Copyediting
“Is this grammatically correct?”
You’re pretty confident in your story, but when it comes to the commas, you’re not so sure… and the semicolons? Definitely not sure.
You know that improper grammar can turn off many readers, and even muddle your message. You want your book to look professional, and you want your words to come across as intended, but you know you need help with the details.
No need to fear! Our team is made up of detail-oriented grammar nerds who will happily comb your document for all those tiny mistakes that might get between readers and your beautiful story.
You might say, "Wait, isn't this proofreading?" Well, everyone defines these terms a little differently. For us, copyediting covers grammar, spelling, punctuation, etc., and proofreading is a final pass on a book, after copyediting is complete. We only offer proofreading to books that have been copyedited through us.
One final note: we can copyedit in US and UK English, but there is typically a shorter wait for books written in US English.
What does Copyediting Cover?
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This round of editing comes after developmental/content editing, and it includes scanning for grammatical and punctuation consistency, tense, vocabulary, verbiage, incorrect word usage, and spelling.
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Please keep in mind, this does not edit flow, voice, syntax, or structure.
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Comments and suggestions will be added along the margins about things that need to be reworked, added, deleted, or relocated in order to make the manuscript flow better.
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This phase of editing is recommended for manuscripts that have either gone through developmental/content editing with us or are already pretty solid in their content and are ready for in-depth grammar edits.
"I submitted my manuscript for copy editing after completing a round of developmental/content editing. I figured this was just a nicety. I didn’t think there would be much left to do.
I was wrong. Tina corrected a bunch of items that I would have missed. She flagged numerous statements where I needed to cite my sources. She reworked some of my sentences to make them stronger. And Tina gave me constructive feedback in several areas that ultimately made my manuscript as rock-solid as it can be. I can’t emphasize enough how valuable and enjoyable the copy editing process was."
--Joe Withrow
