By J.W. Zarek

“Gentlemen, we will chase perfection, and we will chase it relentlessly, knowing all the while we can never attain it. But along the way, we shall catch excellence.” – Vince Lombardi, Legendary Coach.

The $20,000+ Mistake I Learned So You Don’t Have To

I’m going to save you a fortune—and years of frustration—by sharing the most expensive lesson I’ve ever learned about publishing: Pursue excellence in publishing, not perfection—because perfection isn’t possible, regardless of investment.

I’m an award-winning Wall Street Journal Bestselling Author who’s written or co-authored seventeen books, twelve of which are picture books for children ages four to eight. Nine of these books are published—seven of which are number one bestsellers. Only after writing these fiction, non-fiction and children’s books, have I learned the following fundamental truth:

Anyone can strive for excellence and achieve outstanding results. But the pursuit of perfection? That’s an impossible standard that can trip you up in the worst of ways—and I have the receipts to prove it.

With my first fantasy bestseller, The Devil Pulls the Strings, I chased perfection because I didn’t know any better at the time.

I spent two-and-a-half years researching content before writing the first word, then ten years in total to finish that 382-page book. And in chasing perfection, the investment in editing was beyond excessive.

Professional editing services:

• Yellow Bird Editors reviewed my first 1,250 words: $350
• Developmental editor fixed structural issues: $1,200-2,100
• Primary editor edit-reviewed every chapter one-to-four times and recommended cutting 42,000+ words: $3,500-5,000+ (I paid $3 per page for each review—most chapters went through four rounds of edit reviews)
• Copyeditor fixed 6,000+ grammar and formatting errors: $6,600+
• Proofreader caught additional errors everyone else missed: $1,000-2,000

Professional consultations:

• The Book Doctors manuscript review: $500
• Bestselling author consultations: $350-1,000 each
• Ken Atchity webinar: $1,000
• Ken Atchity/assistant manuscript review: $800-900
• Hollywood producers and studio executives: Multiple consultations
• Additional author coaches and industry professionals

Conservative total investment: Over $20,000

That’s more than most traditionally published authors receive as their entire advance, and it all went into editing and professional feedback. So, yes, you should have your content edited, but you don’t have to spend a decade or a ton of money.

This expensive educational excursion in the school of hard knocks taught me perfection is impossible. So, learn from my mistake by not repeating it.

The Expensive Truth

The result of all that excessive investment:

• Content that sparkles and shines. Yes.
• Forty-one awards, including the prestigious Chanticleer Reviews Overall Grand Prize. Nice.
• Lots of books sold. Always appreciated.
• Critical acclaim. That can go to your head if you let it.

But readers and reviewers finding errors long after publication—that was the price of pursuing perfection no one tells you you’d have to pay.

It wasn’t from lack of effort or the intention to have error-free content, or that my editors weren’t skilled. It’s simply that perfection is an impossible outcome—regardless of how much money you spend. So, the best lesson learned is one you don’t have to repeat.

“I am careful not to confuse excellence with perfection. Excellence, I can reach for; perfection is God’s business.” – Michael J. Fox

Why Perfection Is Mathematically Impossible

Cognitive Blindness Is Real

Your brain knows what you intended to write, so it automatically “corrects” errors as you read. This is a well-documented cognitive phenomenon—you literally cannot see your own work the way a fresh reader does. Editors who’ve reviewed content multiple times develop similar blindness. That’s why fresh-eyed readers readily spot what was originally missed.

Workflow Errors Compound (Until You Learn Better)

When I received edited pages or a chapter from my primary editor, I made one critical workflow mistake: Because they only would accept ten pages or a chapter at a time, I used my original manuscript to save ten pages or a chapter; whatever was sent to my editor at the time.

So, every time I received a file back from them, I’d incorporate their recommendations into my original document, either by cutting and pasting content, or manually retyping. And every time I touched the manuscript, potential new errors were introduced I never spotted.

What I didn’t know at the time, and what I completely missed – my primary editor was fixing formatting errors they found, but because I only ever revised my original error-filled manuscript, none of the formatting fixes made it into the original manuscript.

The result? My copyeditor received a “fully revised” manuscript, filled with formatting errors and issues they had to fix, as well as the unintentional new ones created too.

When the copyeditor’s report came back showing not a couple of errors or even tens or hundreds of errors, but 6,600+ errors.

I asked my primary editor: “How the heck did you miss all of this?” And as mentioned further above, they affirmed they had fixed all formatting errors and issues with every edit reviewed document they returned.

DOH—what an incredible workflow mistake and mind &^*$ to catch or be made aware of… after the fact.

BEST LESSON: Once you receive an edit-reviewed document, that becomes your new master file.

Yes, it’s extra effort to re-insert any previous revised or subsequent chapters rather than working in your original manuscript document. But this single change means future manuscripts sent to copy editors and proofreaders won’t include excessive formatting errors found in your original document.

So, perfection isn’t necessarily impossible, but learning smarter workflow through experience—that’s priceless. And excellence includes evolving your process as you discover what works best, and what doesn’t.

Diminishing Returns Are Brutal

Every professional reviewer caught different things, but with rapidly diminishing returns:

• First review: Catches maybe 60% of issues
• Second review: Catches another 25%
• Third review: Catches another 10%
• Fourth review: Catches another 4%
• Fifth review: Catches perhaps another 0.9%

Four types of professional editors reviewed my manuscript. Each caught things the others missed. Each had their own cognitive blind spots.

Here’s the reality: If you gathered ten professional editors in a room and had them independently review the same manuscript, they’d each find different errors—and still collectively miss some.

I estimate that catching any remaining errors could increase editing costs by thousands. And might still result in some extra errors missed.

The Professional Standard Is Excellence, Not Perfection

After spending over $20,000 on multiple professional editors over a decade—resulting in fixes and improvements along the way—I still had readers find errors in my award-winning bestselling novel. It is what it is.

This is proof why it’s best to invest your time, effort and money toward excellence and quality with every book you write and publish, instead of pursue perfection which may never be reached or achieved.

Seven #1 bestsellers prove my readers care more about compelling stories and authentic connections rather than hunting for random or elusive misplaced commas or rule-breaking-writing Grammer Nazis love to find.

* – For those who caught the misspelling, you get the irony and my sarcastic sense of humor too.

“You write to communicate to the hearts and minds of others what’s burning inside you, and we edit to let the fire show through the smoke.” – Arthur Plotnik, The Elements of Editing

What You Actually Need (Not $20,000)

Here’s the practical takeaway from my expensive mistake:

For a commercially excellent book, invest in:

• Developmental Editor is best to use if writing your first book, tackling a new genre, or before you’ve found your author’s voice
• Line-by-Line Editor is essential.
• Copy Editor is a great option but not always necessary, and a tad excessive when the bulk of required correction gets addressed during a line-by-line edit review.
• Proofreading is essential and always recommended before you publish, because it’s easier to correct and fix mistakes before anything’s published.

Total realistic editing investment: $1,000-$5,000+ depending on manuscript length and editor rates.

Any amounts above and beyond this you spend chasing the impossible might only result in diminishing returns and an unnecessary publishing delay.

Watching a YouTube creator who writes and edits question if editing standards have gone downhill since the Pandemic, or is it because the editor missed something, or an author chose to disregard editor recommendations, got me thinking about why errors persist, in professionally edited books.

Based on my own journey and experience, I’d like to believe most authors and editors did their best to catch and correct errors before publishing—and still some slip through because they do.

Learn from my expensive education: Invest appropriately to reach “commercial excellence” and publish quality content, but do so without beating yourself up over the impossible pursuit of perfection, because the world wants the kind of stories best told through your voice and execution, more than you or the world needs a perfect manuscript that doesn’t exist.

The Path Forward

Pursue excellence because it lets you continue to craft and create quality content readers clamor and crave, without getting bogged down in every minute detail.

Whereas, pursuing perfection traps you in an endless rabbit hole revision loop stuck on repeat, and those stories you’re meant to share with the world never get read by your readers.

So to my fellow writers: Do your due diligence. Invest in professional editing—but invest smart and don’t go chasing rabbit hole perfection you can’t find your way out of.

Instead, strive for excellence at every stage, and keep creating new content. And most of all – forgive yourself for stray imperfections that may survive and be mentioned in random reader reviews.

The $20,000+ I spent learning this lesson is the perfect kind of lesson you don’t have to repeat.

Remember: Excellence is achievable. Perfection impossible. So, choose excellence and your bank account and readers will thank you.

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J.W. Zarek is a Wall Street Journal bestselling co-author of “Writer’s Success Secrets” and “The Happiness Code.” His latest works include the first three books from the Bella Brown book series and the stand-alone book The Stomp-Clomp-Clump Monster Above the Bed—all four are award-winning bestsellers.