It is difficult beyond measure for a writer to find a publisher today, or even an agent... and agents are, in most cases, the first line of screening for book publishing houses.
Meticulous Copy Editors employed by the publisher are a thing of the past. Further, today, the computer has put the scut work of writing into a manageable process for everyone ~ and everyone has a book in him. Competition is enormous.
To run the gauntlet of that competition, your writing must have not just grammatical polish and smooth syntax, but a dynamic which makes it unique. It must have a workable structure from first submission.
Self-editing is absolutely the toughest aspect of writng. All writers, even those at the top, require objective editing... all. No exceptions. Including me!
"The Minstrel Boy," written in 1798 by Thomas Moore (to music of an old Irish air) symbolizes the endurance of beauty and the quest for independence in the Irish nature.
It memorialized the Irish spirit, so brutally attacked for centuries, culminating in the devastating Battle of Wexford in 1798. And even that bitter battle lost could never defeat the souls of the Irish which, Phoenix-like, rose from those flames to seek, and find, their abiding dreams.
