Proofreading and Copyediting Services

You write the story. I polish the details.

1. Proofreading:

Proofreading is appropriate for a manuscript that has been well edited and only needs a few fixes per page. I check your file for typos, punctuation, word usage, grammar, spelling, capitalization, subject-verb agreement, and formatting errors. I mark your text in Microsoft Word using Track Changes and Comments. You carefully evaluate every suggested change and decide which changes to keep. 

The rate for proofreading starts at 1 cent per word for fiction, memoir, autobiography, and family history. The rate starts at 1.2 cents per word for other nonfiction. If math, science, foreign terms, footnotes or endnotes, charts or graphs, or other complex material is present, the price could go up.

Most manuscripts need professional editing before they are ready for proofreading. 

I’m happy to set up a phone call or Zoom call for one half-hour instructional session to help you learn how to work with Track Changes and Comments.

2. Copyediting:

Copyediting includes everything above as well as a look at word choices, sentence structure, and consistency. I go through your manuscript twice, correcting awkward phrases, obvious factual errors, and discrepancies. I simplify overly complex wording and fix any other problems I notice. Then I return it to you. You revise and decide whether to accept or reject each correction, and you consider each comment I wrote.

Next, you send your revised manuscript back to me, and I carefully proofread every word.

Copyediting is the best value because I read your manuscript three times—twice during copyediting and once during proofreading.

The rate for copyediting starts at 2.2 cents per word for fiction, memoirs, and family histories. For other nonfiction, the rate begins at 2.5 cents per word. If there’s math, science, foreign terms, footnotes or endnotes, charts or graphs, or other complex content, the price could go up.

It’s up to you to fact check, ensure that all quotations (including Bible verses) are copied exactly correctly, and seek permission for use of copyrighted material.

If your manuscript needs more work than I can deliver, I’ll tell you.

Self-Publishers and Indie Authors:

I love working with self-publishers and indie authors. If you are one and you choose not to work with a content or substantive editor, your manuscript needs copyediting. Unfortunately, some self-published books are poorly written and/or poorly edited, which negatively impacts reader enjoyment, reviews, and author reputation. Let me help you avoid that mistake.

If my copyediting clients are interested, I’ll send fifteen pages of useful information from a self-publishing course I took.

My Specialties:

Family history, business history, business guide, local history, memoir, autobiography, and clean fiction. I will consider other genres.

My Styles and References:

Chicago Manual of Style, which is the US publishing industry standard; The Christian Writer’s Manual of Style for Christian books; and Merriam Webster Online Dictionary. I work with US English in Microsoft Word. On rare occasions I’ll work on a PDF but only if it has already been edited well.

Sample:

Before you sign an editorial agreement, for book manuscripts of 40,000 words or more, I will offer to do a free sample edit of five hundred words. Sometimes I do shorter samples for shorter manuscripts. The sample shows me what your book needs, lets you see my style, and helps me estimate time required.

Payment:

Fifty percent of the cost is due before I begin work on your manuscript. The remainder is due before I return the manuscript to you. The minimum charge for a very small project is $40.

Levels of Editing: