Editing

From Light Copyediting to Intensive Revision

I edit a broad range of writing forms and genres including: literary fiction & non-fiction, magazine articles, media relations materials, informational/instructional material, business, technical, and health & wellness. I’m happy to edit works of any length, from press releases to book manuscripts.

Developmental Editing: For book manuscripts and large websites. This is NOT typo editing, rather the focus is to flag major revision issues and overall challenges in the work’s flow, voice, and reader connection. For instance, with a book manuscript at this stage, I would look for: unnecessary scenes as well as content that may be missing; areas where the plot slows down too much or becomes confusing; and consistent issues that show up throughout the work (i.e. poor use of dialogue, undeveloped conflict, passive verbs, etc).  My edit comments provide recommendations for how the writer can fix major issues.

Line Editing: At this stage, the material is as polished as possible. All developmental editing issues have been addressed. The work is ready for intensive line-by-line editing of grammar, sentence structure, and typos. Edits are communicated via Track Changes in a Word document. The writer then reviews my edits and flags any that we should discuss during in-person meetings.

Copyediting: The purpose of final copy-editing is to catch any final typos that may have occurred while the writer implemented the line edits. Clients in the business world also ask for basic copyediting on short projects that their in-house staff have already polished. They just need a fresh set of eyes to catch any last minute sna-foos.

Pre-press Proofing: I don’t typically provide final pre-press edits. That’s because, if I have been involved in all preceding edit stages, I am as “immune” to nit-picky typos as the writer is! I have several incredible pre-press proofers in my Spiritus Creative network whom I refer to for this service.

My goal is always to bring your article or manuscript to a submission-ready level–whether it’s a 200-word news brief or a 200-page book. I use Microsoft Word in “Track Changes” mode to communicate edits.  Most people have access to this software, and the Track Changes mode gives you the option to accept or reject edits as you see fit.  Please familiarize yourself with this application BEFORE we begin work on your submission.