This is what most people think of when I say I edit books. It's the straightforward, black-and-white details that show the reader this is a professional piece of work.
I believe copy editing is the most non-negotiably necessary editorial service a manuscript should receive. There’s nothing quite as frustrating and soul-puncturing as getting an Amazon review that mentions loving the book but getting distracted by all the errors. You’d be surprised how often that comes up! Readers care, and they do notice—especially avid readers! If a book is riddled with mistakes and inconsistencies, it leads to a distrust that the author takes their book seriously or is indeed professional and worthy of publication.
Copy editing is the thorough review of U.S. grammar, punctuation, mechanics, style guide, headings, consistency, spelling, scriptural accuracy, citation consistency, completeness, and clarity. A style guide is a list of rules about how specific matters should be formatted, spelled, punctuated, etc. for the sake of consistency and order. When I mention citation consistency, I mean that while I do not personally create entire bibliographies from scratch for my authors (I choose not to provide that service), I am happy to create consistent formatting, style, and appearance of citations with information attainable on the internet or within the document.
I believe copy editing is the most non-negotiably necessary editorial service a manuscript should receive. There’s nothing quite as frustrating and soul-puncturing as getting an Amazon review that mentions loving the book but getting distracted by all the errors. You’d be surprised how often that comes up! Readers care, and they do notice—especially avid readers! If a book is riddled with mistakes and inconsistencies, it leads to a distrust that the author takes their book seriously or is indeed professional and worthy of publication.
Copy editing is the thorough review of U.S. grammar, punctuation, mechanics, style guide, headings, consistency, spelling, scriptural accuracy, citation consistency, completeness, and clarity. A style guide is a list of rules about how specific matters should be formatted, spelled, punctuated, etc. for the sake of consistency and order. When I mention citation consistency, I mean that while I do not personally create entire bibliographies from scratch for my authors (I choose not to provide that service), I am happy to create consistent formatting, style, and appearance of citations with information attainable on the internet or within the document.
This is where I humble the copy editor (sometimes myself) by finding everything they (I) missed in clean-up. It’s recommended after the typesetter (the person who does book layout) has completed their first draft of the book design. Something about reading text in a new font, new spacing, new design just makes those typos pop ♥
Plus, and I say this with absolutely nothing but respect, designers often introduce new errors to the manuscript simply by trying to move them around, enter the headings by typing them, etc.
Proofreading is the task of reviewing the manuscript one last time before someone presses “print” thousands of times. I check for all the errors mentioned in copy editing as well as typos and design elements that are either inconsistent or make something difficult to read. When in doubt, this is one job I believe a trusted peer can help with given they do have a good eye for U.S. grammar, punctuation, and spelling. At the very least, we just want to avoid any obvious mistakes that would irritate the author, reader, and copy editor upon opening up the book later. It’s bound to happen, but we all do our best!
Plus, and I say this with absolutely nothing but respect, designers often introduce new errors to the manuscript simply by trying to move them around, enter the headings by typing them, etc.
Proofreading is the task of reviewing the manuscript one last time before someone presses “print” thousands of times. I check for all the errors mentioned in copy editing as well as typos and design elements that are either inconsistent or make something difficult to read. When in doubt, this is one job I believe a trusted peer can help with given they do have a good eye for U.S. grammar, punctuation, and spelling. At the very least, we just want to avoid any obvious mistakes that would irritate the author, reader, and copy editor upon opening up the book later. It’s bound to happen, but we all do our best!
The Process
This service does involve collaboration with a typesetter, meaning it’s not just me and the author. The order of actions goes:
Steps 6-10 repeat until all changes are accounted for, limited to five proofs. After five rounds of checking edits, sending missed edits, then checking again, any additional time will be charged at an hourly rate. This rarely happens and is usually a result of an author making changes at the eleventh hour (it happens! I get it!).
I’m also happy to communicate directly with the typesetter in cases where that’s possible and preferable!
- Reserve a typesetter for one to two weeks after copy editing is projected to be complete.
- Inform me when the typesetter intends to finish the book layout within a three-day range or less.
- Send me the PDF version of the typeset book.
- I will mark up the document in Adobe Acrobat Pro (which most typesetters have but also works on any device), and occasionally I use my iPad to hand-write edits.
- I return the marked-up PDF to you (the author).
- You review the notes and sign off on them (approve of them and/or follow up with me on something if needed).
- You send the marked-up PDF to the typesetter to implement the changes.
- The typesetter will send you a new draft with those changes implemented.
- I compare the first proof (the marked-up one) against the second one (the new one) to ensure all changes have been made properly. Any forgotten or miscommunicated changes are flagged.
- I send the second proof to you, who sends to the typesetter.
Steps 6-10 repeat until all changes are accounted for, limited to five proofs. After five rounds of checking edits, sending missed edits, then checking again, any additional time will be charged at an hourly rate. This rarely happens and is usually a result of an author making changes at the eleventh hour (it happens! I get it!).
I’m also happy to communicate directly with the typesetter in cases where that’s possible and preferable!
