EW, before i read the others' answers, I'd like to tell you that it took me many re-writes, revisions, 2 editors, and I still find typos. They are small, such as "gong" when the word should have been "going." I had 190,000 words on my first draft. I found an editor with great credentials: he'd been a ghost writer for Gloria Steinam, amongst other high power authors. I interviewed him in person, because I wanted to be sure he could handle the content of my book, ie. child abuse. I also have spiritual concepts in my story, so I was hoping for an editor who would give those concepts careful treatment (vs a pagan heretic atheist who might X those spiritual principles) It turned out that he went to the same church I went to at the time, only we never bumped into each other because we went to different times. He charged an appropriate fee, and I got way more than I bargained for, like an entire course in proper English, ie. the difference between "lay down" and "Lie down." I liked all of his suggestions... and ended up with a more readable 93,000 words. When I went back to him to hire for a second edit, he couldn't take me on again because he was backed up with projects for a year. I didn't know if I had a year to wait, as by then I learned I was stage II cancer. So I found yet another editor, not equal to him, but fair enough. She said that my copy was "virtually grammatically error free." And she made more suggestions, which I followed. Then it was a do or die thing: I had to get this book done if it was the last thing I did because the chemo was enough to kill me, not exaggerating. So I researched print on demand publishers, and the rest is history. However, to this day I find typos and other bothersome things that I would change if I re-published.** There is a story about an art museum in Europe. A funny looking old man was staring at Picasso paintings as they hung in some huge famous gallery. The staring was so intense it made the security guard take note. Then, the funny looking man started to take the painting off the wall. The security guard came a running. It turns out that it was Pablo Picasso himself. He saw what he perceived as a flaw, and he wanted to dismantle the painting to make the correction. ***Now I'll see what the others have to say....