Only you will know if this works for you, but here's what I start with when I want to do some "basic editing" on a chapter.

SEARCH & FIND & ELIMINATE SUPEREFLOUS WORDS - In my case, these are they:

was, were
that
had, had been
Eliminate if referring back to something stated, unless used for emphasis. Replace with specific verbs wherever possible.

ly
Delete superfluous use as modifier.

n't
Contractions may be used for informal speech; full spelling for emphasis or formality.

THEN I check for words or phrases that I already know I overuse. (My characters may smile & nod like bobble heads if I'm not watching them.)

FINALLY I print & read the section I am editing:
Check PoV: Is PoV clear?
Does the writing flow? Has it been chopped up by my editing?
Should I expand on characters, settings or plot?
End with a Spell & Grammar Check.

Okay, first question: are you certain you’re ready for a
professional editing? Are you writing on a professional level? Editors don’t turn rough drafts into publishable work, remember. They don’t teach, either. They catch mistakes you’re already capable of correcting but missed because you’re too close to the work. After all, if they could turn a sow’s ear into a silk purse wouldn’t they be making a lot more money writing and selling their own work?

Given that, if your editor says, “This section is too passive,” or “You need to better define the protagonist’s scene-goal,” or “there’s too much telling in this section,” will you know exactly how to fix it?

Question two: Are you providing the story from the POV of the character, and in real-time? Or are you telling the story aloud from the storyteller’s viewpoint, as if the reader can hear the emotion in your voice, and see the images you visualized as you wrote. I ask because telling the story, as a narration, on the page, reads like a graphic novel with the pictures removed. In fact, it might be instructive to look at this, a page from a clever graphic novel, and look at how much better it is with the pictures than it would be had you read the prose without them: http://www.funbrain.com/comics/lostsideofsuburbia/index.html?pubdate=100820 (you might also enjoy the story. Back up a few pages to the beginning, then just mouse the page to advance. I love both the art and the imagination. It's kind of a Dr. Seuss for adults)

I mention this because many of the stories posted here read like a graphic novel without the pictures. An editor can’t fix them because they have to be revised to make use of the techniques the pros use to make pictures unnecessary. If your work reads that way it would pay to dig into the craft of the fiction writer a bit. That would cost about $20 for a really good book like Dwight Swain’s, Deb Dixon’s, or Jack Bickham’s, as against many hundreds of dollars for even a cheap editing. And when you’re done, you no longer need that editor.

The short version:
“They can’t yank a novelist the way they can a pitcher. A novelist has to go the full nine, even if it kills him.”   ~ Ernest Hemingway

Hello!  I've written a book of poems that needs revising in many as I did not expect.  My question is where do I begin and with what do I begin with first?  Will it be the formatting of my poems written or will it be the spelling and grammar?

Phoolmatee Dubay

      I don't pretend to know everything about the editing process, but short of hiring another pair of eyes to go over your work, I'd try cold reading.  I pound out a rough draft to get my story line laid down.  Whether it is a page, chapter or the whole manuscript, I lay it aside and let it grow cold for a week or two and go on to other business.  This sort of gets the story out of your mind.  Then go back and re-read and edit one page at a time. 

     At some time before publishing your tome of delight get another pair of eyes on the work. I know an English teacher. You may know of a critique group who will look at your work as you go along.  I once joined a writers guild with critique group within. I ran a completed manuscript one chapter at a time by them about 3/4 of the way through.  I totally rewrote the complete book because of these fine people.