Copy edits (or copyedits) are a detailed and technical check of grammar, syntax, and spelling, and may also include research and fact-checking. Copy edits can overlap with line edits when it comes to smoothing out sentence flow, addressing repetition, and clarifying complex or confusing passages.
Proofreading is the final-final-FINAL step before you’re ready to publish your book or submit the manuscript to an editor or agent. By this point, at least one other person (and maybe three or ten!) has read through the work to help you craft the best story possible and correct grammar and spelling mistakes. One last set of fresh eyes is recommended to catch those little tiny errors that everyone else missed – double spacing after a period, a missing word, or unintentionally going from CHAPTER TEN to CHAPTER TWELVE in your numbering.
All edits will be made within the Word document with Track Changes on.
Note: You’ll notice that a proofread is the same price as
a copy edit. There’re two reasons for that.
- We read the manuscript just as closely and spend the same time and effort in a CE as we do in a proof.
- I’m terrible at boundaries and if I notice issues that should have been caught in the copy edit, I’ll still point them out for you. I’ve asked my editing partners to do the same.
For a manuscript up to 100,000 words, we generally need 2-3 weeks to complete the edit.
What’s the submission process?
When you’re ready to schedule your edit, hit that “Book My Edit” button!
Once we’ve confirmed your project is a good fit for us – and you’ve confirmed that we’re a good fit for you – we’ll send you an editing agreement to review and sign digitally.
After the agreement is signed, we’ll request a $150 nonrefundable deposit to save your project dates on our calendar. The cost of the edit is based on exact word count, so we’ll invoice you once we receive the document. Full payment is due when we begin work, and of course, the deposit will go toward that final total.
We work in Microsoft Word. If you write in another program, like Google Docs or Scrivener, just be sure to save your manuscript as a Word doc in order to send it to us.