My first three books were professionally edited. My editor works for a traditional publisher, so if she said it was good enough to publish, that was good enough for me.
I had intended for her to edit the fourth book as well. But, after I finished it, it sat around for about a year while I tried to set aside money for editing. After that year or so and no money set aside for editing, I opted to self-edit. I also had, I think, three beta readers. (All free.) I don't remember. I think only one actually finished reading the book. She liked it better than my previous stuff. The other never finished it. I brought in a third beta reader as a tie-breaker, but he never finished reading it either. So, mixed bag there. I went ahead and published anyway.
The fifth book I planned on self-editing from the start. I think I had three beta readers for it. Different readers than the fourth book. All free again. They all finished it and they pointed out any errors they discovered. One was quite good at catching mistakes that needed to be fixed.
I have two WIPs currently. The first to be released will be self-edited. I am hoping to get enough sales from it to be able to have the second one professionally edited again.
I tend to proofread as I go along and also proofread whenever I have to go back to look up something in a previous chapter. Generally, though, it helps to set something aside for a while before you go back and proofread it or edit it. You don't want it fresh in your mind because that's when you tend to overlook mistakes, because you'll see what you meant to write and not necessarily what you actually typed. When the words are less fresh in your mind, you overlook those things less. Also, it helps to read things backwards. Like that last sentence, you'd read it starting with
backwards, then
things, then
read and so on. You'll catch more spelling errors that way, generally. True, spell check catches a bunch, but it won't catch
sour vs.
soar and stuff like that.
Use beta readers if you can find them. They can be very helpful. They may find spelling or grammatical errors, which is great, but they are typically most helpful in determining whether the actual story is good and makes sense as well as what chapters or sections work or don't work and stuff like that.
The best option is to hire a professional editor, of course. But, if you can't afford one, you can't afford one. Sometimes, if you have extra money, you need to pay off a bill or something. I remember when I could afford an editor, and I would be like,
what do you mean you can't afford an editor? If you want to be a professional writer, you need to find a way to set aside money to pay for a professional editor. It's easy to say and do those things when you're in a position to do them. Not so much when you're not.
Bottom line is that you just have to do the best you can. And know your weaknesses. My weakness is commas. I never second-guessed my usage of commas. Other things, sure, but not commas. I always thought I knew how to use commas properly. After having three books professionally edited, I learned that I do not.
Also, don't get old. I never used to mix
you're and
your. NEVER. I know the difference. How stupid do you have to be to not know the difference? How little are you paying attention to what you're writing to not catch right away that you've used the wrong one? Now, though, I find myself slipping up and using the wrong one. It's very worrisome. One could say humbling but, no, it's worrisome. Is my brain turning to mush? I always figured, you know, one day I might have poor eyesight, I might need a cane to walk or maybe a wheelchair, but I'll always be able to write stories, even if I have to hit one key at a time as I examine the keyboard with a magnifying glass. But mixing up
you're and
your? What next? How long before I start typing stuff like
gesul puffin zeeble bobinx laru and think it makes perfect sense at the time?
I hope this was helpful. Probably not, but I started out this reply with good intentions.