Definitions for Editing Services
I currently offer the following main editing services:
Not sure what each of these entails? Check the definitions, either by clicking on one of the terms above or by scrolling down. Additionally, you might also find EFA’s more extensive list of editing services definitions useful.
Developmental Editing
(also known as structural editing, substantive editing, manuscript editing or content editing)
Developmental editing involves assessing the full manuscript to improve its organisation, structure and content. If a developmental editor is brought in during the early stages of the writing process, they may help you organise and outline your ideas. If you have already written a first draft, they will look at the overall organisation of the text as well as its different sections – sometimes down to the paragraph or even sentence level. With the intended reader in mind, they will make suggestions on how to revise or reorder some of the material, as well as where to expand or cut something.
Line editing
(also known as stylistic editing or comprehensive editing)
Line editing focuses on refining your text on the sentence and paragraph levels. Unlike copyediting, line editing is not about catching mechanical errors in your manuscript, but making stylistics improvements to your writing. The goal is to make sure the manuscript is coherent and well-paced, and that it flows well. While considering the reader, the medium and purpose of the manuscript, a line editor will perform tasks such as:
- Modifying the length and structure of sentences and paragraphs
- Eliminating redundancies due to extraneous wording or unnecessary repetitions
- Eliminating jargon, clichés, and euphemisms
- Revising the writing to enhance the tone, mood, and voice
Copyediting
Copyediting is an in-depth examination of your manuscript to ensure it consistently adheres to an editorial style. It includes:
- Checking for and correcting any errors in grammar, spelling, hyphenation, capitalisation, punctuation, usage and diction
- Checking for consistency throughout the entire manuscript in terms of texts and visuals, e.g., the treatment of numbers and numerals, quotations, special elements such as headings or tables; the use of acronyms and abbreviations, italics and bold type
- Particularly for longer manuscripts, preparing or following a style sheet and making sure any recorded decisions are applied consistently
If agreed on, copyediting may also include: some content editing, tasks related to permissions and markup (tagging, stylecoding) and more. Keywords for a copyeditor are correctness, accuracy, consistency, and completeness.
However, copyediting does not involve fact-checking, formatting, design, proofreading, indexing and reading for sensitivity and/or authenticity.
Proofreading
If you have had your manuscript copyedited and formatted, proofreading is the final step of the process. This step is to make sure the manuscript is ready to print and no errors remain in any of the textual or visual elements. While proofreading and copyediting are often confused with each other and sometimes presumed to be the same, they are not interchangeable. In the publishing process, proofreading is not a substitute for copyediting, but rather the proofreader provides the final set of eyes to catch often very minor mistakes that have slipped through.
Check my page on Editing Services for more detail and get in touch today!