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You can certainly get pretty far by using an online critique group. There are two problems you'll find with such a service: It's hard to get people who can commit to reading a whole book. The qua...
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#3: Attribution notice added
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/5558 License name: CC BY-SA 3.0 License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision
You can certainly get pretty far by using an online critique group. There are two problems you'll find with such a service: 1. It's hard to get people who can commit to reading a whole book. 2. The quality of reviews and feedback that you get can vary a lot, and many reviewers won't tell you anything very useful. When you hire a professional editor, problem #1 is taken care of with the promise of cold, hard cash. Problem #2 still exists, however, as the quality even of "professional" editors varies quite a bit, and you have to exercise diligence and good judgement to decide whether or not a given editor is actually worth your money. If you're trying to self-publish, you can probably get _good enough_ by relying on online critique groups and some trusted writer friends. However, if you really want to take your writing to the top level you'll probably benefit from finding a qualified, professional editor.