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For example, the most basic proofreading of a book that is 100K words long normally requires at least 100 hours. Sometimes there are several rounds of editing, then final proofreading, formatting, illustrations, covers, typesetting etc. It costs tens of thousands of dollars to properly publish a book. All done by educated professionals who demand to be well paid because unlike authors they don't get royalties. If it takes 300 hours (low estimate) on proofreading and editing, formatting, typesetting etc., it will cost a publishing house about $15,000
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As my late mother used to say, "Pish."
I've proofread professional books and I can assure you that it doesn't take anywhere near 100 hours. Any freelance proofreader who required more than two weeks to proof a 100,000-word book, and charged accordingly, would find himself repeating, "Would you like fries with that?" in short order.
If publishers truly edited books these days and worked to develop manuscripts, that$15,000 figure might ring true. But they don't. An author had better have a typeset-ready manuscript before submitting because the editing he gets, if any, will be minimal. He'll deliver an electronic manuscript that can be edited and sent to an artist, and that file will be "typeset" and sent to the printer.
The major publishers have one thing to sell, and that's cachet. As long as they can convincingly paint themselves as the anointed ones who choose only the best for you, the reader, they'll have a function. Once readers discover the little man behind the curtain, they're history.