aloud by President Obama (sort of).