If you want to have a self-published book that can sit in bookstores alongside those from top publishing houses, you need to do a professional job. You cannot get your Mum to edit it (although she is good as a first reader!), you can't get your husband to design the cover, and you can't be your own critic. You need professionals.
The internet is a fantastic place to find the best resources to help you with your self-published book.
Here are the best sites to find experienced and qualified editorial professionals, courtesy of Katharine O'Moore-Klopf, who is a freelance professional herself.
1. The membership directory of the Editorial Freelancers Association
(EFA): http://www.the-efa.org/dir/search.php
2. The EFA Job List, where you post a job description and get responses
sent to you: http://www.the-efa.org/job/joblist.php
3. The Directory of Copyediting-L Freelancers:
http://www.copyediting-l.info/freelance.html
4. The job board of _Copyediting_ newsletter, where you post a job
description and get responses sent to you:
http://jobs.copyeditor.com/home/index.cfm?site_id=502
5. The Manuscript Services page of the Web site of the Council of Science
Editors: http://www.councilscienceeditors.org/jobbank/services.cfm
6. The roster of the Board of Editors in the Life Sciences:
http://www.bels.org/findeditor/freelance_search.cfm
7. The Database of Editors of the Bay Area Forum:
http://www.editorsforum.org/search_editor.php
8. The directory of the San Diego Professional Editors Network:
http://www.sdpen.com/find/find.php
9. The job postings page of the Web site of the Society for Technical
Communication: http://jobs.stc.org/home/index.cfm?site_id=360
10. LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/
11. The Indexer Locator of the American Society for Indexing (ASI):
http://www.asindexing.org/custom/locator/
12. The ASI Jobs Hotline, where you post a job description and get
responses sent to you:
https://www.asindexing.org/i4a/forms/form.cfm?id=41
13. The membership directory and the job board of the Editors'
Association of Canada: http://www.editors.ca/hire/index.html
14. The membership directory of the Society for Editors and Proofreaders
(in the UK): http://www.sfep.org.uk/pub/dir/directory.asp
These are some common rates you should expect to pay for various kinds of
editorial services:
From the EFA: http://www.the-efa.org/res/rates.php (U.S.)
From the National Writers Union:
http://nwu.org/nwu/index.php?cmd=showPage&page_id=1.3.14.2.4 (U.S.)
From the National Union of Journalists:
http://www.londonfreelance.org/feesguide/index.html (UK)
While Katharine recommends the list above, there are also broader sites for finding editors and other professionals at:
Publish-L list of publishing related professionals
Elance.com – recommended by Tim Ferriss, from “The Four Hour Work Week” and the site I use for all sorts of outsourcing jobs.
Hire My Mom.com – recommended by Jim Donovan, from the Publish-L Google Group
More posts to come on the best places to find book cover designers, and other professionals.