When it comes to time and money how do you decide...

I'd say that you should be looking for a literary agent, moon. First-time writers almost never get published without an agent. They cost nothing to "hire". Actually, they take you on as a client if they think your book has merit. They'd be the best to give you a good idea of how well your book will do. Contact agents. Send them an outline or first few chapters of your book(s). If they like it, they will take you on as a client. They take a percentage of what you make on the book (usually 10%). They find the publisher, the editor comes from the publisher's end so you don't have to worry about that at all. All pre-press stuff is the responsibility of the publisher. I know. I worked in pre-press for 20 years. So, that is what I think you should do. Concentrate your time on your surveys and online stuff while letting the agent do the legwork for you. Your first step should be to find a literary agent. There is a magazine called the Literary Guild Magazine that lists agents. That should be available at your local library. You could probably find them online, too. (I've never tried to find one online so I'm just assuming here.) They list what types of books they represent so you'll know which ones to contact. GOOD LUCK!!!

i know this may sound tedious.. but what if you set aside 30 min to an hour a day.. or focus on X amount of pages for the week?? im sure somehow you'll manage to finish editing it in that manner. You might say that would take forever.. well.. doing it slowly means it'll get done eventually.. not doing anything wont get you anywhere at all! stick with what is earning you cash. and try to set aside some time or a sort of goal of what you want to get done for the week/month when it comes to your books... good luck with it all!

Is there a university, or some place near you? Why not find a student who wants to go into business as an editor, to do it for you pro bono? This way you don't have to pay then, you don't have to take time away from your own earning endeavours AND the person who edits it for you gets to put something valuable on their resume under "experience." You can also give them a good reference.

Well....if it werent for the fact tha you need money NOW I would say continue on with the book but since you are stressing for cash right now I would make the fast payout things top priority and work on your book when yu have the spare time ya know....