Short answer: yes. Longer answer: yes, but not necessarily in the way you think.
When I published my first book, I didn't use an editor. I proofread it myself, convinced that a bloke who'd got an A in English Language O Level was perfectly capable of spotting his own mistakes. I was wrong. My first review mentioned three typos in the opening chapter. Three. In the bit that's supposed to make the best impression.
The Different Types of Editing
This is where it gets confusing, because "editing" means about four different things, and each one costs a different amount of money.
Developmental editing looks at the big picture — structure, pacing, character arcs, plot holes. A developmental editor will tell you that chapter seven drags, your protagonist's motivation doesn't make sense, and your ending feels rushed. This is the most expensive type of editing, typically £500–£2,000 depending on the length of your manuscript.
Copy editing focuses on the writing itself — sentence structure, clarity, consistency, grammar. A copy editor won't restructure your plot, but they'll fix your dangling modifiers and point out that your character's eyes changed colour between chapters two and nine. Expect to pay £300–£800.
Line editing sits between the two — it's about the quality of the writing at sentence level. Rhythm, word choice, flow. Not every editor offers this as a separate service.
Proofreading is the final pass — catching typos, formatting errors, missing punctuation. This is the cheapest option, usually £150–£400, and it's the absolute minimum every self-published book needs.
What Can You Actually Afford?
If you've got the budget for a full developmental edit, brilliant. It will make your book better, full stop. But if you're working with limited funds — and most debut authors are — you need to prioritise.
My recommendation: get a proofread at minimum. If you can stretch to a copy edit, do it. If developmental editing is beyond your budget, find beta readers instead. Three or four honest readers who'll tell you where the story lost them can provide 80% of what a developmental editor offers, for free.
Beta Readers vs Editors
Beta readers are not editors, and they shouldn't be treated as replacements. But they serve a valuable function — they read your book as a reader, not as a professional, and they'll tell you things an editor might not. Things like "I stopped caring about the main character in chapter four" or "the twist was obvious from page ten."
Find beta readers who read your genre. Not your friends, not your family — people who regularly buy and read the kind of book you've written. Their feedback will be more useful than your mum telling you it's lovely.
The Non-Negotiable
Whatever your budget, whatever your circumstances, do not publish a book that hasn't been proofread by someone other than yourself. You cannot proofread your own work effectively. Your brain knows what it intended to write and will happily skip over errors that a fresh pair of eyes would catch in seconds.
A few hundred quid for a proofread is not optional. It's the entry fee for being taken seriously as an author. Readers will forgive an imperfect plot. They won't forgive a book that's full of typos. Rightly or not, they'll assume that if you didn't care enough to get the basics right, the rest of the book probably isn't worth their time either.
Get it proofread. Then publish with confidence.